Tafsir of Al-Baqarah 2:115

(And to Allah belong the East and the West) means the two known directions adjacent to the points from which the sun rises and sets. Their ownership is used as a metonymy for the ownership of the entire earth. Some have said: Since the earth is spherical, every "east" is a "west" relative to something else, and the whole earth is thus; therefore, there is no need to commit to [the explanation of] metonymy. In this [argument], there is remoteness.

(So wherever you turn) means: in whichever place you perform the turning toward the Qiblah. Al-Hasan recited it as tuwallu (in the third person).

(Then there is the Face of Allah) means: there is His—glory be to Him—direction which He has commanded you [to face]. Thus, the place of turning is not restricted to one mosque and not another, nor to one location and not another.

(Wherever) is an adverb that necessitates an adverbial status and contains the meaning of a conditional. It is not the object of (turn), as "turning" in the sense of "directing oneself" is treated as an intransitive verb.

(Then) is a demonstrative noun specifically for a distant place, built upon fath (the 'a' vowel), and it is indeclinable. Whoever parsed it as an object in His saying, "And when you see there (thamma), you will see bliss," has erred; rather, it is a predicate moved to the front, and what follows it is a delayed subject. The sentence is the response to the conditional.

"The Face" (al-wajh) is the "direction" (al-jihah), like wazn (weight) and zinah (the measured weight). Its specification by way of the genitive construction is because it is a commanded direction in which lies His satisfaction—glory be to Him. This is the view held by al-Hasan, Muqatil, Mujahid, and Qatadah.

It is also said: "The Face" means the Essence (al-dhat), similar to His saying: "Everything is perishing except His Face," except that it is used here as a metonymy for His knowledge and awareness of what is done there. Abu Mansur said: It means "prestige" (al-jah), which leads to majesty and greatness. The sentence, according to this, is a parenthetical clause intended to console the hearts of the believers by permitting prayer in all parts of the earth, not exclusively in mosques. In the authentic Hadith: "The earth has been made for me a place of prayer and a means of purification." Perhaps for others, before the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), prayer was not permitted except in synagogues and churches. The prayer of Jesus (peace be upon him) in his travels, if it occurred outside of these, was out of necessity; therefore, there is no need to argue for the exclusivity of the collective [places of worship].

It is permissible that "wherever" (aynama) be the object of "you turn," in the sense of "direction," for it is common in usage to say "wherever you head" (aynama tawajjahu), meaning "whichever direction you head." This is based on what is narrated from Ibn Umar (may Allah be pleased with them both) that the verse was revealed regarding the prayer of a traveler and voluntary prayer on a mount. According to what is narrated from Jabir, it was revealed regarding a group to whom the Qiblah became obscured during a military expedition I was with them in; they prayed toward the south and north, and when morning came, their error became clear. It is possible, given these two reports, that "wherever" is as in the first interpretation, meaning: "In any place you perform a turning," because the omission of the object signifies generalization. Some have confined themselves to this, claiming that no one among the scholars of the Arabic language held the former view.

Some have said: The verse is a preamble to the abrogation of the Qiblah and an exoneration of the Worshipped from being contained within a boundary or direction—otherwise, [the Qiblah] would be more deserving of being faced. It is construed as general, not restricted to the state of travel or the state of searching for the direction. "Where" means "whichever direction," and "The Face" means "The Essence." The relevance of the connection in this case is that since the mention of mosques preceded it, He brought forward thereafter the ruling of the Qiblah by way of a parenthetical clause. Some claimed this is the most correct of the sayings, but it warrants reflection.

(Indeed, Allah is All-Encompassing) means: surrounding all things by ownership or mercy; therefore, He has expanded the Qiblah for you and has not restricted it. (All-Knowing) of the interests of the servants and their deeds in all places.

According to the first interpretation, the sentence is a concluding remark for the entirety of "And to Allah belong the East and the West..." and according to the second, it is a concluding remark for His saying—glory be to Him—"So wherever you turn..." It is strange to interpret this as a threat to those who prevent the mosques of Allah, and to consider the preceding address to be directed at them as well. The meaning would then revert to: There is no escape from Allah, the Exalted, for the tyrant, and no refuge for the oppressor, for the orbit of His power has defined the directions, and the authority of His knowledge has surrounded the revolving spheres. Where is the escape? There is no escape for the fugitive. To Him belongs the two expanses: the earth and the water.

From the perspective of isharah (allusion): "The East" is an expression for the realm of light and manifestation, which is the paradise of the Christians, and their Qiblah in reality is its inwardness. "The West" is the realm of mysteries and concealment, which is the paradise of the Jews, and their Qiblah in reality is its inwardness. Or, "The East" is an expression for His—glory be to Him—shining upon hearts through the appearance of His lights within them, and the self-disclosure of His beauty during the state of witnessing. "The West" is an expression for the setting, by His veiling, concealment, and disappearance through the attribute of His majesty during the state of subsistence after annihilation. To Allah, the Exalted, belongs all of that. So, whichever direction one turns from the outward or the inward, (then there is the Face of Allah), adorned with all attributes, disclosing Himself however He wills, transcendent above directions. One of the people of the path said: "There is only one Face, but if you increase the mirrors, it multiplies." (Indeed, Allah is All-Encompassing), nothing escapes His enclosure, (All-Knowing), so nothing of the states of His creation or the manifestations of His attributes is hidden from Him.