~Built shortly before Tabuk (9 AH); destroyed on the return from Tabuk (9 AH) · 9 AH
In brief
Masjid al-Dirar, the Masjid of Harm, was a mosque built by the hypocrites of Madinah as a base against the Muslims while the Prophet ﷺ was preparing for Tabuk in 9 AH. Its real instigator was Abu Amir al-Rahib, an elder of the Aws who had rejected Islam, fled after Badr and made his way to the court of the Roman Caesar, from where he wrote to Abdullah ibn Ubayy asking for a headquarters in Madinah from which the city might be retaken with Roman help. Publicly the hypocrites claimed it served their weak and elderly on rainy nights, though Masjid Quba stood nearby. They invited the Prophet ﷺ to pray in it; he questioned its purpose and said only that he would consider it after Tabuk. It operated for about a month, and he never prayed there. On the march back from Tabuk, Allah revealed verses exposing it as a mosque built for harm, disbelief and division, and forbidding the Prophet ﷺ ever to stand in it. He ordered it destroyed and burned. Abu Amir never returned, and died in Rome without family or friends, as the Prophet ﷺ had prayed.
Outcome: Destroyed and burned on the Prophet ﷺ's order shortly after Qur'an 9:107-109 was revealed.
This was one of the final open confrontations between the Prophet ﷺ and the hypocrites, after Tabuk, their organized opposition collapsed, with only Abdullah ibn Ubayy's death some months later (after which Allah forbade praying for him, Qur'an 9:80) closing the affair entirely. It establishes in Islamic law that a masjid built for a harmful, divisive purpose loses its sanctity and may rightly be destroyed, while cautioning strongly against ever leveling that accusation at a masjid merely because a group sincerely disagrees and worships separately, a judgment left to Allah, not to be presumed by the community.
Other events recorded in 9 AH. Their order within the year is not established; use the storyline above for the sequence.
Why don't you come bless our masjid? Come and pray two rak'at in it.
Why did you build the masjid?
Ya Rasulullah, we have weak people. And if it rains, the masjid will just be right there in our neighborhood.
We are busy now preparing for travel. Insha'Allah, when I come back.
It is this masjid right here.
Said resolving a dispute between two companions over which masjid Qur'an 9:108, praising "a masjid founded on taqwa from the first day", referred to; the Prophet ﷺ swore by Allah that it meant Masjid al-Nabawi.
وَالَّذِينَ اتَّخَذُوا مَسْجِدًا ضِرَارًا وَكُفْرًا وَتَفْرِيقًا بَيْنَ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ وَإِرْصَادًا لِّمَنْ حَارَبَ اللَّهَ وَرَسُولَهُ مِن قَبْلُ ۚ وَلَيَحْلِفُنَّ إِنْ أَرَدْنَا إِلَّا الْحُسْنَىٰ ۖ وَاللَّهُ يَشْهَدُ إِنَّهُمْ لَكَاذِبُونَ
“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 and His Messenger before. And they will surely swear, "We intended only the best." And Allah testifies that indeed they are liars.”
This ayah is Surat at-Tawba's explicit condemnation of Masjid al-Dirar (9:107-110), the very mosque described at this event.
لَا تَقُمْ فِيهِ أَبَدًا ۚ لَّمَسْجِدٌ أُسِّسَ عَلَى التَّقْوَىٰ مِنْ أَوَّلِ يَوْمٍ أَحَقُّ أَن تَقُومَ فِيهِ ۚ فِيهِ رِجَالٌ يُحِبُّونَ أَن يَتَطَهَّرُوا ۚ وَاللَّهُ يُحِبُّ الْمُطَّهِّرِينَ
“A mosque founded on taqwa from the first day”
This ayah is Surat at-Tawba's explicit condemnation of Masjid al-Dirar (9:107-110), the very mosque described at this event.
أَفَمَنْ أَسَّسَ بُنْيَـٰنَهُۥ عَلَىٰ تَقْوَىٰ مِنَ ٱللَّهِ وَرِضْوَٰنٍ خَيْرٌ أَم مَّنْ أَسَّسَ بُنْيَـٰنَهُۥ عَلَىٰ شَفَا جُرُفٍ هَارٍ فَٱنْهَارَ بِهِۦ فِى نَارِ جَهَنَّمَ ۗ وَٱللَّهُ لَا يَهْدِى ٱلْقَوْمَ ٱلظَّـٰلِمِينَ
“Then is one who laid the foundation of his building on righteousness [with fear] from Allah and [seeking] His approval better or one who laid the foundation of his building on the edge of a bank about to collapse, so it collapsed with him into the fire of Hell? And Allah does not guide the wrongdoing people.”
This ayah is Surat at-Tawba's explicit condemnation of Masjid al-Dirar (9:107-110), the very mosque described at this event.
لَا يَزَالُ بُنْيَـٰنُهُمُ ٱلَّذِى بَنَوْا۟ رِيبَةً فِى قُلُوبِهِمْ إِلَّآ أَن تَقَطَّعَ قُلُوبُهُمْ ۗ وَٱللَّهُ عَلِيمٌ حَكِيمٌ
“The building which they erected will never cease to fuel hypocrisy in their hearts until their hearts are torn apart. And Allah is All-Knowing, All-Wise.”
This ayah is Surat at-Tawba's explicit condemnation of Masjid al-Dirar (9:107-110), the very mosque described at this event.