Fwd: Please do not call it masjad dhirar, .............................................. call it ICNA masjad Marietta, GA.

[M. Khan]

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Mrs Ghulam Rasool <atlantamu...@yahoo.com>
Date: Aug 16, 2007 10:02 AM
Subject: Please do not call it masjad dhirar,
.............................................. call it ICNA masjad
Marietta, GA.
To: dispute...@googlegroups.com

Tafsir of aayaat 107-110, Surah Tawbah taken from Ma'ariful Quran:

Commentary
Anti-Islam activities of hypocrites have been described in several
previous verses. The present verses mention yet another conspiracy
hatched by them. It has been reported that there was a man in
Madi-nah. His name was Abu 'Amir. He had become a Christian during the
days of Jahiliyyah and was known as Abu 'Amir the Rahib (that is, a
monk). This is the same Abu 'Amir whose son Hanzalah is a well-known
Sahabi whose dead body was washed by angels and which gave him the
sobriquet of'the one who was bathed by angels.' But, the father stuck
by his error and remained a Christian.
When the Holy Prophet (S.A.W.), came to Madinah, Abu 'Amir the Rahib
visited him and criticized Islam. Even the answers given by the Holy
Prophet (S.A.W.) did not satisfy this unfortunate man. In fact, he
said, 'may the liar between the two of us be cursed and die in travel
far away from friends and relatives.' He also said, 'I shall be there
to help any aggressor against you.' And so he did. He fought on the
side of the enemies of Muslims in all battles right through the
bat­tle of Hunain. When the big and strong tribe of Hawazin too was
de­feated, he lost hope. He ran away to Syria, the stronghold of
Chris­tians where he died far away from his friends and relatives. The
prayer he had made was before him. When disgrace is destined for
someone, this is how he acts. His own prayer brought that disgrace
upon him.
But, as long as he lived, he remained busy hatching conspiracies
against Islam and Muslims. He virtually tried to induce the Byzantine
ruler to attack Madinah and expel Muslims from there.
One aspect of this conspiracy materialized when he wrote a letter to
the hypocrites of Madinah with whom he had a sinister understand­ing.
He told them that he was working on the Byzantine ruler to at­tack
Madinah. But, it was necessary to have group strength to lend lo­cal
support to the invader. For this purpose, he suggested that they
should make a building right there in Madinah giving people the
im­pression that they were building a mosque so that Muslims do not
get to be suspicious. After that, they should get their men together
in this place and collect as much of weapons and supplies as they
could. He wanted this to become an undercover center where his
accomplices would be conducting their activities against Muslims by
mutual con­sultation.
It was on his suggestion that twelve hypocrites got together in Quba',
a locality of Madinah where the Holy Prophet (S.A.W.) had first stayed
during his hijrah and where he had built a masjid. They chose the same
place to lay the foundation of another 'masjid'. Ibn Ishaq and others
have also reported the names of these hypocrites. Then, to keep
Muslims under deception, the hypocrites made a plan that they would
have the Holy Prophet (S.A.W.) lead a Salah in congregation at their
so-called masjid so that all Muslims are con­vinced that this new
place was also a masjid very much like the one built there earlier.
A delegation from them came to the Holy Prophet (S.A.W.). They pleaded
that the existing Masjid of Quba' was far away. It was difficult for
old and sick people to reach there. Moreover, they argued, the Masjid
of Quba' itself was not spacious enough to accommodate all residents
of the locality. Therefore, they claimed, they had founded an­other
masjid for that purpose so that older Muslims may benefit by it.
Finally, (releasing their punch line) they said, 'please lead a Salah
in this 'masjid' so that it stands blessed!'
That was a time when the Holy Prophet (S.A.W.) was getting ready for
the battle of Tabuk. He told them that he would be unable to do that
as he was about to leave the city but he promised that he would pray
there when he returned.
However, on his return from the battle of Tabuk, when he camped at a
place close to Madinah, the verses cited above were revealed to him
which had exposed the conspiracy of these hypocrites. After the
revelation of these verses, the Holy Prophet (S.A.W.) ordered some of
his Companions, 'Amir ibn Sakan, Wahshi, the killer of Hamzah and
others, to go, demolish and burn the structure (of the ill-intentioned
'masjid'). So these gentlemen took off, carried out the orders and the
structure was leveled flat on the ground. (This event has been
abridged from narratives reported in Tafsir al-Qurtubi and Mazhari.)
Quoting Muhammad ibn Yusuf Salihi, Tafsir Mazhari also reports that
the site of Masjid Dirar was still lying vacant at the time the Holy
