Tafseer of The Repentance · At-Tawba · 9:108
Do not stand [for prayer] within it - ever. A mosque founded on righteousness from the first day is more worthy for you to stand in. Within it are men who love to purify themselves; and Allah loves those who purify themselves.
Important: The Arabic source text is always authoritative. This translation is a study aid and has not been verified by scholars — do not use it as a basis for religious proof or for deriving rulings (ahkam). When in doubt, always consult the Arabic text and a qualified scholar.
The explanation of His word: لا تَقُمْ فِيهِ أَبَدًا لَمَسْجِدٌ أُسِّسَ عَلَى التَّقْوَى مِنْ أَوَّلِ يَوْمٍ أَحَقُّ أَنْ تَقُومَ فِيهِ (Never stand therein [in prayer]. Indeed, a mosque founded upon godfearingness (taqwā) from the first day has more right that you should stand in it.)
Abū Jaʿfar said: The Exalted, whose praise is remembered, says to His Prophet Muḥammad, may Allah bless him and grant him peace: do not stand, O Muḥammad, in the mosque which these hypocrites (munāfiqūn) have built to cause harm, to sow division among the believers, and as an ambush for whoever waged war against Allah and His Messenger. Then He, whose praise is exalted, swore an oath and said: لمسجد أسس على التقوى من أول يوم أحق أن تقوم (indeed, a mosque founded upon godfearingness from the first day has more right that you), namely you, فيه (should stand in it).
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By His word أسس على التقوى (founded upon godfearingness) He means: that whose foundation and basis was begun upon godfearingness (taqwā) of Allah and obedience to Him. من أول يوم (from the first day) on which its construction was begun. أحق أن تقوم فيه (has more right that you should stand in it), He says: has more claim that you should stand in it to pray.
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And it is said: the meaning of His word من أول يوم (from the first day) is: from the beginning of the first day, as the Arabs say: "I have not seen him since such-and-such a day," in the meaning of: since the beginning of it. And "from the first day," by which is meant: from the first of the days, as one says: "I met every man," in the meaning of: all the men.
* * *
The people of interpretation (ahl al-taʾwīl) differed concerning the mosque which He meant by His word: لمسجد أسس على التقوى من أول يوم (indeed, a mosque founded upon godfearingness from the first day).
Some of them said: that is the mosque of the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, in which today are his pulpit (minbar) and his grave.
* * *
* Mention of who said that:
17201 - Ibn Wakīʿ related to us, saying: Abū Muʿāwiya related to us, on the authority of Ibrāhīm ibn Ṭahmān, on the authority of ʿUthmān ibn ʿUbaydillāh, who said: Muḥammad ibn Abī Hurayra sent me to Ibn ʿUmar to ask him about the mosque founded upon godfearingness: which mosque is it, the mosque of Medina or the mosque of Qubāʾ? He said: No, the mosque of Medina.
17202 - ... he said: Al-Qāsim ibn ʿAmr al-ʿAnqazī related to us, on the authority of al-Darāwardī, on the authority of ʿUthmān ibn ʿUbaydillāh, on the authority of Ibn ʿUmar and Zayd ibn Thābit and Abū Saʿīd, who said: The mosque founded upon godfearingness is the mosque of the Messenger.
17203 - ... he said: My father related to us, on the authority of Rabīʿa ibn ʿUthmān, on the authority of ʿUthmān ibn ʿUbaydillāh ibn Abī Rāfiʿ, who said: I asked Ibn ʿUmar about the mosque founded upon godfearingness. He said: That is the mosque of the Messenger.
17204 - ... he said: Ibn ʿUyayna related to us, on the authority of Abū al-Zinād, on the authority of Khārija ibn Zayd, on the authority of Zayd, who said: That is the mosque of the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace.
17205 - ... he said: My father related to us, on the authority of ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn ʿAbdillāh ibn Dhakwān, on the authority of his father, on the authority of Khārija ibn Zayd, on the authority of Zayd, who said: That is the mosque of the Messenger.
