Order to Face Mecca in Prayer V142-150

Juz 2 starts with the foolish asking "Why did they turn away from the direction of prayer they used to face?" A bit of context to this. The Muslims, for approximately 16 months after prayer became mandatory, faced Jerusalem before Allah ordered for the Qiblah to be changed to Makkah. Those whom questioned the Prophet have no right to do so because the true believers come to the recognition that this is an order from above i.e. Allah SWT. This change in direction sets apart those whom are obedient and those whom are disobedient. To question the Prophet of Allah means you are question the Almighty! Allah owns the land we live in on from east to west, then is it appropriate to question a direct order? Can Allah not change the direction?

We continue to find that Allah describes the believers as an upright community. This points to the Ummah being one of justly balanced, moderate, and outstanding nations. Moderate and not to be extreme in veneration or the other extreme which is arrogance & disrespect. Examples of extreme veneration is of the Christians whom have adopted a Prophet to be a God i.e. Jesus. The other example would be the Jews whom murdered and betrayed their prophets due to their whims and desires not being fulfilled. Other examples can be found in the leniency of the Christians and how they do not have prohibitions on foods. They believe anything that can walk or crawls the face of the earth is permissible. The final examples of the strictness of the Jews can be found in their strictness in prayer. A prayer cannot be excepted if it is not done at the synagogues. Allah has made Islam a balanced and fair religion, elevating one from duties if they're in hardship. Creating permissible and prohibited items for us, and even then we may have prohibited items when in a dire situation. SubhanAllah!

As discussed, an order from Allah should be met with full conviction whether or not it is understood. However, we come across this line in V143: "We assigned your former direction only to distinguish those who would remain faithful to the Messenger from those who would lose faith." Allah already knows those whom will be faithful to the Prophet, however this knowledge doesn't form the basis of reward and punishment. Allah being the Most Just, uses the order of the Qiblah changing as a means to show them proof of their actions. The Jewish and Christian tribes of the time knew that the Qiblah would change to Makkah. This was their calling, however due to arrogance and stubbornness they cannot see the truth. In addition this new Qiblah should've rallied them to follow the orders as they are Abrahamic religions which firmly believe that Ibraheem AS prayed in this direction. 

May Allah allow us to have the same eagerness to pray  that Prophet Muhammed SAW had when the Qiblah was changed to Makkah, Ameen.