Tafseer of The Repentance · At-Tawba · 9:109
Then is one who laid the foundation of his building on righteousness [with fear] from Allah and [seeking] His approval better or one who laid the foundation of his building on the edge of a bank about to collapse, so it collapsed with him into the fire of Hell? And Allah does not guide the wrongdoing people.
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: أَفَمَنْ أَسَّسَ بُنْيَانَهُ عَلَى تَقْوَى مِنَ اللَّهِ وَرِضْوَانٍ خَيْرٌ أَمْ مَنْ أَسَّسَ بُنْيَانَهُ عَلَى شَفَا جُرُفٍ هَارٍ فَانْهَارَ بِهِ فِي نَارِ جَهَنَّمَ وَاللَّهُ لا يَهْدِي الْقَوْمَ الظَّالِمِينَ (9:109) — (Is he, then, who founded his building upon fear of Allah and good pleasure better, or he who founded his building upon the edge of a crumbling, steep bank, so that it collapsed with him into the Fire of Hell? And Allah does not guide the wrongdoing people.)
Abū Jaʿfar said: The reciters differed over the recitation of His word: (afaman assasa bunyānahu).
Some of the reciters of the people of Medina recited it as: (afaman ussisa bunyānuhu ʿalā taqwā mina-llāhi wa-riḍwānin khayrun amman ussisa bunyānuhu) — in the passive form, in which in both verbs the agent who performed the action is not named.
The general body of reciters of the Hijaz and Iraq recited it as: "afaman ussisa bunyānahu ʿalā taqwā mina-llāhi wa-riḍwānin khayrun am man ussisa bunyānahu" — in which "man" (he who) is described as the agent who founded his building.
Abū Jaʿfar said: They are two recitations that agree in meaning; with whichever of the two the reciter recites, he is correct. Except that the recitation in which the verb is attributed to "man" — since it is he who founded — is more pleasing to me.
Abū Jaʿfar said: The meaning of the word, then, is: Which of these who have built the mosques is better, O people, in your eyes? Those who began the building of their mosque upon fear of Allah, by obeying Him in their building, by fulfilling the obligations imposed by Him, and out of Allah's good pleasure toward what they built of it, and toward what they did — are these better, or those who began the building of their mosque upon the edge of a crumbling, steep bank?
By His word (ʿalā shafā jurufin) He means: upon the edge of a steep bank.
And "al-jurf" — derived from the wells — is that for which no shoring (jūl) has been built.
(Hār) means: collapsing. In reality it is "hāʾir," but it is inverted: its yāʾ has been shifted to the back, so that one says "hārin," just as one says: "he is shākī al-silāḥ" (heavily armed) and "shāʾik" — its origin is from "hāra yahūru fa-huwa hāʾir." And one says: "it is from hāra yahāru," when something collapses. Whoever derives it from this linguistic form says: "hirta yā jurf," and whoever derives it from "hāra yahūru" says: "hurta yā jurf."
Abū Jaʿfar said: This is only a parable. The Exalted, whose mention is exalted, says: Which of these two groups is better? And which of these two buildings is firmer? He who began the foundation of his building upon obedience to Allah, knowing on his part that his building is a form of obedience to Allah and that Allah is pleased with it — or he who began it with hypocrisy (nifāq) and error, and without clear insight into the soundness of his action as opposed to its wrongness, so that he does not know when the wrongness of his action and the gravity of his sin will become clear to him, after which he will demolish it — like a building erected upon the edge of a well for which there is nothing to hold back the water of the torrents and the rest of the water, with moist, crumbling earth, which the torrents do not long leave undisturbed, until they break it down and cause it to fall apart?
Allah, exalted is His praise, says: (fa-nhāra bihi fī nāri jahannam), that is: and the crumbling bank collapsed with his building into the Fire of Hell (jahannam). As:
17244 — 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: (fa-nhāra bihi) means: its foundations — (fī nāri jahannam) (in the Fire of Hell).
17245 — It was related to me on the authority of al-Ḥusayn ibn al-Faraj, who said: I heard Abū Muʿādh say: ʿUbayd informed us, saying: I heard al-Ḍaḥḥāk say concerning His word: (fa-nhāra bihi), he says: It fell down with him.
17246 — Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning His word: (afaman assasa bunyānahu ʿalā taqwā mina-llāh), up to His word: (fa-nhāra bihi fī nāri jahannam), he said: By Allah, it did not cease until it fell into the Fire. It has been related to us that a spot of it caved in, and that smoke was seen rising from it.
17247 — Al-Qāsim related to us, saying: Al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Ḥajjāj related to me, saying: Ibn Jurayj said: The Banū ʿAmr ibn ʿAwf asked the Prophet ﷺ for permission for its building, and he gave them permission. They completed it on Friday and performed the Friday prayer in it, and on Saturday and on Sunday. He said: And it collapsed on Monday. He said: He had granted them three days' respite: Saturday, Sunday, and Monday — (fa-nhāra bihi fī nāri jahannam), the mosque of the hypocrites (munāfiqīn), it collapsed and did not cease until it fell into the Fire. Ibn Jurayj said: It has been related to us that men dug in it and saw the smoke rising from it.
17248 — Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: Al-Ḥimmānī related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz ibn al-Mukhtār related to us, on the authority of ʿAbdallāh al-Dānāj, on the authority of Ṭalq ibn Ḥabīb, on the authority of Jābir concerning His word: وَالَّذِينَ اتَّخَذُوا مَسْجِدًا ضِرَارًا (and those who took a mosque to cause harm), he said: I saw the mosque that was built to cause harm, while smoke was rising from it, in the time of the Prophet ﷺ.
17249 — Muḥammad ibn Marzūq al-Baṣrī related to us, saying: Abū Salama related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz ibn al-Mukhtār related to us, on the authority of ʿAbdallāh al-Dānāj, who said: Ṭalq al-ʿAnazī related to me, on the authority of Jābir ibn ʿAbdallāh, who said: I saw the smoke rising from the mosque of harm (masjid al-ḍirār).
17250 — Sallām ibn Sālim al-Khuzāʿī related to me, saying: Khalaf ibn Yāsīn al-Kūfī related to us, saying: I performed the pilgrimage (ḥajj) with my father in that time — that is: the time of the Banū Umayya — and we passed by Medina. I saw the mosque of the two prayer directions (masjid al-qiblatayn) — that is: the mosque of the Messenger — and in it was the prayer direction of Jerusalem (Bayt al-Maqdis). When the time of Abū Jaʿfar came, they said: The ignorant one enters and does not know the prayer direction! This building that you see came about through the doing of ʿAbd al-Ṣamad ibn ʿAlī. And I saw the mosque of the hypocrites that Allah has mentioned in the Qurʾān, and in it was a stone from which smoke rose, and today it is a rubbish dump.
His word: (wa-llāhu lā yahdī al-qawma al-ẓālimīn), He says: And Allah does not grant success to righteousness in his actions to him who builds his building in an unlawful manner and in an unlawful place, and to him who is a hypocrite (munāfiq), who by his deed contradicts the command of Allah and the command of His Messenger.