Prophet (S.A.W.) had reached and settled in Madinah. When he al­lowed
'Asim ibn 'Adiyy to build his house on that site, he submitted, 'ya
rasulallah, I do not like to build a house on a cursed site about
which these verses of the Qur'an have been revealed. Nevertheless,
Thabit ibn Aqram is really in need of a house for he has none. Please
allow him to make a house here.' So, going along with his suggestion,
he gave this plot of land to Thabit ibn Aqram. But, as fate would have
it, since the time Sayyidna Thabit came to live in the house he made
there, he either had no child or if he did, the child did not live.
Historians have added that this place was cursed not only for hu­man
beings but also for domestic birds and animals that could not sur­vive
with their normal way of living. Thus, after that time, this place
lies desolate at some distance from the well-known Masjid Quba'.
After having gone through the details of the event, let us now turn to
the text of the cited verses. It was said in the first verse (107):æó
ÇáÐíäó ÇÊÎÐæÇ ãóÓÌÏÇð (And [there are] those who have built a mosque)
to bring harm upon Muslims.
This verse points out to three motives behind the making of this 'masjid':
<!--[if !supportLists]-->1. <!--[endif]-->The first one is: öÖóÑÇÑð
(diraran: to cause harm to Muslims). The words ÖÑÇÑ : dirar' and: ÖÑÑ
: darar' are both used in the Arabic language to carry the sense of
causing harm. As for difference between the two, it has been said that
'darar' is a harm that brings gain for the person harming but causes
loss for the harmed. And 'dirar' is the inflicting of a loss upon
other people while it brings just no gain for the person in­flicting
it. Since, this was going to be the fate of this 'masjid' - that its
founders gain nothing out of it - therefore, the word 'dirar' was used
here.
<!--[if !supportLists]-->2. <!--[endif]-->The second motive reads:
ÊóÝÑíÞðÇ Èóíäó ÇáãõÄãöäöíäó (to cause dissention among the believers).
It means that, by setting up this 'masjid', they looked forward to
creating a division among the community of Muslims. They hoped to wean
out a group that would be offering Salah in their masjid as a sort of
separate entity. Then, it may have also resulted in reduc­ing the
number of Muslims going for their prayers to the old Masjid Quba'.
<!--[if !supportLists]-->3. <!--[endif]-->The third motive was spelt
out as: ÇöÑÕóÇÏÇð áöãóä ÍÇóÑóÈó Çááåó to provide sanctuary to enemies
of Allah and His Messenger and a forum to con­spire against Muslims.
This presentation as a whole proves that the 'masjid' which was
de­clared to be a 'harmful mosque' (Masjid Dirar) by the Holy Qur'an,
and which was demolished and burnt down under the orders of the Holy
Prophet (S.A.W.) was no masjid in the real sense. Nor was it in­tended
to be a place where people could pray. The three objectives be­hind it
have been mentioned immediately above. From here we learn the rules
that should be followed in our time. Today, may be some Muslims were
to make a masjid close to and in competition of another Masjid, while
their purpose is nothing but the same mutual discord, the same old
effort to split up the congregation of the first masjid, or any other
evil interest of this nature. If so, the maker of such a masjid will
deserve no reward from Allah. Rather, he would be a sinner be­cause of
having created dissention between Muslims - but, despite all this,
that place shall be called a masjid in terms of Islamic law, and the
etiquette and rules relating to mosques shall apply to it.
Demolish­ing it or putting it on fire shall not be permissible. And
the Salah of those who pray in it will also be valid - though, doing
so shall continue to be a sin in itself.
From here we also learn about another rule relevant in contempo­rary
setting. If a Muslim makes a masjid in that manner, either to show off
or to take an opposing stance out of obstinacy and enmity, the maker
will, though, not get the reward of making a masjid, instead, will
incur a sin, yet it will not be what Masjid Dirar is in the
terminol­ogy of the Holy Qur'an, that is, it will not be called by
that name. When some people notice a masjid like that, they would say
that it was Masjid Dirar. This is not correct. However, one could say
that it was like Masjid Dirar. Therefore, its building can also be
stayed - as done by Sayyidna 'Umar through a court order where he had
in­structed that another masjid should not be made close to the one
al­ready there lest the congregation and flourish of the first masjid
is af­fected adversely. (Tafsir Kashshaf)
About this Masjid Dirar, the Holy Prophet (S.A.W.) has been given the
order: á ÊóÞõã Ýöíåö ÇóÈóÏðÇ : 'Do not ever stand there (in prayer) -
108.' The word 'qiyam' in the text denotes standing for prayer. The
sense is that the Holy Prophet (S.A.W.) should never go in to offer
his prayers in a mosque by that name.
Ruling:
