Al-Thamar al-Mustatab - Nasir al-Din al-Albani - (1/397)

Al-Thamar al-MustatabNasir al-Din al-Albani

in our brothers’ mosque, and Abu ʿĀmir will pray there when he returns from Syria (1).

So they went to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ while he was preparing for the expedition to Tabūk and said, “O Messenger of Allah, we have built a mosque for those in need, for the sick, and for nights of heavy rain. We would like you to pray in it for us and invoke blessing.” Their only purpose was to use his prayer as proof of his endorsement and thus secure its legitimacy, but Allah protected him from praying there. The Prophet ﷺ replied, “I am setting out on a journey and am pre-occupied; when we come back, we shall visit you and pray there, God willing.”

When he returned from Tabūk they approached him again. By then they had finished the building and had already prayed in it on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. He called for his cloak so that he could put it on and go to them, but the Qur’an was revealed to him concerning Masjid al-Dirār. The Prophet ﷺ thereupon summoned a group of Companions and said, “Go to that mosque whose people have wronged themselves; demolish it and burn it.” They hurried off, burned the mosque, and tore it down.

The verse therefore proves that it is unlawful to pray in Masjid al-Dirār or in any mosque that shares its characteristics. This is the position of the Mālikīs and others. Ibn Ḥazm stated explicitly in al-Muḥallā, citing Allah’s words, “Do not ever stand in it (to pray)” (Q 9:108): “It is thus established that it is not a place for prayer.”

(1) A man from the Khazraj tribe who had adopted Christianity during the Jahiliyya, studied the scriptures of the People of the Book, and was known for his devotion in pre-Islamic times. He enjoyed considerable prestige among the Khazraj. The Messenger of Allah ﷺ invited him to Islam and recited Quranic verses to him, but he stubbornly refused. After the Battle of Uhud, when he saw the Prophet’s cause gaining strength, he went to Heraclius, the Byzantine emperor, to seek his support against the Prophet ﷺ. Heraclius encouraged him and gave him promises, so he stayed with the emperor for a time and wrote to several of his tribesmen among the Ansar who were hypocrites or doubtful in faith, promising that he would soon return with an army to fight the Messenger of Allah ﷺ. He instructed them to establish for him a fortified post that would serve as an outpost when he arrived.

في مسجد إخواننا ويصلي فيه أبو عامر إذا قدم من الشام (١). فأتوه ﷺ وهو يتجهز إلى تبوك فقالوا: يا رسول الله قد بنينا مسجدا لذي الحاجة والعلة والليلة المطيرة ونحب أن تصلي لنا فيه وتدعو بالبركة - وغنما أرادوا بذلك الاحتجاج بصلاته فيه على تقريره وإثباته فعصمه الله من الصلاة فيه - فقال النبي ﷺ: (إني على سفر وحال شغل فلو قدمنا لأتيناكم وصلينا لكم إن شاء الله) فلما انصرف من تبوك أتوه وقد فرغوا منه وصلوا فيه الجمعة والسبت والأحد فدعا بقميصه ليلبسه ويأتيهم فنزل عليه القرآن بخبر مسجد الضرار فدعا النبي ﷺ جماعة من الصحابة فقال: (انطلقوا إلى هذا المسجد الظالم أهله فاهدموه وأحرقوه) فخرجوا مسرعين فأحرقوا المسجد وهدموه) وفي الآية دلالة على أنه لا تجوز الصلاة في مسجد الضرار وما في معناه من المساجد وقد ذهب إلى هذا المالكية وغيرهم ونص ابن حزم في (المحلى) بقوله تعالى في الآية: ﴿لا تقم فيه أبدا﴾ قال: (فصح أنه ليس موضع صلاة)

(١) رجل من الخزرج كان قد تنصر في الجاهلية وقرأ علم أهل الكتاب وكان فيه عبادة في الجاهلية وله شرف في الخزرج كبير وكان رسول الله ﷺ قد دعاه إلى الله وقرأ عليه من القرآن فأبى أن يسلم وتمرد ولما فرغ الناس من أحد ورأى أمر رسول الله ﷺ في ارتفاع وظهور ذهب إلى هرقل ملك الروم يستنصره على النبي ﷺ فوعده ومناه وأقام عنده وكتب إلى جماعة من قومه من الأنصار من أهل النفاق والريب يعدهم ويمنيهم أنه سيقدم بجيش يقاتل به رسول الله ﷺ وأمرهم أن يتخذوا له معقلا يكون مرصدا له إذا قدم عليهم