Tafseer of The Repentance · At-Tawba · 9:18
The mosques of Allah are only to be maintained by those who believe in Allah and the Last Day and establish prayer and give zakah and do not fear except Allah, for it is expected that those will be of the [rightly] guided.
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: إِنَّمَا يَعْمُرُ مَسَاجِدَ اللَّهِ مَنْ آمَنَ بِاللَّهِ وَالْيَوْمِ الآخِرِ وَأَقَامَ الصَّلاةَ وَآتَى الزَّكَاةَ وَلَمْ يَخْشَ إِلا اللَّهَ فَعَسَى أُولَئِكَ أَنْ يَكُونُوا مِنَ الْمُهْتَدِينَ (18) (Only he maintains the mosques of Allah who believes in Allah and the Last Day, and performs the ritual prayer (ṣalāh), and gives the obligatory alms (zakāh), and fears none except Allah. It may be that these are among those who follow the guidance.) (18)
Abū Jaʿfar said: The Exalted, Whose mention is exalted, says: (Only he maintains the mosques of Allah) who affirms the oneness (waḥdāniyya) of Allah, who devotes worship purely to Him — (and the Last Day), He says: he who affirms that Allah will raise the dead alive from their graves on the Day of Resurrection — (and performs the ritual prayer), the prescribed prayer, according to its limits, and the obligatory alms (zakāh) incumbent upon him in his wealth he renders to the one for whom Allah has made it obligatory — (and fears none except Allah), He says: and who fears the punishment of nothing for his disobedience thereto, except Allah — (It may be that these are among those who follow the guidance), He says: it is fitting for these, whose characteristic this is, that they be with Allah among those whom Allah has guided to the truth and to the attainment of what is right.
16555 — Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: ʿAbd Allāh ibn Ṣāliḥ related to us, saying: Muʿāwiya related to us, on the authority of ʿAlī, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, concerning His word: (Only he maintains the mosques of Allah who believes in Allah and the Last Day), he says: whoever acknowledges Allah as One and believes in the Last Day. He says: whoever acknowledges what Allah has sent down — (and performs the ritual prayer), that is, the five prayers — (and fears none except Allah), he says: and thereafter worships nothing except Allah. He said: (It may be that these), he says: indeed, these are the successful ones, as in His word to His Prophet: عَسَى أَنْ يَبْعَثَكَ رَبُّكَ مَقَامًا مَحْمُودًا [Surah Al-Isrāʾ: 79] (It may be that your Lord will raise you to a praiseworthy station), he says: indeed, your Lord will raise you to a praiseworthy station, and that is the intercession (shafāʿa). And every "ʿasā" (it may be) in the Qurʾān is definite (obligatory/certain).
16556 — Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Salama related to us, on the authority of Ibn Isḥāq, who said: Then He mentioned the saying of Quraysh: We are the people of the sacred precinct, the water-givers of the pilgrims and the maintainers of this House, and none is more excellent than us! Thereupon He said: (Only he maintains the mosques of Allah who believes in Allah and the Last Day), that is to say: your maintaining is not upon that basis; (Only he maintains the mosques of Allah), that is to say: whoever maintains them with their right — (who believes in Allah and the Last Day, and performs the ritual prayer, and gives the obligatory alms, and fears none except Allah) — those are their maintainers — (It may be that these are among those who follow the guidance), and the "ʿasā" of Allah is an established truth.