What it tells us is: If, even today, a new masjid is made adjacent to
the one already there unnecessarily, just to show off or to take an
op­posing stance out of obstinacy and enmity, the better choice is not
to offer prayers therein - though, Salah remains valid.
In the same verse (108), the Holy Prophet (S.A.W.) has also been told
that it is correct for him to pray in the particular masjid the
foundation of which has been laid on Taqwa (the fear of Allah) from
day one. And then, the people who offer their Salah in it love to
observe full precaution in remaining cleansed and pure (of all
physical and spiritual impurities) - for Allah too likes such
meticulous observers of self-purity.
The context of the verse shows what is being referred to here is
Masjid Quba' where the Holy Prophet (S.A.W.), used to say his prayers
at that time. There are some Hadith narratives that also sup­port this
view. (As reported by Ibn Marduwayh from Ibn 'Abbas, by 'Amr ibn
Shai-bah from Sahl al-Ansari and by Ibn Khuzaimah in his Sahih from
'Uwaimir ibn Sa'idah - with reference to Mazhari)
As for the reports which say that it refers to the Prophet (S.A.W.)'s
Mosque, they do not contradict it. The reason is that the foundation
of the Mosque of the Prophet (S.A.W.) was laid in accordance with a
revealed com­mand by the Holy Prophet (S.A.W.) with his blessed hands.
It goes without saying that its foundation rests on Taqwa, that is, on
purity, piety and fear of Allah. And who else could be more purified
than the noble messenger of Allah? Therefore, that too is is a masjid
founded on taqwa.. (As reported by Tirmidhi on sound authority from
Sayyidna Abu Sa'id al-Khudri with the chain of narrators ascending to
the Holy Prophet (S.A.W.) - from Qurtubi)
At the end of the verse (108), it was said: Ýöíåö ÑöÌóÇáñ íøõÍöÈøõæäó
Çóä íóÊóØóåøóÑõæÇ (In it there are people who like to observe purity).
In this verse, the masjid declared worthier for the prayers of the
Holy Prophet (S.A.W.) is the one the foundation of which was laid on
Taqwa from day one. Thus, both Masjid Quba' and the Mosque of the
Prophet (S.A.W.) are included in the sense of the verse. Also pointed
to in this verse there is yet another merit of this masjid - that
those who prayed in this masjid were a kind of people who did their
best to remain cleansed and pure. The word for purity used in the text
is Taharah. The sense of Taharah at this place includes purity from
common filth and impuri­ties, as well as purity from sins and bad
morals. Those who offered their prayers in Masjid Quba' and the
Prophet (S.A.W.)'s Mosque were general­ly equipped with all these
virtues.
Special Note
From here we also come to know that the merit or superiority of a
masjid really depends on the fact that it should have been made with
absolute sincerity for the sake of Allah. And to put it conversely,
there should not be any trace of duplicity, any motive to earn name,
fame and recognition, or any other false and corrupting interest
involved in its making. Then, we also learn that the quality of those
who pray in a masjid is significant. If they are good, righteous,
knowledgeable about their religion ('Alim) and are devoted to the
worship of Allah ('Abid), the superiority of the masjid increases.
Offering prayers in a masjid frequented by such God-fearing people is
more merit worthy.
In the third (109) and the fourth (110) verses, Masjid Dirar (the
harmful mosque) made by the hypocrites has been condemned as it has to
be when compared with a masjid that is blessed. This has been
accomplished through the use of a similitude. The surface of the land
on which they were laying the foundation of their 'masjid' has been
lik­ened to a landmass that has been corroded on the inside by flowing
water. The topsoil looks solid and smooth. Now, if someone starts
building there, it is obvious that the whole thing would collapse
in­stantly. Similarly, the foundation of this Masjid Dirar was
inherently unstable. The result was that it collapsed and went right
into the fire of Jahannam. The expression 'collapsed into the fire of
Jahannam' could be figurative in its sense - in that it smoothed out
the way of Ja­hannam for its makers. Some others have taken it in the
real sense -in that the masjid, when made to collapse, went into the
Jahannam. Allah knows best.
Then, in the last verse (110), it was said that this building would
al­ways keep increasing the doubt and hypocrisy in their hearts unless
their hearts are shredded into pieces. The sense is that their doubt,
hypocrisy, envy and chagrin would go on increasing right to the end of
their life.

________________________________

Allahu Alam
May Allah bring us some benefit and understanding of the Deen through
pondering over these verses.
May He give us sincerity in all our actions, and protect us from
hypocrisy, pride and all things which earn His displeasure. Aameen.

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