Tafsir of Al-Jinn 72:18

Surah Al-Jinn (72): Verse 18

وَأَنَّ الْمَسَاجِدَ لِلَّهِ (And that the places of prostration are for Allah.)

Issue 1: The Implied Structure (Taqdīr)

There are two main interpretations regarding the implied structure of the verse:

1. The view of Al-Khalīl (Sibawayh): The implied structure is: "Say, it was revealed to me that the mosques are for Allah, and because the mosques are for Allah, do not invoke anyone besides Him."
   • In this view, the lām (for/because) is connected to the prohibition that follows (i.e., fa-lā tadʿū - so do not invoke). This means: Do not invoke anyone alongside Allah in the mosques because they are exclusively for Him.
   • A parallel example cited is: Wa inna hādhihi ummatukum ummatan wāḥidatan wa anā rabbukum fa-ʿbudūn (And indeed this, your nation, is one nation, and I am your Lord, so worship Me), implying: For this reason, worship Me.

Issue 2: The Meaning of Al-Masājid (Mosques/Places of Prostration)

Scholars have differed on the meaning of al-masājid in this context:

1. The Majority View: They are the structures built specifically for prayer and the remembrance of Allah. This includes the churches (kanā’is) and synagogues (bīʿ) of the People of the Book, as they perform their acts of worship (which involve associating partners with God in their prayers) in those places. Thus, Allah commands Muslims to be sincere and uphold pure monotheism in these places.
2. Al-Hasan's First View: It refers to the entire Earth. This is based on the Prophet's saying: "The earth has been made a place of prostration for me." The implication is that since the entire Earth was created by Allah, one should not prostrate upon it to anyone other than its Creator.
3. Al-Hasan's Second View (Reported): Al-Masājid refers to the prayers (al-ṣalawāt) themselves. In this case, masājid is the plural of masjid (with a fatḥa on the jīm), and masjid is a verbal noun (maṣdar) meaning "prostration" (sujūd).
4. Saʿīd ibn Jubayr's View (Chosen by Ibn al-Anbārī): It refers to the seven limbs upon which a servant prostrates: the two feet, the two knees, the two hands, and the face. Since these parts of the body are created by Allah, a rational person should not prostrate them to anyone other than the true God. Here, masājid means the places of prostration on the body. The singular form (masjid) would have a fatḥa on the jīm.

Note on Singular Form (Wāḥid): Al-Wāḥidī states that the singular form of masājid is masjid (with a fatḥa on the jīm) for all the above opinions, except for the first view (structures built for prayer), where the singular is masjid (with a kasra on the jīm). This is because nouns derived from verbal nouns (maṣādir) generally have a fatḥa on the middle letter (the ʿayn), except for a few exceptions, such as: al-masjid, al-maṭlaʿ, al-mansak, al-maskan, al-manbat, al-mafraq, al-masqaṭ, al-majzar, al-maḥshar, al-mashriq, and al-maghrib. (Note: The fatḥa is permissible, though less common, in some of these, like al-mansak and al-maskan.)

5. ʿAṭā’ from Ibn ʿAbbās's View: It refers to the entire city of Mecca, including all the mosques within it, because Mecca is the Qibla (direction of prayer) for the entire world, toward which everyone prostrates.

Issue 3: The Recommended Supplication

Al-Hasan said that it is part of the Sunnah that when a man enters a mosque, he should say: "There is no god but Allah" (Lā ilāha illā Allāh), because the verse, Fa-lā tadʿū maʿa Allāhi aḥadan (So do not invoke anyone alongside Allah), implicitly commands the remembrance of Allah and supplicating to Him.

Among what was revealed is the Almighty's saying:

وَأَنَّهُ لَمَّا قَامَ عَبْدُ اللَّهِ يَدْعُوهُ كَادُوا يَكُونُونَ عَلَيْهِ لِبَدًا (And that when the Servant of Allah stood up to call upon Him, they [the Jinn] almost pressed closely upon him in a mass.)