The Masjid of Ḍirār

When the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) first left Madīnah, he was invited to pray in a masjid that had been newly built. There were some people near Madīnah who had built a new masjid; it was all done, finished, and when the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) was going to Tabūk they told him: we want you to come and bless the masjid with a ṣalāh. The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) told them: I am travelling at the moment; when I come back, in shāʾ Allāh, I will pray in your masjid; but now we are travelling. When the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) was close to Madīnah, he was informed of the true intentions of the people of this masjid.

There was a man called Abū ʿĀmir al-Fāsiq. This man belonged to al-Khazraj, and he was a prominent member of the tribe. He was given the name Abū ʿĀmir al-Rāhib in the time of the Jāhiliyyah because he was a believer in Allah: he used to worship Allah, and he had learned from the People of the Book and followed their religion; he was a religious — a very religious — person, a deeply devout individual. But, subḥān Allāh, when the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) came to Madīnah, he was one of his worst enemies. Subḥān Allāh, one can see the irony here: a devout individual, a person who was deeply religious — one would expect him to be the closest to Islam, but, subḥān Allāh, he was the furthest. One can also see the irony of the mushrikūn, the polytheists, becoming Muslim, while the Jews and the Christians, who knew about Allah, and whom one would expect to become Muslim, did not.

So he went to Quraysh, encouraging them to fight against the Muslims, and he took part in the battles of Quraysh against Muḥammad (peace be upon him). In fact, at the Battle of Uḥud he was the one who dug the holes, the traps, into one of which the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) fell, which caused the teeth of the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) to break, and some iron nails from his helmet to enter his cheeks. This was caused by Abū ʿĀmir al-Fāsiq. His name was Abū ʿĀmir al-Rāhib, Abū ʿĀmir the priest — he was given that nickname because he was religious — and the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) called him Abū ʿĀmir al-Fāsiq: Abū ʿĀmir the corrupt, rather than the priest, the corrupt one.

When he saw that Quraysh had been unsuccessful in their fight against the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him), he went all the way to meet Heraclius, to ask him to send an army to invade Madīnah. He was promised by Heraclius that he would be given assistance, and he used to send letters: Abū ʿĀmir would send letters to some of the munāfiqūn in Madīnah, promising them: I am going to come with an army to destroy the Muslim state. And what happened was that he asked them to set up a base from which they could spread their conspiracy — a place where they could meet and plot — and that place was the masjid they built. A masjid gave them good cover; but in reality it was a place to plot against the Muslims; it was a place to promote the agenda of the kuffār. The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) was given waḥy, revelation, that exposed this plan. Allah (swt) says in verses 107 to 110 of Sūrat al-Tawbah:

And there are those hypocrites who took for themselves a mosque for causing harm, and disbelief, and division among the believers, and as a station for whoever had warred against Allah (swt) and His Messenger (peace be upon him) before; and they will surely swear: we intended only the best; and Allah (swt) testifies that indeed they are liars. 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 — this refers to Masjid al-Taqwā — within it are men who love to purify themselves, and Allah (swt) loves those who purify themselves. So Allah (swt) is telling the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him): you should not pray in this masjid; but you should pray in a masjid that was established on taqwā from the first day, where there are believers, people who want to purify themselves. Then is one who laid the foundation of his building on righteousness, with fear of Allah (swt) and seeking His approval, better, or one who laid the foundation of his building on the edge of a bank about to collapse, so that it collapsed with him into the fire of Hell? And Allah (swt) does not guide the wrongdoing people. Their building which they built will not cease to be a cause of scepticism in their hearts until their hearts are stopped; and Allah (swt) is Knowing and Wise.

The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) ordered that the masjid be burned to the ground, and that is what happened; and the plot was exposed. The story of Masjid al-Ḍirār is the story of a masjid established to promote kufr rather than īmān; while the Masjid of Qubāʾ, and the Masjid of the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) in Madīnah, were masājid established from the first day to promote the truth. And therefore any masjid existing today to promote the agenda of the disbelievers is a masjid of ḍirār, and it is the same — because the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) was told by Allah (swt): ḍirāran wa kufran: it is a masjid built for ḍirār, which is harm, and for disbelief. And this is something that occurs nowadays: one finds that there are masājid that promote the agenda of kufr.