17206 - Ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: Yaḥyā ibn Saʿīd related to us, Ḥumayd al-Kharrāṭ al-Madanī related to us, saying: I heard Abū Salama ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān say: ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Abī Saʿīd passed by me, and I said: How did you hear your father speak about the mosque founded upon godfearingness? He said to me: [My father said:] I came to the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, and entered upon him in the house of one of his wives, and I said: O Messenger of Allah, which mosque is it that is founded upon godfearingness? He said: Then he took a handful of pebbles and struck the ground with them, and then said: It is this mosque of yours! [I said]: Thus did I hear your father mention it.
17207 - Ibn Wakīʿ related to us, saying: My father related to us, on the authority of Usāma ibn Zayd, on the authority of ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Abī Saʿīd, on the authority of his father, who said: The mosque founded upon godfearingness is the great mosque of the Prophet.
17208 - Ḥumayd ibn Masʿada related to us, saying: Bishr ibn al-Mufaḍḍal related to us, saying: Dāwūd related to us, on the authority of Saʿīd ibn al-Musayyab, who said: Indeed, the mosque founded upon godfearingness from the first day is the great mosque of Medina.
17209 - Muḥammad ibn al-Muthannā related to us, saying: Ibn Abī ʿAdī related to us, on the authority of Dāwūd, who said: Saʿīd ibn al-Musayyab said - and he mentioned something similar - except that he said: the most mighty.
17210 - Ibn Wakīʿ related to us, saying: Yaḥyā ibn Saʿīd al-Qaṭṭān related to us, on the authority of Ibn Ḥarmala, on the authority of Saʿīd ibn al-Musayyab, who said: That is the mosque of the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace.
17211 - Al-Ḥasan ibn Yaḥyā related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Razzāq informed us, saying: Ibn ʿUyayna informed us, on the authority of Abū al-Zinād, on the authority of Khārija ibn Zayd - he said: I think, on the authority of his father - who said: The mosque of the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, which is founded upon godfearingness.
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And others said: no, by it was meant the mosque of Qubāʾ.
* Mention of who said that:
17212 - Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: Abū Ṣāliḥ related to us, saying: Muʿāwiya related to me, on the authority of ʿAlī, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās: لمسجد أسس على التقوى من أول يوم (indeed, a mosque founded upon godfearingness from the first day), he means the mosque of Qubāʾ.
17213 - Muḥammad ibn Saʿd related to me, saying: my father related to me, saying: my uncle related to me, saying: my father related to me, on the authority of his father, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, something similar.
17214 - Aḥmad ibn Isḥāq related to us, saying: Abū Aḥmad related to us, saying: Fuḍayl ibn Marzūq related to us, on the authority of ʿAṭiyya: لمسجد أسس على التقوى من أول يوم (indeed, a mosque founded upon godfearingness from the first day), that is the mosque of Qubāʾ.
17215 - Ibn Wakīʿ related to us, saying: Abū Usāma related to us, on the authority of Ṣāliḥ ibn Ḥayyān, on the authority of Ibn Burayda, who said: The mosque of Qubāʾ, which is founded upon godfearingness, the Prophet of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, built it.
17216 - Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Ibn Zayd said: The mosque founded upon godfearingness is the mosque of Qubāʾ.
17217 - Al-Ḥasan ibn Yaḥyā related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Razzāq informed us, saying: Maʿmar informed us, on the authority of al-Zuhrī, on the authority of ʿUrwa ibn al-Zubayr: Those among whom the mosque was built that is founded upon godfearingness are the Banū ʿAmr ibn ʿAwf.
* * *
Abū Jaʿfar said: And the correct of the two statements concerning this is, in my view, the statement of whoever said: it is the mosque of the Messenger, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, because of the authenticity of the narration concerning that from the Messenger of Allah.
* Mention of the narration concerning that.
17218 - Abū Kurayb and Ibn Wakīʿ related to us - Abū Kurayb said: Wakīʿ related to us - and Ibn Wakīʿ said: my father related to us - on the authority of Rabīʿa ibn ʿUthmān al-Taymī, on the authority of ʿImrān ibn Abī Anas, a man of the Anṣār, on the authority of Sahl ibn Saʿd, who said: Two men differed in the time of the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, concerning the mosque founded upon godfearingness. One of them said: it is the mosque of the Prophet! And the other said: it is the mosque of Qubāʾ! Then they both came to the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, and asked him about it. He said: It is this mosque of mine. - The wording is that of the narration of Abū Kurayb, and the narration of Sufyān is something similar.
