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114. " and who is more
unjust than he who prevents the mosques
of allah of his name being remembered therein and
strives for their ruin? such (people) might
never enter them, save in fear.
for them is disgrace in this world, and in
the hereafter
a great punishment."
occasion of revelation :
it has been narrated from ibn abbas, cited in the book
` asbab-un-nuzul ', that this verse was revealed about fatlus-ur-rumi,
a roman, and his friends. they fought against the children of israel
and burnt the turah. in that war, jewish children were made captives,
and jerusalem was ruined and filled with corpses. 1
the late tabarsi, a great commentator, narrates from ibn abbas,
in his book ` majma`ul-bayan ', that this strive for the destruction
of
jerusalem was continued until when that holy land was conquered by
muslims. ... 2
a tradition from imam sadiq (a.s.) says that this verse was
revealed about the quraysh when they prevented the holy prophet
(p.b.u.h.) from entering mecca and the ka`bah. 3
also, a third occasion of revelation is cited for this verse. it says
the verse is referring to the sites in mecca where muslims used to
pray
at, which pagans destroyed totally after the emigration of the prophet
(p.b.u.h.) from that city. 4
there is no discrepancy in saying that all three of these occasions
of revelation refer to their own individual incidents. therefore, each
of
them illustrates one of the dimensions of the subject.
commentary :
the most unjust ones !
when dealing with the occasions of revelation of the above
mentioned verse, it is understood that the words are about all three
groups: the jews, the christians and the pagans, while the words in
the
previous verses were mostly about the jews and sometimes about the
christians.
at any rate, the jews, creating mischief about the qiblah, tried to
return the direction of the prayers of muslims toward jerusalem in
order to appear to have, by that manner, a kind of superiority in the
eyes of the community of muslims and also weaken the lustre and
elegance of the sacred mosque and the ka`bah. 5
the pagans of mecca, having prevented the holy prophet
(p.b.u.h.) and muslims from visiting and pilgrimaging to the sacred
house, the ka`bah, practically stepped forth toward the desolation
of
this holy structure.
the christians, too, having conquered jerusalem and having
performed actions which gave rise to what was said to be the occasion
of revelation of this verse, as narrated by ibn abbas, tried to ruin
it.
the qur'an, warning these three groups and all others who pave a
similar way, says:
" and who is more unjust than he who prevents the mosques
of allah of his name being remembered therein and
strives for their ruin? ..."
thus, the qur'an considers this prevention unjust and introduces
contrivers of it as the most unjust people. indeed, what greater `
unjust' could be committed than that they strive to ruin the
monotheistic centers and prevent people from remembering the name of
their
providence, whose consequence would be the spread of polytheism and
corruption in the society!
then, the verse continues saying :
".....such (people) night never enter them,save in fear...."
that is, muslims and monotheists of the world should stand so
firm against these transgressors that their hands be curtailed from
these
sacred sites so that none of them can freely and without fear enter therein
.
in commenting of the above verse, a possble meaning is that
these kind of of unjust people with these kind of actionswill never
truly
succeed in taking these holy shrines and places of worship under their
own control. the final circumstance will be such that they will not
be
able to enter them save in fear. they will be subject to just the same
fate
and fortune that the pagans of mecca had regarding the sacred mosque.
finally, through the concluding words of the verse and with a
shocking statement, the qur'an has referred to the penalty of those
transgressors both in the present world and the coming world. it says:
"... for them is disgrace in this world, and in the hereafter
a great punishment. "
and this is the end of those who want to separate servants from
their providence.
explanation
mosques and the ways of their desolation
there is no doubt that the above verse has a vast meaning which
is not confined to a particular time or place. the verse, from this
point
of view, is like other verses of the qur'an which have been revealed
in
relation to a specific condition or circumstance referred to as the
occasion of revelation, but their ordinances are valid in all ages.
therefore, anyone or any group who strive in any form to ruin the
mosques of allah, or prevent the name of allah from being
remembered and adored therein, will be faced with the same disgrace
and great punishment which have been pointed out in this verse.
it is also necessary to pay attention to this fact that the
prevention of worshippers from entering into the sacred mosque and
the barring of the remembrance of the name of allah and his
adoration along with striving for ruining it, does not only refer to
the
mosque being destroyed by shovel and pick, but involves any actions
that cause mosques to be ruined or seem dull and lustreless.
as it will be explained when commenting on sura al-taubah,
no. 9, verse 18, the purpose of the qur'anic phrase /ya`muru masajid/,
mentioned in the verse,according to the clear meanings of some islamic
narrations and traditions, is not merely ` to build or to mend the
mosques '. attending these holy shrines and remembering the name of
allah and adoring him therein not only is a means of maintaining
them but also is counted as their most important form of maintenance.
therefore, in the opposite case, whatever causes people to
neglect the remembrance of the name of allah and keeps them apart
from the mosques, is a very grand injustice.
supplication :
o' lord ! guard us from, and against,
any deviation and corruption!
-
1 asbab-un-nuzul,
p. 22, arabic version
-
2
majma`-ul-bayan,
vol. 1, p. 189
- 3 ibid
- 4 majma`-ul-bayan,
vol. 1, p. 189 & almizan, the commentary of the verse.
- 5 tafsir
fakhr-i-razi, vol. 4, p. 9
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