Surah At-Tawba (9) — Ayah 107

(Ayah 107) {وَ الَّذِيْنَ اتَّخَذُوْا مَسْجِدًا ضِرَارًا …: } This mentions another vile act of the hypocrites: that they could not find a suitable place to gather and keep their secrets hidden in order to devise plans and conspiracies against Islam and the Muslims, so they built a mosque right next to Masjid Quba. Allah Almighty has stated four objectives for building this mosque. All four objectives are mentioned with the word of the infinitive: (1) {’’ ضِرَارًا ‘‘} That is, this mosque is not for the worship of Allah Almighty but to harm and cause distress to the believers. (2) {’’ وَ كُفْرًا ‘‘} The foundation of mosques is on faith in Allah and His Messenger and to call upon Allah alone, as He said: «{ وَ اَنَّ الْمَسٰجِدَ لِلّٰهِ فَلَا تَدْعُوْا مَعَ اللّٰهِ اَحَدًا }» [ الجن : ۱۸ ] but its foundation is the hidden disbelief and polytheism in their hearts and its propagation against Allah Almighty and His Messenger. (3) {’’ وَ تَفْرِيْقًۢا بَيْنَ الْمُؤْمِنِيْنَ ‘‘} Building a mosque right next to Masjid Quba, when it already existed, clearly meant to tear apart the unity of the Muslims so that they would not pray together in one place, because the hypocrites were extremely envious of the mutual love, harmony, and unity of the Muslims due to Islam. (4) {’’ وَ اِرْصَادًا لِّمَنْ حَارَبَ اللّٰهَ وَ رَسُوْلَهٗ ‘‘} To provide a hiding place under the cover of a mosque for those who previously opposed Allah and His Messenger and fought against them, especially the hypocrites and those who had fled from Madinah and, while living under the protection of the enemies, were conspiring against Islam, and for the men sent by them. Historians have especially mentioned here Abu Amir the Monk (whom the Muslims had named Abu Amir the Transgressor), who was the father of the famous companion Hanzalah Ghaseel al-Malaikah, and who became a Christian and went to Heraclius to seek help against the Muslims. On his suggestion, this mosque was built as an ambush and hiding place for those coming to fight the Muslims.

The hypocrites made the excuse of building the mosque to remove suspicion from the hearts of the Muslims, saying that they had built it for the convenience of the sick and weak, so that they could pray there comfortably in cold and rain, and at the same time, they came to the service of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) and requested that he come and pray there, so that they could receive blessings. Their desire was that by his praying there, our mosque would be accepted and we could continue our activities. At that time, he was setting out for Tabuk, so he said that if Allah wills, on my return I will come and pray in your mosque. When the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) returned from Tabuk and was very close to Madinah, Jibreel (peace be upon him) descended with these verses, in which the reality of this Masjid Dhirar was exposed, and it was also stated that these people will surely swear that their intention in building this mosque was nothing but good, whereas Allah Almighty bears witness that without a doubt, these people are certainly liars.