Tafsir of At-Tawbah 9:108

( "Do not stand therein" )—that is, for prayer—( "therein" )—meaning, in that mosque—( "ever." ) From Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with both of them) is the interpretation of ( "Do not stand" ) as "do not pray," based on the fact that "standing" is a metaphor for prayer, as in their saying: "So-and-so stands the night [in prayer]," and in the Hadith: "Whoever stands [in prayer] during Ramadan out of faith and anticipation, his sins will be forgiven."

( "A mosque founded" )—that is, its foundation was built—( "upon piety" )—meaning the piety of Allah the Exalted and obedience to Him—( "and" )—upon what is understood from it. It is not hidden that making piety—which is an abstract concept—a foundation contains hyperbole. It has been said that "on" (ala) here means "with," and it has been said that it is for causal reasoning, as it is considered in the previous [part of the verse regarding the] act of taking [the mosque]. The lam is either for the beginning [of a sentence] or for an oath, meaning: "And by Allah, a mosque..." On either estimation, "mosque" is the subject (mubtada') and the sentence following it is its descriptor (sifah).

His saying ( "from the first day" ) is linked to "founded," and "from" (min) is for the commencement of time, as is apparent. Therein is evidence for the Kufans that it [the preposition min] can be used for the commencement of time absolutely, without being restricted to place. The Basrans disagreed on this, prohibiting its entry upon time and restricting it to mudh and mundhu. They interpreted the verse as containing an elided genitive (mudaf), meaning "from the founding of the first day." Al-Zajjaj countered this, followed by Abu al-Baqa', stating that this is weak because the estimated "founding" is not a place such that "from" could signify the beginning of the end-point within it. It was replied that their intent by this interpretation was to escape the usage of it for the commencement of time, and that this interpretation achieved that. There is nothing in their speech that indicates it cannot signify the commencement of time unless it is in a place.

Al-Radi said: "I do not see in the verse or its counterparts a meaning of 'commencement' (ibtida'), as the intent is for the action to be something extended, like travel or walking, and the noun governed by min is the beginning [point], such as 'I traveled from Basra,' or for it to be the origin of something extended, such as 'I went out from the house,' since 'going out' is not extended. 'Founding' is not extended, nor is it the origin of something extended; rather, both are events occurring after the point of time designated by min. Thus, this meaning is 'in' (fi), and min in expressions of time often occurs in the sense of fi." End quote.

There is a manifest refutation in the claim that "founding" is not an origin for something extended. Indeed, the second learned scholar favored the possibility of its meaning "in" (the temporal sense), and it has a basis. In that case, the argument [of the Kufans] is invalidated and the verse contains no proof for them. The truth is that many verses and the speech of the Arabs testify for them, and insisting on interpreting all of that is a burden for which there is no cause.

His saying ( "is more worthy that you stand therein" ) is the predicate of the subject. ( "More worthy" ) is a superlative, and the one preferred over is every mosque, or the "Mosque of Opposition" (Masjid al-Dirar) by way of assumption and supposition, or it is according to their claim. It is said that it means "truly," i.e., that mosque is truly worthy for you to pray in.

There is disagreement regarding the intended [mosque]. Ibn Abbas and al-Dahhak said it is the Mosque of Quba, and reports have come regarding the virtue of praying therein. Ibn Abi Shaybah, al-Tirmidhi, al-Hakim (who authenticated it), and Ibn Majah narrated from Usayd bin Zuhayr that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: "A prayer in the Mosque of Quba is like an Umrah."

A group went to the view that it is the Mosque of Medina, the Mosque of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him). They used as evidence what Muslim, al-Tirmidhi, Ibn Jarir, al-Nasai, and others narrated from Abu Sa'id al-Khudri, who said: "Two men differed regarding the mosque which was founded on piety. One of them said: 'It is the Mosque of Quba,' and the other said: 'It is the Mosque of Medina.' They came to the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) and asked him about it. He said: 'It is this mosque of mine.'"

He also said regarding the other: "There is much good in that," meaning the Mosque of Quba. It is reported in several narrations that when he (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) was asked about it, he said: "It is this mosque of mine." The first view was supported by the fact that it is more consistent with the context and the sequence, and because it was built before the Mosque of Medina. The Sharif al-Samhudi combined the reports, as did al-Suhayli before him, saying: "Both mosques are intended, as both were founded on piety from the first day of their founding." The secret in his (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) answering the question in that manner [referring to his own mosque] was to repel the notion the questioner might have had regarding the exclusivity of that [virtue] to the Mosque of Quba, and to draw attention to the merit of this [his mosque] over that. This combination is clearly far-fetched, as the manifest meaning of the Hadith narrated by the group from Abu Sa'id al-Khudri is far from it. For this reason, some researchers chose the second view, supporting it with the fact that the Mosque of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) is more worthy of the description of being founded on piety from the first day, and that the expression of "standing" for prayer in His saying ( "more worthy that you stand therein" ) necessitates constancy, and this is strengthened by the confirmation of the prohibition with His saying ( "ever" ). The constancy of the Messenger (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) was only found in his noble mosque.

As for what al-Tirmidhi and Abu Dawud narrated from Abu Hurayrah—that His saying ( "therein are men who love to purify themselves" ) was revealed concerning the people of Quba, as they used to perform istinja (cleansing) with water—it does not contradict the text of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him). And as for what Ibn Majah narrated from Abu Ayyub, Jabir, and Anas—that when this verse was revealed, the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: "O assembly of Ansar, Allah the Exalted has praised you well regarding purity; what is this purity of yours?" They said: "We perform Wudu for prayer and perform Ghusl from Janabah." He said: "Is there anything else?" They said: "No, except that when one of us goes out to defecate, he loves to cleanse himself with water." The Messenger (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: "That is it, so hold fast to it." This does not indicate the exclusivity of the people of Quba, nor does it contradict applying it to the people of his mosque (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) among the Ansar.

I say: The reports regarding the revelation of this verse concerning the people of Quba are numerous. Ahmad, Ibn Khuzaymah, al-Tabarani, Ibn Mardawayh, and al-Hakim narrated from Uwaym bin Sa'idah al-Ansari that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) came to them in the Mosque of Quba and said: "Allah the Exalted has praised you well regarding purity in the story of your mosque; what is this purity with which you purify yourselves?" They mentioned that they wash their backsides after defecation.

"And Allah loves those who purify themselves"—meaning He is pleased with them, honors them, and magnifies their reward. This is what is meant by the love of Allah the Exalted according to the Ash'arites and their followers. They mentioned that true love is not attributed to Him the Exalted, and some interpreted the expression used here as mushakalah (correspondence). "Those who purify themselves" refers either to those men or to the entire class, and they are included in it.