'In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful' Allah, the Exalted, says: "Do not stand in it ever. A mosque that was founded on piety from the first day is more deserving that you stand in it. In it are men who love to purify themselves, and Allah loves the purifiers." "Is he who founded his building on piety from Allah and His pleasure better, or he who founded his building on the brink of a crumbling precipice, so it collapsed with him into the Fire of Hell? And Allah does not guide the wrongdoing people." It has been narrated that when this verse: "Do not stand in it ever" was revealed, the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, would not pass by the road where the mosque was located. This prohibition was because those who built the mosque of harm had deceived the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, and said: "We built a mosque for the necessities and the flood that separates us from our people, so we want you to pray in it for us and invoke blessings for us." The Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, intended to walk with them to that place and called for his cloak to rise, when the verse was revealed: "Do not stand in it ever." His saying: "A mosque" is said to be the lam of oath, and it is said to be the lam of beginning, as you say: "Indeed, Zayd is the best of people in action," and it necessitates emphasis. Ibn Abbas and a group from the Companions and the Followers, may Allah be pleased with them, said: The intended mosque that was founded on piety is the mosque of Quba. It has been narrated from Umar, Abu Sa'id, and Zayd ibn Thabit that it is the mosque of the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, in Medina. The first saying fits the story, except that the second saying was narrated from the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, and there is no consideration with the hadith. Al-Tabari has narrated in this regard from Abu Sa'id al-Khudri that he said: "A man from Banu Khudrah and a man from Banu Amr ibn Awf disagreed. The Khudri said: 'It is the mosque of the Messenger, blessings and peace be upon him,' and the other said: 'It is the mosque of Quba.' So they came to the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, and asked him, and he said: 'It is this mosque of mine, and in the other there is much good.'" There are many reports regarding this from Ubayy ibn Ka'b and Sahl ibn Sa'd. The judge Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said: The mosque of the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, was in a place where there were date palms, graves of polytheists, and a barn for two orphans that were in the courtyard of As'ad ibn Zararah. The Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, built it three times: the first time with the samit, which is one brick upon another; the second time with the saidah, which is one brick and a half in the width of the wall; and the third time with the female and the male, which is two bricks upon which two bricks are placed. Its length was seventy cubits, and its columns were date palms. It was a trellis that sheltered from the rain. The building and raising of it was presented to the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, and he said: 'No, rather it should be a trellis like the trellis of my brother Musa. When he stood, his head would strike the ceiling.'" The Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, would carry the bricks on his chest, and it is said that the first one to place a stone in its foundation was the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him. Then Abu Bakr placed a stone, then Umar placed a stone, then Uthman placed a stone, and then the people threw stones, and some of the Companions were optimistic about this, thinking that it was the caliphate, and their optimism was true.

His saying: ﴿From the first day﴾ It is said: its meaning is: since the first day, and it is said: its meaning is: from the establishment of the first day. The reason for this difference is that among the principles of grammarians is that "from" does not govern times, but rather times are governed by "since." You say: I did not see him since two days or a year or a day, and you do not say: from a month or from a year or from a day. So if "from" occurs in speech and it follows a time, an implicit meaning is estimated that is appropriate for "from" to govern, as in the saying of the poet:

To whom do the houses belong like the corner of the stone? ∗∗∗ They are fortified by arguments and by time?

And "from a month" is a narration, so they estimated it: "from the passing of arguments and from the passing of time." And since His saying, the Exalted, ﴿the first day﴾ is a day and it is a name of time, they needed to estimate "from the establishment." And it is good in my view (p-409) that in this verse, one can do without estimation, and that "from" governs the word "first" because it means the beginning, as if he said: from the beginning of the days. And here it takes the place of "the passing" in the previous verse, and it is like when you say: "I came from before you and from after you," and you do not indicate with these two words except for time. And this which I have chosen has been narrated to me by some of the imams of grammar.

And the meaning of ﴿that you stand in it﴾ is: with your prayer and your worship. And the majority of people read: "that you stand in it, in it are men" with the 'h' being broken. And Abdullah ibn Zayd read: "that you stand in it, in it" with the second 'h' being pronounced with a damma, based on the original, and it is improved by avoiding the repetition of one word. And Qatadah and others said: the pronoun refers back to the mosque of the Messenger ﷺ, and the men are the group of the Ansar.

