It is narrated from Sayyiduna Bara’ bin Azib (may Allah be pleased with him) that when the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) arrived in Madinah Munawwarah, he initially stayed with his Ansari ancestors or maternal uncles and resided there. Upon arriving there, he (peace and blessings be upon him) performed prayers facing Bayt al-Maqdis for sixteen or seventeen months, while his heartfelt desire was that his qiblah be the Ka'bah. (After the change of qiblah) the very first prayer that he (peace and blessings be upon him) performed facing the Ka'bah was the Asr prayer. The people also performed the prayer with him. One of those who had performed the prayer with the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) left from there, and as he passed by some people who were praying in the mosque and were in the state of ruku', he said: "I bear witness by Allah that I have just performed prayer with the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) facing Makkah." Those people turned towards the Ka'bah during their prayer. It was also the heartfelt desire of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) that his direction be turned towards the Ka'bah (Baytullah), and the Jews liked that he used to perform prayers facing Bayt al-Maqdis and the qiblah of the People of the Book. When his direction was turned towards Baytullah, this did not please them.

It is narrated from Sayyidah Aisha Siddiqa (may Allah be pleased with her) that the Noble Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said to her: The Jews do not envy us for anything as much as they envy us for Friday, the day which Allah has given to us and from which they have been deprived. They also envy us for our Qiblah, which Allah has given to us and from which they have been deprived, and they envy us for saying "Ameen" behind the Imam.