17219 - Ibn Wakīʿ related to us, saying: Abū Nuʿaym related to us, on the authority of ʿAbdallāh ibn ʿĀmir al-Aslamī, on the authority of ʿImrān ibn Abī Anas, on the authority of Sahl ibn Saʿd, on the authority of Ubayy ibn Kaʿb: that the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, was asked about the mosque founded upon godfearingness, and he said: This mosque of mine.
17220 - Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed me, saying: Al-Layth related to me, on the authority of ʿImrān ibn Abī Anas, on the authority of Ibn Abī Saʿīd, on the authority of his father, who said: Two men disputed about the mosque founded upon godfearingness from the first day. One man said: it is the mosque of Qubāʾ! And the other said: it is the mosque of the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace! Then the Messenger of Allah said: It is this mosque of mine.
17221 - Baḥr ibn Naṣr al-Khawlānī related to me, saying: it was read to Shuʿayb ibn al-Layth, on the authority of his father, on the authority of ʿImrān ibn Abī Anas, on the authority of Saʿīd ibn Abī Saʿīd al-Khudrī, who said: Two men disputed - and he mentioned something similar.
17222 - Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Saḥbal ibn Muḥammad ibn Abī Yaḥyā related to me, saying: I heard my uncle Anīs ibn Abī Yaḥyā relate, on the authority of his father, on the authority of Abū Saʿīd al-Khudrī, who said: The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said: The mosque founded upon godfearingness is this mosque of mine, and in each [of the two] is good.
17223 - Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: Al-Ḥimmānī related to me, saying: ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz related to us, on the authority of Anīs, on the authority of his father, on the authority of Abū Saʿīd, on the authority of the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, something similar.
17224 - Muḥammad ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: Ṣafwān ibn ʿĪsā related to us, saying: Anīs ibn Abī Yaḥyā informed us, on the authority of his father, on the authority of Abū Saʿīd: that a man of the Banū Khudra and a man of the Banū ʿAmr ibn ʿAwf disputed about the mosque founded upon godfearingness. The Khudrī said: it is the mosque of the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, and the ʿAwfī said: it is the mosque of Qubāʾ. Then they both came to the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, and asked him about it. He said: It is this mosque of mine, and in each [of the two] is good.
* * *
The explanation of His word: فِيهِ رِجَالٌ يُحِبُّونَ أَنْ يَتَطَهَّرُوا وَاللَّهُ يُحِبُّ الْمُطَّهِّرِينَ (108) (Therein are men who love to purify themselves, and Allah loves those who purify themselves.) (108)
Abū Jaʿfar said: The Exalted, whose praise is remembered, says: Among those present in the mosque founded upon godfearingness from the first day are men who love to purify their posteriors with water when they relieve themselves, and Allah loves those who purify themselves with water.
* * *
And in accordance with what we have said concerning this, the people of interpretation have spoken.
* Mention of who said that:
17225 - Muḥammad ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: Abū Dāwūd related to us, saying: Hammām ibn Yaḥyā related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, on the authority of Shahr ibn Ḥawshab, who said: When there was sent down: فيه رجال يحبون أن يتطهروا (therein are men who love to purify themselves), the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said: What is the purification with which Allah has praised you? They said: O Messenger of Allah, we wash away the traces of relieving ourselves.
17226 - Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, who said: It has been related to us that the Prophet of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said to the people of Qubāʾ: "Indeed, Allah has praised you excellently regarding purification; so what do you do?" They said: We wash from ourselves the traces of excrement and urine.
17227 - Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to us, saying: Muḥammad ibn Thawr related to us, on the authority of Maʿmar, on the authority of Qatāda, who said: When there was sent down: فيه رجال يحبون أن يتطهروا (therein are men who love to purify themselves), the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said: O company of the Anṣār, what is this purification with which Allah has praised you therein? They said: We purify ourselves with water when we come from relieving ourselves.
17228 - Jābir ibn al-Kurdī related to me, saying: Muḥammad [ibn] Sābiq related to us, saying: Mālik ibn Mighwal related to us, on the authority of Sayyār Abū al-Ḥakam, on the authority of Shahr ibn Ḥawshab, on the authority of Muḥammad ibn ʿAbdillāh ibn Salām, who said: The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, stood up among us and said: Will you not inform me, for Allah has praised you well on account of purification? They said: O Messenger of Allah, we find written among us in the Torah: the cleansing [of the posterior] (istinjāʾ) with water.
