Apostate prophet loses track; Why did God change Qibla?

In answer to the video "The Truth About The Kaaba"

In Mecca before the Hijra, the prophet and his early followers prayed facing the Kaaba which was always regarded as the first temple ever dedicated to the One God, for all mankind 3:96. All previous places of worship were meant for a particular community. The universal character of the Kaaba came to fruition with the rise of the last prophet. It is also mentioned several times as the Ancient House because it was so old that it came to be known throughout Arabia by that name 22:29,33 and its history went back to the days of Ibrahim and Ismail 2:125,14:35-41. But to the pagans who overtime had transformed this symbol of monotheism by including polytheistic innovations, this stance of the prophet was unacceptable since he was reforming the spiritual meaning of the most sacred pagan shrine.

The first change of Qibla occurred in Mecca itself, where the believers were commanded to face Jerusalem in prayer. This means the prophet was facing Jerusalem at a time when the Jewish involvement in his life was totally insignificant. Also, the political, cultural, social and every other interests in Mecca were to stay with the Kaaba as the center of prayer. The Prophet's purpose from the very beginning was to restore the Abrahamic religion to its purity, which included cleansing the House of God from idolatry.

This move, openly declaring a new direction of prayer was contrary to all political wisdom. The Arabs and Muslim hypocrites would argue that those who turned away from the Kaaba were traitors that abandoned the age-old Arabian traditions, customs, heritage, and culture, so intertwined with it.   Some critics argue that at the first stage of his migration to Medina the prophet sought validation from the Jews, but due to their rejection, the qibla to Jerusalem was changed to Mecca. Yet when the prophet arrived in Medina, among the first people to convert and join Muslim ranks was Abdullah ibn Salam, the most respected and knowledgeable religious figure of the local Jewish community. Had the prophet's motivations been what the critics allege, he would have kept Jerusalem as the qibla regardless of the Jewish layman's rejection of him. The revelations as regards the qibla, as will be shown below, were unrelated to these suppositions.

It was, before anything, a tense period of spiritual resolve among the Muslims. The idea that Muhammad would then change the qibla to appease a minority group of people is absurd. The religious, political and economical centers of interest were, as stated earlier, in Mecca and controled by the pagan Arabs, some of whom had recently converted to Islam.

And in fact we read in the Quran that it was the Jews and Christians themselves, out of envy and jealousy, who wanted him to follow their religion and join their ranks, not the other way around 2:109,2:120.

The pagans similarly went out of their way and tried all possible means to make him yield somehow to their position and compromise some of his principles with theirs. It is also interesting to note that, when the second change of qibla was issued in Medina, away from Jerusalem to the Kaaba exclusively, the people of the book took offence and protested. This is contrary to what one would expect from someone claiming to be on the truth, but everything one would expect from a group of people looking at another out of jealousy

2:109"after the truth has become manifest to them".

Besides basic tribal prejudice, these envious Jews and Christians disliked the Qibla change away from Jerusalem because of a deeper reason. And while some learned men among the Jews and Christians let go of their pride, joining the Muslim ranks, many remained blinded by their prejudice

2:147"Those whom we have given the Book recognize him as they recognize their own sons, and a party of them most surely conceal the truth while being aware".

They could not help but see the unfolding of the divine will in front of their eyes, through the change of qibla, the removal of a group from being the torch bearers of the truth to the nations, in favor of another group which their scriptures despised

2:142-6"..what has turned them from their qibla which they had?...those who have been given the book most surely known that it is the truth from their Lord. And Allah is not at all heedless of what they do...and if you follow their desires after the knowledge has come to you, then you shall surely be among the unjust".