They used to say...
They used to say, "The Muslims do not follow anything good", or "The People of the Book do not follow anything good". QUR'AN: And who is more unjust than he who prevents . . . Apparently it refers to the unbelievers and polytheists of Mecca. These two verses were revealed not long after the Apostle of Allah (s.a.w.a.) emigrated to Medina. QUR'AN: it was not for them that they should have entered them except in fear: The verb, "was", shows that the sentence describes a past event.
It perfectly fits the pagans of Mecca and their misdeeds. The traditions say that "he who prevents" refers to the unbelievers of Mecca, it was they who prevented the Muslims from praying in the Sacred Mosque (Masjidu l-Haram) and in other mosques within the precinct of the Ka'bah. QUR'AN: And Allah's is the East and the West: The east and the west - any direction, whatsoever - really belong to Allah.
His is the true mastership that cannot be altered or transferred; it is not like the possession known to us in our society's framework. Allah's ownership permeates the possessed thing itself as well as its benefits and effects, unlike our ownership that covers only the benefits and effects, and not the thing itself. A property, possession, per se, cannot stand except with its owner. Therefore, the east and the west, nay, all the directions whatsoever, exist because of Allah - the Owner.
Allah preserves and manages the directions, and encompasses them. Anyone turning to any of the directions turns in reality to Allah. The east and the west are relative terms. They cover almost all the directions, except the two imaginary points of the true north and the true south. That is why Allah left the clause, "whither you turn", unconditional, and did not say, 'whither you turn of these two directions'. To whatever direction one turns one's face, it is bound to be either east or west.
The sentence, "And Allah's is the East and the West", therefore, implies that all the directions belong to Allah The east and the west were selected for special mention because man fixes the directions with the help of rising and setting of the sun and other heavenly bodies. QUR'AN: therefore, whither you turn, thither is Allah's face: It puts the cause in place of the effect.
What the sentence implies is as follows: To whichever direction you turn, it is allowed to you, because Allah's face is in that direction too. The concluding clause, "surely Allah is ample-giving, Knowing", supports this interpretation.