Qibla al-Qudsiyya
The
Qibla al-Qudsiyya is the name given to a small sect of the
Jews of
Medina who converted to
Islam in 622/623. When the
qibla (direction of prayer for Muslims) was changed from
Jerusalem (known in Arabic as
al-Quds) to
Makkah, these Jews protested and finally declined the change.
They remained Muslims, but did not accept any of the verses in the Quran that descended from Heaven after the date of the split. Little is known of the existence of these Islamic Jews afterwards.
cf.
Sirat un-Nabi
Jahiz - Kitab al-Bukhala