Tafsir of At-Tawbah 9:17

(It is not for the polytheists)—meaning it is neither appropriate nor befitting for them, even if it does occur—(to maintain the mosques of Allah). The apparent meaning is that it refers to mosques in general, for it is a plural noun attached [to a genitive]; thus, it is inclusive, and the Sacred Mosque (Al-Masjid al-Haram) is included in this primarily. Maintaining it was their basis for pride, and the negation of the plural implies the negation of every individual instance of it; thus, by way of metonymy (kinayah), it necessitates the negation of that specific instance.

It is reported from ‘Ikrimah and others that the intended meaning is specifically the Sacred Mosque, a view chosen by some investigators. It is expressed in the plural because it is the prayer direction (qiblah) of all mosques and their leader, toward which their prayer niches (maharib) are oriented; therefore, the one who maintains it is as one who maintains them all. Alternatively, it is because every mosque is a distinct region, whereas the Sacred Mosque is a mosque unto itself, unlike other mosques. This is supported by the recitation of Abu ‘Amr, Ya‘qub, Ibn Kathir, and many others, who read it as masjid in the singular.

Some have interpreted "It is not" (ma kana) as a negation of existence and realization, and they provided the elliptical addition "to maintain them rightly," because they did maintain them without it [rightness]. However, there is no need for this according to our previously stated interpretation.

(While witnessing against themselves with disbelief)—by manifesting that which indicates their disbelief, even if they did not explicitly say, "We are disbelievers." Some have said it refers to their saying: "At your service, You have no partner, except a partner who is Yours; You possess him and all that he possesses." Others say it refers to their saying: "We disbelieve in that which Muhammad (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) has brought." This is a state (hal) of the pronoun in "maintain." It is said: The meaning is that it was not upright/proper for them to combine two contradictory things: the maintenance of the House and disbelief in its Lord, Exalted is He. Some have said: It is impossible for what they called the maintenance of the House of Allah to be true while they were embroiled in that which contradicts it and nullifies it, namely the worship of other than Him, Exalted is He, for that is not part of maintenance in any sense.

Objection has been raised against the view that "it was not upright for them to combine two contradictory things" on the grounds that this does not elucidate the core of the intent. The lack of uprightness in combining two contradictions only necessitates the negation of one of the two, not specifically which one, whereas the intended meaning is the negation of the maintenance itself. Its apparent form suggests that the negation in the speech refers to the qualified entity (muqayyad). In that case, there is no obstacle to the intended meaning of "It is not" being a negation of worthiness, as we mentioned; the objective is to invalidate the polytheists' pride in that [maintenance] because it is accompanied by that which contradicts it, which is polytheism. It is permissible that the negation be directed at the restriction [of "maintaining rightly"], as is common, though this is forced and lacks consideration. Perhaps he who stated the meaning was "it was not upright for them to combine..." made the point of focus the accompaniment signaled by the state. Nevertheless, this does not prevent the intended meaning, in view of the context, from being the negation of the validity of taking pride in the maintenance and the provision of water (siqayah). Consider this carefully.

Evidence that the context is for the negation of pride is what Abu al-Shaykh and Ibn Jarir recorded from al-Dahhak: that when al-‘Abbas was taken prisoner, the Muslims reproached him for polytheism and severing ties of kinship, and ‘Ali (may Allah honor his face) spoke harshly to him. Al-‘Abbas said: "You mention our bad deeds and conceal our good deeds; we maintain the Sacred Mosque, tend the Ka‘bah, provide water for the pilgrims, and free the captive." Then this was revealed. Ibn Jarir, Ibn al-Mundhir, and Ibn Abi Hatim also recorded a similar account from Ibn ‘Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both).

(Those)—meaning the aforementioned polytheists—(whose deeds have become worthless)—which they boast about, due to the disbelief that accompanied them, such that they became as nothing—(and in the Fire they will abide eternally). This is due to the gravity of what they committed. The nominal sentence is used to express exaggeration in [their] eternity. The prepositional phrase [in the Fire] is related to the predicate, and it is placed before it to highlight it and to observe the rhyme. It is said that this sentence is a conjunction to the sentence "have become worthless" as another predicate for "those," while others say it is an independent commencement, similar to the sentence "Those... have become worthless." Their benefit is to confirm the previous negation: the first regarding the negation of the attainment of reward, and the second regarding the negation of the repulsion of punishment.