His saying, exalted and majestic is He: "And others are deferred to the command of Allah, either He will punish them or He will forgive them. And Allah is Knowing and Wise." "And those who took a mosque as a means of harm and disbelief and division among the believers, and as a station for whoever fought Allah and His Messenger before, and they will surely swear, 'We intended nothing but good.' And Allah bears witness that they are indeed liars."

His saying, the Most High: "And others are deferred" is an addition to His earlier saying: "And others." Nafi', Al-A'raj, Ibn Nasah, Abu Ja'far, Talhah, Al-Hasan, and the people of Hijaz read it as "Murjawn" from Arja, without a hamzah. Abu Amr, Asim, and the people of Basrah read it as "Murja'oon" from Arja'a with a hamzah. There is a difference reported from Asim, and both are two dialects, and their meanings (p-403) are deferral. From it comes the term Al-Murji'ah because they deferred actions, meaning they deferred their ruling and rank. Al-Mubarrid denied the omission of the hamzah in the meaning of deferral, and it is not as he said.

What is meant by this verse - according to Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with him, Ikrimah, Mujahid, Al-Dahhak, Qatadah, and Ibn Ishaq - are the three who stayed behind: Hilal ibn Umayyah Al-Waqifi, Mararah ibn Al-Rabi', and Ka'b ibn Malik. This verse was revealed before their repentance, and it is said that it was revealed about others among the hypocrites who were exposed to repentance while they were building the mosque of harm. Thus, "And those who took" is with the dropping of the conjunction waw as a substitute for "others" [Al-Furqan: 4] or as an initial subject whose estimation is: they are the ones. Therefore, the verse - on this basis - contains an invitation to them and a call to faith and repentance. And "Knowing" means: of whom He guides to righteousness, and "Wise" in what He executes of granting ease to whom He wills and punishing whom He wills; there is no Lord other than Him nor deity besides Him.

Asim, and the majority of the reciters, and people in every region except Medina read: "And those who took." The people of Medina, Nafi', Abu Ja'far, Shaiba, and others read "Those who took" with the dropping of the waw, and it is likewise in their mushaf, as stated by Abu Hatim. Al-Zahrawi said: it is the reading of Ibn Amer, and it is in the mushafs of the people of Sham without a waw. As for those who read with the waw, that is an addition to His saying, exalted and majestic is He: "And others," meaning: and among them are those who took. As for those who read with its omission, they raised "those" as an initial subject. There is a difference in the report, and it is said: the report is: "Do not stand in it ever," as stated by Al-Kisai, and it is implied either at the beginning of the verse or at the end with the estimation: "Do not stand in their mosque." It is said: the report is: "Their building will not cease," as stated by Al-Nahhas, and this is clearer. I have mentioned the fact that "those" is a substitute for "others" earlier. Al-Mahdawi said: the report is omitted, its estimation is: "They will be punished" or something similar.

As for the group referred to by "those who took," they are the hypocrites of Banu Ghanam ibn Awf and Banu Salim ibn Awf. Al-Tabari reported from Ibn Ishaq from Al-Zuhri and others that he said: "The Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, returned from the battle of Tabuk until he descended at Dhul Awain - a town between it and Medina, an hour's journey during the day. The companions of the Mosque of Dirar had come to him while he was preparing for Tabuk and said: 'O Messenger of Allah, we have built a mosque for those in need and for the rainy night, and we love for you to come and pray in it for us.' He said: 'I am on the wings of travel and in a state of work. If Allah wills, when we arrive, we will come to you and pray for you in it.' When he approached and descended at Dhul Awain, the Quran was revealed concerning the Mosque of Dirar. The Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, called Malik ibn Al-Dukhshum and Ma'n ibn Adi or his brother Asim ibn Adi and said: 'Go to this mosque whose people are unjust and demolish it and burn it.' They both hurried and did so, and they burned it with fire in palm fronds." Al-Naqqash mentioned: "The Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, sent Ammar ibn Yasir and Wahshi, the freed slave of Al-Mut'im ibn Adi, to demolish and burn it." Its builders were twelve men: Khudham ibn Khalid, from whose house the Mosque of Shiqaq was removed, Thalabah ibn Hatib, Mut'ab ibn Qushayr, Abu Hubaybah ibn Al-Azhar, and Abbad ibn Hanif, the brother of Sahl ibn Hanif, and Jariyah ibn Amr, and his two sons: Majma' ibn Jariyah, who was their imam, and he swore to Umar ibn Al-Khattab - may Allah be pleased with him - during his caliphate that he was unaware of their affair, and Zayd ibn Jariyah, and Nabtal ibn Al-Harith, and Bahzaj from Banu Dhabiyah, and Bijad ibn Uthman, and Wadi'ah ibn Thabit. Bahzaj among them is the one who swore to the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him: 'I intended nothing but goodness and expansion for us and for those who are unable or weak to travel to the Mosque of Quba.'