It has been narrated that "the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said to them: 'O group of Ansar, I saw that Allah praised you for your purity, so what will you do?' They said: 'O Messenger of Allah, we saw our neighbors from the Jews purifying themselves with water (the judge Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said: meaning using water for istinja), so we did that. When Islam came, we did not abandon it.' The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: 'So do not abandon it ever.'"

And Abdullah ibn Salam and others said what means: the pronoun refers back to the mosque of Quba, and the intended is the children of Amr ibn Awf. It has been narrated that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ only said the previous statement to the children of Amr ibn Awf, and the first is more common. Scholars have differed regarding which is preferable between using water or stones for istinja, and it has been said this and that. A group of scholars saw combining both, so one purifies with stones and then follows with water. My father, may Allah be pleased with him, informed me that he heard that some scholars of Qayrawan used to take stones in their ablutions to purify themselves with them and then use water for istinja, following this saying.

(p-410) The judge Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said:

The disagreement can only be imagined in the lands where it is possible to purify with stones, and Ibn Habib does not permit istinja with stones where water is available, and this is an opinion that is rare in it.

And the majority of the people read: "Yatataharu," and Talhah ibn Musarif and Al-A'mash read: "Yatattaharu" with idgham. And Ali ibn Abi Talib, may Allah be pleased with him, read: "Al-Mutatahhirin" with a ta. Al-Tabari narrated from 'Ata that he said: A group from the people of Quba innovated the use of water for istinja, so the verse was revealed concerning them. It has been narrated that the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, said: "Among them is 'Uwaym ibn Sa'idah," and no one else among them was named except 'Uwaym.

And His saying, the Exalted: "Is one who has built his building..." The verse is an interrogative with the meaning of affirmation. Nafi', Ibn 'Amir, and a group read: "Usisa bunyanuhu" based on the passive form of "Asasa" for the mafa'ul and the raising of "Bunyan" in both. Ibn Kathir, Abu 'Amr, 'Asim, Hamzah, Al-Kisai, and a group read: "Asasa bunyanahu" based on the active form of the verb for the fa'il and the nasb of "Bunyan" in both. 'Imarah ibn Dabbah - narrated by Ya'qub - read the first based on the active form for the mafa'ul and the second based on its form for the fa'il. The verse contains a comparison between two things, either between the two buildings or between the builders. The first comparison is understood as: "The sons of whom established?" Nusr ibn Ali - and it was narrated from Nusr ibn 'Asim - read: "Is one who has established his building" based on the addition of "Asa" to "Bunyan." Nusr ibn 'Asim and Abu Haywah also read: "Asas bunyanihi." Nusr ibn 'Asim also read: "Ususu bunyanihi" on the pattern of "Fu'ul" with a dammah on the fa and 'ayn, which is the plural of 'Asas' like Qadhāl and Qudhūl. Abu Al-Fath mentioned that this reading for Nusr is actually: "Asasun" with an open hamzah and an open sīn and a closed sīn. And in both narrations, the addition is to the building. Nusr ibn Ali also read: "Asasun" on the plural of "Us." And "Bunyan" is a source; it is said: He built, he builds, a building and bunyan like Al-Ghufran and Al-Tughyan, and it was named after the building like Al-Khalq if you meant by it the created. And it is said to be a plural, the singular of which is Bunyanah. Abu Ali quoted in this:

As a building, the place of her foot is

And the traces of her two steps from the dance are white.

And the majority read: "'Ala Taqwa," and 'Isa ibn 'Umar read: "'Ala Taqwan" with tanween on the waw. Sibawayh narrated this reading and the people rejected it. Abu Al-Fath said: Its analogy is that the alif is for addition like Arṭā and similar.