17229 - Sufyān ibn Wakīʿ related to us, saying: [Yaḥyā ibn Rāfiʿ] related to us, on the authority of Mālik ibn Mighwal, who said: I heard Sayyār Abū al-Ḥakam relate more than once, on the authority of Shahr ibn Ḥawshab, on the authority of Muḥammad ibn ʿAbdillāh ibn Salām, who said: When the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, came to the people of Qubāʾ, he said: Indeed, Allah has praised you well on account of purification - he means His word: فيه رجال يحبون أن يتطهروا (therein are men who love to purify themselves). They said: We find it written among us in the Torah: purification with water.
17230 - Abū Hishām al-Rifāʿī related to us, saying: [Yaḥyā ibn Rāfiʿ] related to us, saying: Mālik ibn Mighwal related to us, on the authority of Sayyār, on the authority of Shahr ibn Ḥawshab, on the authority of Muḥammad ibn ʿAbdillāh ibn Salām - Yaḥyā said: and I know it only on the authority of his father - he said: The Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said to the people of Qubāʾ: Indeed, Allah has praised you well regarding purification! They said: We find it written concerning us in the Torah: purification with water. And concerning that there was sent down: فيه رجال يحبون أن يتطهروا (therein are men who love to purify themselves).
17231 - ʿAbd al-Aʿlā ibn Wāṣil related to me, saying: Ismāʿīl ibn Ṣubayḥ al-Yashkurī related to us, saying: Abū Uways al-Madanī related to us, on the authority of Sharaḥbīl ibn Saʿd, on the authority of ʿUwaym ibn Sāʿida - and he was among the people of [the battle of] Badr - who said: The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said to the people of Qubāʾ: I hear that Allah has praised you with commendation regarding purification; so what is this purification? They said: O Messenger of Allah, we know nothing, except that we had neighbors among the Jews whom we used to see washing their posteriors after relieving themselves, and so we washed as they washed.
17232 - Muḥammad ibn ʿUmāra related to me, saying: Muḥammad ibn Saʿīd related to us, saying: Ibrāhīm ibn Muḥammad related to us, on the authority of Sharaḥbīl ibn Saʿd, who said: I heard Khuzayma ibn Thābit say: This verse was sent down: فيه رجال يحبون أن يتطهروا والله يحب المطهرين (therein are men who love to purify themselves, and Allah loves those who purify themselves). He said: They used to wash their posteriors after relieving themselves.
17233 - Ibn Wakīʿ related to us, saying: my father related to us, on the authority of Abū Laylā, on the authority of ʿĀmir, who said: Some people of the people of Qubāʾ used to purify themselves with water, and then there was sent down: فيه رجال يحبون أن يتطهروا والله يحب المطهرين (therein are men who love to purify themselves, and Allah loves those who purify themselves).
17234 - Al-Ḥasan ibn ʿArafa related to us, saying: Shabāba ibn Sawwār related to us, on the authority of Shuʿba, on the authority of Muslim al-Qurrī, who said: I said to Ibn ʿAbbās: May I pour [water] over my head? - while he was in a state of ritual consecration (iḥrām). He said: Have you not heard that Allah says: إِنَّ اللَّهَ يُحِبُّ التَّوَّابِينَ وَيُحِبُّ الْمُتَطَهِّرِينَ (Indeed, Allah loves those who turn in repentance and He loves those who purify themselves)?
17235 - Ibn Wakīʿ related to us, saying: Ḥafṣ related to us, on the authority of Dāwūd and Ibn Abī Laylā, on the authority of al-Shaʿbī, who said: When there was sent down: فيه رجال يحبون أن يتطهروا (therein are men who love to purify themselves), the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said to the people of Qubāʾ: What is this with which Allah has praised you? They said: There is none among us but he purifies himself after relieving himself.
17236 - Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: ʿAmr ibn ʿAwn related to us, saying: Hushaym informed us, on the authority of ʿAbd al-Ḥamīd al-Madanī, on the authority of Ibrāhīm ibn Ismāʿīl al-Anṣārī: that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said to ʿUwaym ibn Sāʿida: What is this with which Allah has praised you: فيه رجال يحبون أن يتطهروا والله يحب المطهرين (therein are men who love to purify themselves, and Allah loves those who purify themselves)? He said: We used to wash the posteriors with water!
