Volume 8 Surah 9 - Enjoy Islam

The building was completed before the Prophet marched towards Tabūk. Thehypocrites who built it came to the Prophet and asked him to come over andpray in their mosque, hoping that they would use that prayer as anendorsement of their action. They told the Prophet that they intended it to beused by the weak and the ill on a rainy night. However, God protected himagainst praying in such a place. He said to them: “We have embarked on atravel. So let it be until we come back, God willing.” When the Prophet wason his way back from Tabūk, and at a distance of one day’s travel fromMadinah, or even less, the Angel Gabriel came down with the true story ofthis mosque intended for evil and to sow seeds of discord among thebelievers who used to pray in the Qubā’ Mosque which was founded rightfrom the first day on piety. The Prophet dispatched some of his Companionsto pull this other mosque down before he arrived in Madinah. 37This is then the story of the mosque which was built by the hypocrites to furthertheir designs against Islam. The Prophet was instructed not to pray there, but to prayin the first mosque built in the Islamic period, i.e. the Qubā’ Mosque which wasfounded on piety right from the first day. It was frequented by people who werekeen to do everything that helped them to grow in purity, and “God loves those whopurify themselves.” (Verse 108)Houses of False WorshipIt was then at the time of the Prophet that a mosque for mischief making was builtby the hypocrites, intended to scheme against Islam and to undermine the position ofthe Muslims. Its purpose was to promote unbelief and to provide a cover for thosewho plotted against the Muslim community, co-operating with the enemies of Islamwhile pretending to be believers. The same types of mosque are still beingestablished in a great variety of forms, making use of advanced evil. These may takethe form of an activity which ostensibly seeks to promote Islam, but works in realityto obliterate or disform it or to deprive it of its true character. They may also establishregimes or social orders which raise a false religious banner, when in reality theyundermine Islam. They can also take the form of organizations, books and researchwhich take on a religious guise in order to pacify those who feel ill at ease as they seeIslam being attacked by its enemies. These organizations and books try to quietentheir worries, reassuring them that Islam is still in a healthy position.Because there are so many masks and disguised places of mischief, it is importantthat they should be known and identified. They should be made to appear in their37 Ibn Kathīr, op.cit., p. 353.201