And Ibn Abi Abalah read: 'We intended nothing but goodness.'

And the verse necessitates an explanation of something regarding these mosques. It has been narrated that "when the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, arrived in Medina at the time of the Hijrah, he built a mosque in Banu Amr ibn Awf, which is the Mosque of Quba." It is said that he found it already built before his arrival, and it is said that he found it a place for prayer and built it. The people were honored by this, and from that time, men from his paternal relatives, from Banu Ghanam ibn Awf and Banu Salim ibn Awf, envied them. There was hypocrisy among them. The location of the Mosque of Quba was a tethering place for the donkey of a woman from the Ansar named Liyyah. The hypocrites would say: "By Allah, we cannot endure praying in the tethering place of Liyyah," and similar statements. Abu Amir, known as the monk among them, was one of them. His mother was from the Romans, and he used to worship in the pre-Islamic period, thus he was called the monk. He was the father of Hanzalah, the one washed by the angels, and he was a leader, similar to and close to Abdullah ibn Ubayy ibn Salul. When Allah, glorified and exalted is He, brought Islam, he became a hypocrite and continued to openly declare this, so the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, called him the wicked one. Then he went out with a group of hypocrites and conspired against the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, with the confederates. When Allah returned them with their rage, Abu Amir remained in Mecca, displaying his enmity. When Allah opened Mecca, he fled to Ta'if. When the people of Ta'if embraced Islam, he fled to Sham, seeking Caesar to support him against the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him. He wrote to his people, the hypocrites among them, to build a mosque in opposition to the Mosque of Quba and to belittle it, saying: "I will come with an army of Romans to expel Muhammad and his companions from Medina." So they built it and said: "Abu Amir will come and pray in it and take it as a place of worship and will be pleased with it." Then indeed, Abu Amir died at Caesar's side. The Quran was revealed regarding the matter of the mosque of harm, and that is His saying, glorified and exalted is He: "And a station for those who warred against Allah and His Messenger," meaning Abu Amir, and their saying: "Abu Amir will come." Al-A'mash read: "For those who warred against Allah," and His saying: "harm," meaning a cause for discord between two groups. Therefore, He said: "harm," and it is originally a source of what occurs between two, even if the source associated with that is mutual action, as Sibawayh said. "Harm" and what follows it is in the position of the source in the state, and it may be that it is on the object for its sake. His saying: "between the believers" means: between the group that used to pray in the Mosque of Quba. For indeed, whoever surpassed their mosque, they would divert him to it, and that is a cause for diverting him from faith. It is said that by His saying: "between the believers," he meant the group of the Mosque of the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him. This is according to the disagreement regarding the mosque established on piety, and that will come. Al-Naqqash said: It is necessary from this that he should not be prayed upon in a church or similar, for it was built on worse than all of this. It has been said regarding this: "Do not stand therein ever" [At-Tawbah: 108].

Qadi Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said: And this is a weak understanding.

And 'irṣād: preparation and arrangement. And the one who fought against Allah and His Messenger: he is Abu Amir the wicked. And his saying: ﴿min qablu﴾ means: in the Battle of the Confederates and others. And the one who swore intended in his saying: ﴿wa layahlifunna﴾ is Bahzaj and those who swore from his companions. And the alif in his saying: "Indeed, they are liars" was broken because the testimony is in the meaning of the saying.

And Al-Tabari reported from Shaqiq that he came to pray in a mosque built by Ghadirah and found that the prayer had passed him. It was said to him: Indeed, the mosque of Bani Fulān has not yet been prayed in. He said: I do not like to pray in it because it was built on harm. And every mosque built on harm, showing off, and reputation is in the ruling of the mosque of harm. And it was narrated that when the mosque of harm was demolished and burned, it was made into a dump where filth and garbage were thrown.