17237 - Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: Isḥāq related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Saʿd related to us, saying: Abū Jaʿfar informed us, on the authority of Ḥuṣayn, on the authority of Mūsā ibn Abī Kathīr, who said: The occasion of this verse concerns men of the Anṣār from the people of Qubāʾ: فيه رجال يحبون أن يتطهروا والله يحب المطهرين (therein are men who love to purify themselves, and Allah loves those who purify themselves). The Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, asked them [about it], and they said: We purify ourselves with water.
17238 - Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: Aṣbagh ibn al-Faraj related to us, saying: Ibn Wahb informed me, saying: Yūnus informed me, on the authority of Abū al-Zinād, who said: ʿUrwa ibn al-Zubayr informed me, on the authority of ʿUwaym ibn Sāʿida, of the Banū ʿAmr ibn ʿAwf, and Maʿn ibn ʿAdī, of the Banū al-ʿAjlān, and Abū al-Daḥdāḥ. As for ʿUwaym ibn Sāʿida, he is the one concerning whom it reached us that it was said to the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace: Who are those concerning whom Allah said: فيه رجال يحبون أن يتطهروا والله يحب المطهرين (therein are men who love to purify themselves, and Allah loves those who purify themselves)? Then the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said: Excellent men, among whom is ʿUwaym ibn Sāʿida. - It did not reach us that he named by name any other man among them than ʿUwaym.
17239 - Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: Suwayd ibn Naṣr related to us, saying: Ibn al-Mubārak informed us, on the authority of Hishām ibn Ḥassān, who said: Al-Ḥasan related to us, saying: When this verse was sent down: فيه رجال يحبون أن يتطهروا والله يحب المطهرين (therein are men who love to purify themselves, and Allah loves those who purify themselves), the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said: What is this with which Allah has mentioned you in the matter of purification, and praised you thereby? They said: We wash away the traces of excrement and urine.
17240 - Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: Suwayd related to us, saying: Ibn al-Mubārak informed us, on the authority of Mālik ibn Mighwal, who said: I heard Sayyār Abū al-Ḥakam relate, on the authority of Shahr ibn Ḥawshab, on the authority of Muḥammad ibn ʿAbdillāh ibn Salām, who said: When the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, came to Medina - or he said: the Messenger of Allah came to us - he said: Indeed, Allah has praised you well regarding purification; will you not inform me? They said: O Messenger of Allah, we find written concerning us in the Torah: purification with water. Mālik said: he means His word: فيه رجال يحبون أن يتطهروا (therein are men who love to purify themselves).
17241 - Aḥmad ibn Isḥāq related to me, saying: Abū Aḥmad related to us, saying: Fuḍayl ibn Marzūq related to us, on the authority of ʿAṭiyya, who said: When this verse was sent down: فيه رجال يحبون أن يتطهروا (therein are men who love to purify themselves), the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, asked them: What is this purification of yours that Allah has mentioned? They said: O Messenger of Allah, we used to purify ourselves with water in the time of ignorance (jāhiliyya), and when Islam came, we did not abandon it. He said: Then do not abandon it.
17242 - Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Ibn Zayd said: In the mosque of Qubāʾ were men of the Anṣār who washed their posteriors with water; they would go into the palm grove while the water flowed, and purify themselves. Therefore Allah praised them thereby and said: فيه رجال يحبون أن يتطهروا (therein are men who love to purify themselves), the verse.
17243 - Aḥmad related to us, saying: Abū Aḥmad related to us, saying: Ṭalḥa ibn ʿAmr related to us, on the authority of ʿAṭāʾ, who said: A group of the people of Qubāʾ introduced purification with water, and then there was sent down concerning them: فيه رجال يحبون أن يتطهروا والله يحب المطهرين (therein are men who love to purify themselves, and Allah loves those who purify themselves).
* * *
And it is said: والله يحب المطهرين (and Allah loves those who purify themselves) - it is originally "al-mutaṭahhirīn," but the tāʾ was assimilated into the ṭāʾ, so that it became a doubled ṭāʾ, on account of the closeness of the point of articulation of the one to that of the other.