“And as an outpost for one who had previously warred against Allah and His Messenger”: that is, as a place of waiting and preparation for one who had warred against Allah and His Messenger. It is said, “I prepared something for him,” when I made it ready for him. This was Abu Amir the monk. He was a man of their people and the father of Hanzalah, whom the angels washed. During the pre-Islamic era, he had adopted monasticism, become a Christian, and worn haircloth.
When the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, came to Madinah, Abu Amir said to him, “What is this that you have brought?” He replied, “I have brought the upright faith, the religion of Abraham.” Abu Amir said, “We already follow it.” The Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, “You do not follow it.” Abu Amir said, “On the contrary, but you have introduced into the upright faith something that does not belong to it.” The Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, replied, “I have not done so; rather, I have brought it pure and unsullied.” Abu Amir then said, “May Allah cause whichever of us is lying to die banished, alone, and estranged.” The Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, “Amin.” He called him Abu Amir the Sinful.
When the Day of Uhud came, Abu Amir said to the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, “Whenever I find a people fighting you, I shall fight you alongside them.” He continued fighting against him until the Day of Hunayn. When the Hawazin were defeated, he despaired and fled to Syria. He then sent word to the hypocrites: “Prepare whatever strength and weapons you can, and build a mosque for me. I am going to Caesar, the king of the Romans, and I shall return with an army of Romans, by which I will drive out Muhammad and his Companions.” So they built the Mosque of Harm beside the Quba Mosque. This is the meaning of His saying, Exalted is He, “And as an outpost for one who had warred against Allah and His Messenger”: namely, Abu Amir the Sinful, so that he might pray there when he returned from Syria.
His saying, “previously,” refers to Abu Amir; that is, he had warred against Allah and His Messenger before the Mosque of Harm was built.
“And they will surely swear, ‘We intended nothing but good’”: that is, “By building it, we intended only a good deed”—namely, showing consideration for the Muslims and making things easier for those who were weak and unable to travel to the Mosque of the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace.
“And Allah bears witness that they are indeed liars”: in their claim and their oath. It is related that when the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, returned from Tabuk and stopped at Dhu Awan, a place near Madinah, they came to him and asked him to visit their mosque. He called for ⦗164/b⦘ his shirt, intending to put it on and go to them, when the Quran was revealed to him. Allah, Exalted is He, informed him of the matter of the Mosque of Harm and of what they had intended. The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, then summoned Malik ibn al-Dukhshum, Ma'n ibn Adi, Amir ibn al-Sakan, and Wahshi, the killer of Hamzah, and said to them, “Go to this mosque, whose people are wrongdoers, and demolish it and burn it.”
They set out swiftly until they reached Banu Salim ibn Awf, the clan of Malik ibn al-Dukhshum. Malik said, “Wait for me until I bring you some fire from my household.” He entered his home, took some palm branches, and set them ablaze. Then they hurried on until they entered the mosque while its people were inside. They burned it and demolished it, and its people dispersed from it. The Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, ordered that it be made into a rubbish dump, where carrion, filth, and refuse would be thrown. Abu Amir the monk died in Syria, alone, isolated, and estranged.