As for the intended meaning of the building that was established on piety and pleasure, it is - in the apparent wording and the saying of the majority - the mosque mentioned earlier. The previous disagreement applies here. It has been narrated from Abdullah ibn Umar, may Allah be pleased with them, that he said: The intended meaning of the mosque established on piety is the mosque of the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him. The intended meaning of it being established on the piety of Allah and pleasure is that it is the mosque of Quba. As for the building established on the edge of a crumbling cliff, it is the mosque of al-Dhirar, by consensus. (p-412) The edge refers to the margin and the brink. The cliff is the hollow around the well and similar to what has been eroded by floods, and the decay and wear. Ibn Kathir, Nafi, Abu Amr, al-Kisai, and a group read 'crumbling' with a dammed 'ra', while Ibn Amer, Asim, Hamza, and a group read 'cliff' with a silent 'ra'. There is a difference reported about Asim, and these are two dialects. It is said that the original is with a dammed 'ra' and that it is used in its light form thereafter. 'Crumbling' means: collapsing and falling down, from the root 'haur' or 'hayr'. It is said that the 'ra' was inverted before the vowel, leading to 'haru' or 'hari'. It was treated like what was done with 'qadi' and 'ghazi'. Based on this, it is said in the accusative case: 'hariyan', and similarly 'on a day of departure', its original is 'raihin', and likewise 'complaining of the weapon', its original is 'sha'ik', and similarly the saying of al-Ajaj:

They are clinging to it with the she-camels and the Hebrew

Its original is 'laith'. And likewise the saying of the poet:

...................... ∗∗∗ ∗∗∗ They lowered their spears, and each one is mourning

In one of the two ways, for it is possible that it is from 'na'a yuna'i' and the intended meaning is that they say: 'O avengers of so-and-so', and it is possible that he means: 'each of them is mourning', that is, thirsty, as Umar ibn Shiyam said: (p-413)

......................... ∗∗∗ ∗∗∗ And the bitter is the mourning

And it is said regarding 'crumbling' that its vowel was omitted. Based on this, it would follow the rules of grammar, and you would say: 'a crumbling cliff', and 'I saw a crumbling cliff', and 'I passed by a crumbling edge'. The readers differed in the inclination of 'crumbling' and 'falling'.

The establishment of the building on piety is indeed based on good intention in it and the intention of the face of Allah, blessed and exalted is He, and the manifestation of His legislation, as was done in the mosque of the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, and in the mosque of Quba. The establishment on the edge of a crumbling cliff is indeed based on corrupt intention and the intention of showing off and creating division among the believers. These are accurate and brilliant comparisons. And 'better' in this verse is a preference, and there is no partnership between the two matters in goodness except according to the belief of the builder of the mosque of al-Dhirar. Based on that belief, the preference is valid.

And His saying, exalted is He: ﴿So it will collapse into the Fire of Hell﴾, the apparent meaning of it and what has been confirmed from their report and the destruction of the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, of their mosque is that it is an example. That is, the example of these harmful ones among the hypocrites in their intention to disobey Allah and their attainment from that of His wrath is like one whose building collapses into the Fire of Hell. Then the speech was condensed in a way that its apparent meaning indicates. It was said: Rather, this is a reality, and indeed that mosque itself collapsed into the Fire of Hell, as stated by Qatadah and Ibn Jurayj. It has been narrated from Jabir ibn Abdullah and others that he said: I saw smoke coming out of it during the time of the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him. It has been narrated in some books that the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, saw it when it collapsed until it reached the seventh earth, and the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, was frightened by that. It has been narrated that they did not pray in it for more than three days, completing it on the day of Friday and praying in it on the day of Friday and the night of Saturday, and it collapsed on the day of Monday.

(p-414) The judge Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said: All of this is with a weak chain of narration, and what we have presented is more correct and sounder. Likewise, its matter and the prayer in it remained from before the journey of the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, to Tabuk until he returned from it.

And His saying, exalted is He: ﴿And Allah does not guide the wrongdoing people﴾ is a reproach against these hypocrites and an indication towards them. The meaning is: He does not guide them because they are wrongdoers, or it may be intended specifically for those who persist in their wrongdoing. Al-Tabari narrated from Khalaf ibn Yasin that he said: I saw the mosque of the hypocrites that Allah mentioned in the Qur'an, and I saw in it a place from which smoke was coming, and that was during the time of Abu Ja'far al-Mansur. A similar narration or something like it has been reported from Ibn Jurayj, which Al-Tabari narrated.