209 – On the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās (may Allah be pleased with them both): the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, “I have not been commanded to erect monumental mosques.” Abū Dāwūd transmitted it, and Ibn Ḥibbān declared it authentic.⦗1⦘

Reliability of the ḥadith
This ḥadith is ṣaḥīḥ (sound). Al-Ḥāfiẓ noted a difference of opinion over whether its chain is fully connected or mursal, while al-Shawkānī said: “Ibn Ḥibbān authenticated it, and its transmitters are those of the Ṣaḥīḥ collections.”

Vocabulary
“to erect monumental mosques” (tashīd al-masājid): The verb shāda (yashīdu) originally means to coat a building with shīd—any overlay such as plaster, gypsum, marble, or paint. By extension it also refers to building something high, elongating it, and raising its ceilings.

Lessons derived from the ḥadith
1 – The Prophet ﷺ said, “I have not been commanded to erect monumental mosques.” Ibn ʿAbbās explained: “That is, to adorn them in the way the Jews and Christians adorned their temples.” This explanatory insertion from Ibn ʿAbbās is important and carries the force of prophetic information, for it reports unseen matters and could not arise from personal opinion—and the prediction has indeed come to pass.
2 – The apparent meaning of the ḥadith is that decorating and embellishing mosques is forbidden, for it is an act of the Jews and Christians, and imitation of them is prohibited: “Whoever imitates a people is counted among them.”
3 – Ornamenting mosques is not part of the sunnah; rather, it is an innovation that also entails extravagance in