by Mohamed Ousman (News & Analysis, Crescent International Vol. 54, No. 8, Rabi' al-Awwal, 1446)
“And [there are dual-loyalist hypocritical Muslims] who have established a [breakaway] masjid in order to create social impairment and to foster kufr and disunity among the committed Muslims [who report directly to the Prophet], and to provide an outpost for all who from the outset have been warring against Allah and His Apostle. And they will surely swear [to you, O committed Muslims], ‘We had but the best of intentions!’ - the while Allah [Himself] bears witness that they are lying.” (The Ascendant Qur’an, Surat At Tawbah, verse 107).
This ayat and others in the cluster of ayaats describe a ‘masjid’ that was built with an agenda. On the surface it’s called a masjid so no one can take issue with building a masjid, but because of the hidden plan behind building it, Allah exposed the nature of that project.
Behind the agenda was Abu Aamir al Rahib, the monk; an elitist from the Khazraj tribe who lived in Yathrib (renamed Madinah after the Prophet’s migration there). He was shining among his tribe but with the advent of Islam he was eclipsed and this caused psychological and attitudinal problems in the jahili hierarchy of Yathrib. When the Prophet arrived in Madinah, he sat with him, read to him ayaats and tried to explain to him Allah’s message with tolerance, camaraderie, equality, justice and mercy but he would not listen.
As he witnessed the consolidation of the Islamic leadership, the Islamic society, the Muslim victory at Badr and the ascendancy of the Islamic state in Madinah, he left for Makkah and used his influence to incite the mushrikeen against the Islamic State in Madinah. This culminated in the battle of Uhud.
He came with them to duel against the committed Muslims. He dug some holes to reduce the Muslims’ mobility and the Prophet fell and suffered bruises, cuts, laceration to his face and body in addition to breaking a tooth.
When the battle of Uhud did not result in a conclusive defeat of the Muslims, he went to Syria and met with his co-religionist, Heraclius, the ruler of the Byzantines there, concerning Islam, the Prophet, The Islamic state in Madinah, etc. He then communicated with some of his tribesmen, the Munafiqeen in Madinah and told them that he met the Byzantine ruler who will help with whatever is needed to destroy the Islamic state in Madinah and its leadership.
And he told them to build him a retreat or a meeting place but they began building a ‘masjid’ next to Masjid Quba. This ‘masjid’ was built with the intention to spy on the Muslims, a plan to deny Allah and His Prophet, to divide the Muslims and to inflict maximum harm from within the Islamic society through a ‘masjid’.
After finishing it, they asked the Prophet to inaugurate it (they said it was built for the needy). The Prophet’s response was that given the preparations for war in Tabuk, he will come after he returns from the expedition, insha’Allah.
On the way back from Tabuk, Allah revealed Surat at-Tawbah, verse 107 to expose a ‘masjid’ in the heart of Islam that was traced to Byzantium, the link-up between Abu Aamir and the Byzantine superpower or the Munafiqeen inside and the forces of tyranny and oppression outside.
This issue was not one of contention and debate. The Prophet ordered that the ‘masjid’ be destroyed. The Muslims readily complied. They burnt it to the ground and it was later used as a rubbish dump.
The Prophet changed Abu Aamir’s title from Al Rahib, the monk to Al Fasiq (the degenerate), because in his pursuit to understand Allah before Islam he became a Christian but he then degenerated to join the mushrikeen in their efforts against the Muslims at Uhud, Ahzab and Hunayn.
He actively waged war against Allah and His Prophet. He stayed with his masters and superiors in Byzantium, where he belonged, died and is buried in bin Nasrin in Northern Syria.
In the Prophet’s time, the munafiqeen (the dual loyalists), and their connections with the superpowers could not get away with their behind-the-scenes schemes to undermine the Islamic state and movement. Allah gave us information to be ever-watchful of people who try such schemes yet masajid today have at least one of the four descriptions of Masjid Dirar i.e., to harm, to passively promote kufr, to divide the Muslims and to be an observation post for those who are at war with Allah and His Prophet.
Most Masajid report to governments, who they consider to be their superiors, on who are the committed Muslims and these governments report back to the superpower in the same way reports were going from Masjid Dirar to Abu Aamir to the Byzantium superpower.
That episode at the first Masjid Dirar has now reached global scale. That clique of munafiqeen in Madinah at the time of the Prophet has become rulers in the Muslim world today. Most of the masajid can be considered Masajid Dirar and if at the time of the Prophet they could not get away with building one masjid, today they are controlling almost all the masajid in the world. Hence, this episode should live in our memory such that when Muslims see a Masjid Dirar that is conspiring with an enemy against the Islamic state from within the borders of a super power, it is identified.
The rulers in Arabia could accurately be called the contemporary Abu Aamirs. He went from Arabia to Byzantium and met its ruler. These rulers meet the zionists and imperialists regularly in Muslim lands and in their capitals and they have converted virtually all the masajid into Masajid Dirar from which they inflict harm on the Muslims.
They secularize the masajid such that Allah’s authority and power is disregarded. They have divided the Muslims into almost 60 nation states or sects and they wage war on the Islamic leadership in the Islamic Republic in Iran and the Islamic Resistance movements through the propaganda that they churn out of these Masajid Dirar and those in-charge of Makkah even do so from the Haramayn.
The Muslim rulers in Arabia whom these ayaats are exposing should not be the maintainers, custodians and protectors of the Holy sanctuary. Surat Al Anfal, verse 34 (The Ascendant Qur’an) was revealed when people flocked to Al Masjid Al Haram in droves during the Hajj, the Umrah and at other times. But it is important to understand that the mushriks were not detracting or distracting from Al Masjid Al Haram strictly in the physical sense.
The mushriks had Makkah at that time under ritualistic siege, by people executing Ibrahimi rituals and today it is under siege by people executing Muhammadi rituals. And because Makkah is under ritualistic siege, Muslims everywhere are under ritualistic siege! Thus, Muslims are un-able to identify the contemporary Abu Aamirs, the contemporary Masajid Dirar, the contemporary Islamic state and our responsibility towards the Islamic state and leadership. Let us break this religious siege by recognizing the contemporary realities properly.