At-Tawbah (The Repentance): (107) And those who took a mosque...

Know that when the Almighty mentioned the types of hypocrites and their various methods, He said:

{And those who took a mosque for harm and disbelief, and to cause division among the believers}

There are several issues concerning this verse:

Issue 1: The Reading of "And those"

1. Nāfiʿ and Ibn ʿĀmir read it as {الذين اتخذوا} (Alladhīna) without the initial wāw (و). This reading is also found in the Mus'hafs of the people of Medina.
2. The rest read it with the wāw (والذين - Wa-lladhīna), which is found in the Mus'hafs of Mecca and al-Shām (the Levant).
   • The first reading (without wāw) is taken as an appositive (badal) to His saying: {And others who are awaiting the outcome...} (referring to the previous verse).
   • The second reading (with wāw) implies the estimation: "And among them are those who took a mosque for harm..."

Issue 2: The Identity of Those Who Built the Mosque

Al-Wāḥidī stated that Ibn ʿAbbās, Mujāhid, Qatādah, and the majority of the commentators (may God be pleased with them) said that those who took a mosque for harm were twelve hypocrites. They built a mosque specifically to cause harm to the Mosque of Qubāʾ.

I say that the Almighty described this mosque with four characteristics:

• Ḍirār means attempting to inflict harm, just as shiqāq means attempting to cause a split.
• Al-Zajjāj explained that the accusative case (naṣb) of {ḍirāran} is because it is an object of purpose (mafʿūl lah). The meaning is: they took it for harm and for the other matters mentioned afterward. Since the preposition li- (for) was omitted, the verb itself implies the purpose, hence the accusative case. It is also permissible for it to be a verbal noun (maṣdar) used idiomatically, meaning: "They took a mosque, harming with it a harm."

• Ibn ʿAbbās (may God be pleased with him) interpreted this as: harm to the believers and disbelief in the Prophet (peace be upon him) and what he brought.
• Others said: They took it so they could practice disbelief within it by slandering the Prophet (PBUH) and Islam.

• This means they sought to divide the community of believers through it.
• The hypocrites said: "We will build a mosque so we can pray in it, and we will not pray behind Muḥammad. If he comes to us there, we will pray with him, and thus we will create a division between him and those who pray in his mosque, leading to a divergence of opinion and the nullification of affection."

• They said the intended person was Abū ʿĀmir al-Rāhib (the Monk), the uncle of Ḥanẓalah (whom the angels washed). The Messenger of God (PBUH) named him al-Fāsiq (the wicked).
• He had converted to Christianity in the pre-Islamic era, became a monk, and sought knowledge. When the Messenger of God (PBUH) appeared, he became hostile to him because his leadership was lost. He said: "I will not find a people fighting you except that I will fight alongside them." He continued fighting the Prophet until the Battle of Ḥunayn.
• When the Hawāzin were defeated, he fled to Syria and sent a message to the hypocrites: "Prepare whatever strength and weaponry you can, and build me a mosque, for I am going to Caesar, and I will return with an army from him to expel Muḥammad and his companions." So they built this mosque and waited for Abū ʿĀmir to come and lead them in prayer there.
• Al-Zajjāj said: Irṣād means waiting. Ibn Qutaybah said: Irṣād means waiting coupled with enmity. The majority said: Irṣād means preparation/making ready.
• The Almighty said: {Indeed, your Lord is in wait/ambush} (Al-Fajr: 14).
• His saying {beforehand} (min qabl) means before the building of the Mosque of Harm.

Then, after describing this mosque with these four characteristics, the Almighty said:

{And they will surely swear, "We intended nothing but good"}

This means they would swear that their intention in building it was nothing but the best action—namely, showing kindness to the weak, the sick, and those unable to travel to the Mosque of the Messenger of God (PBUH). This is because they said to the Messenger of God (PBUH): "We have built a mosque for the infirm, the needy, and for rainy or wintry nights."

Then the Almighty said:

{But Allāh bears witness that they are indeed liars.}

The meaning is that God informed the Messenger that their oaths were false.

Know that the grammatical position of {And those who...} (Wa-lladhīna) is in the nominative case (rafʿ) as an initial subject (mubtadaʾ), and its predicate (khabar) is omitted, meaning: "And among those we mentioned are those who..."

| 7 < { You shall never stand in prayer therein. A mosque founded on piety from the first day is more worthy that you should stand in prayer therein. In it are men who love to purify themselves, and Allāh loves those who purify themselves. *Is one who founded his building on piety toward Allāh and His good pleasure better, or one who founded his building on the brink of a crumbling cliff, ready to collapse with him into the fire of Hell? And Allāh does not guide the wrongdoing people. *The building which they built will never cease to be a source of doubt in their hearts, unless their hearts are cut to pieces. And Allāh is Knowing, Wise.} > 7

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Translation of Verses 108–110: