Tafseer of The Repentance · At-Tawba · 9:17
It is not for the polytheists to maintain the mosques of Allah [while] witnessing against themselves with disbelief. [For] those, their deeds have become worthless, and in the Fire they will abide eternally.
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: مَا كَانَ لِلْمُشْرِكِينَ أَنْ يَعْمُرُوا مَسَاجِدَ اللَّهِ شَاهِدِينَ عَلَى أَنْفُسِهِمْ بِالْكُفْرِ أُولَئِكَ حَبِطَتْ أَعْمَالُهُمْ وَفِي النَّارِ هُمْ خَالِدُونَ (17) (It is not for the polytheists to maintain the mosques of Allah, while they bear witness against themselves with disbelief. It is they whose deeds come to nothing, and in the Fire they shall abide eternally.)
Abū Jaʿfar said: The Exalted, whose praise is proclaimed, says: It does not befit the polytheists (mushrikīn) to maintain the mosques of Allah, while they bear witness against themselves with disbelief (kufr). He says: For the mosques are maintained only that Allah may be worshipped therein, not that He be denied. So whoever is a disbeliever (kāfir) in Allah, it is not for him to maintain the mosques of Allah.
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And as for their bearing witness against themselves with disbelief, that is as in the following:—
16552 — Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥusayn related to me, saying: Aḥmad ibn al-Mufaḍḍal related to us, saying: Asbāṭ related to us, on the authority of al-Suddī, concerning His word: mā kāna lil-mushrikīna an yaʿmurū masājida llāhi shāhidīna ʿalā anfusihim bi-l-kufr (It is not for the polytheists to maintain the mosques of Allah, while they bear witness against themselves with disbelief). He says: it does not befit them to maintain them. And as for shāhidīna ʿalā anfusihim bi-l-kufr (bearing witness against themselves with disbelief): the Christian is asked: what are you? Then he says: a Christian. And the Jew, then he says: a Jew. And the Ṣābiʾ, then he says: a Ṣābiʾ. And the polytheist (mushrik) says, when you ask him: what is your religion? then he says: a polytheist! No one would say that except the Arabs.
16553 — Ibn Wakīʿ related to us, saying: ʿAmr al-ʿAnqazī related to us, on the authority of Asbāṭ, on the authority of al-Suddī: mā kāna lil-mushrikīna an yaʿmurū masājida llāh (It is not for the polytheists to maintain the mosques of Allah), he said: He says: it did not befit them to maintain them.
16554 — Ibn Wakīʿ related to us, saying: ʿAmr related to us, on the authority of Asbāṭ, on the authority of al-Suddī: shāhidīna ʿalā anfusihim bi-l-kufr (bearing witness against themselves with disbelief), he said: to the Christian it is said: what are you? Then he says: a Christian. And to the Jew it is said: what are you? Then he says: a Jew. And to the Ṣābiʾ it is said: what are you? Then he says: a Ṣābiʾ.
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And His word: ulāʾika ḥabiṭat aʿmāluhum (It is they whose deeds come to nothing), He says: their rewards have become void and lost, because they were not for Allah, but rather for Satan. Wa-fī l-nāri hum khālidūn (and in the Fire they shall abide eternally), He says: abiding therein forever, neither living nor dead.
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The reciters differed over the reading of His word: mā kāna lil-mushrikīna an yaʿmurū masājida llāh (It is not for the polytheists to maintain the mosques of Allah). Most of the reciters of Medina and Kūfa read it: (masājida llāh) (the mosques of Allah), in the plural.
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And some of the Meccans and Baṣrans read it: (masjida llāh) (the mosque of Allah), in the singular, with the meaning of the Sacred Mosque (al-Masjid al-Ḥarām).
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Abū Jaʿfar said: And they are all agreed upon the reading of His word: innamā yaʿmuru masājida llāh (Only he maintains the mosques of Allah), in the plural, because, when it is read thus, it can bear both the meaning of the singular and that of the plural, for the Arabs sometimes use the singular in the sense of the plural, and the plural in the sense of the singular, as in their expression: "Upon him is a garment of rags (akhlāq)."
