The Quran

107

وَالَّذينَ اتَّخَذوا مَسجِدًا ضِرارًا وَكُفرًا وَتَفريقًا بَينَ المُؤمِنينَ وَإِرصادًا لِمَن حارَبَ اللَّهَ وَرَسولَهُ مِن قَبلُ ۚ وَلَيَحلِفُنَّ إِن أَرَدنا إِلَّا الحُسنىٰ ۖ وَاللَّهُ يَشهَدُ إِنَّهُم لَكاذِبونَ

Muhammad Asad

AND [there are hypocrites] who have established a [separate] house of worship in order to create mischief, and to promote apostasy and disunity among the believers, and to provide an outpost for all who from the outset have been warring against God and His Apostle.¹ And they will surely swear [to you, O believers], "We had but the best of intentions!" - the while God [Himself] bears witness thaat they are lying.²

Lit., "who have been warring against God and His Apostle aforetime" - i.e., before the expedition to Tabuk. The historical occasion to which this verse refers may be thus summarized: Ever since his exodus from Mecca to Medina the Prophet was violently opposed by one Abu 'Amir ("The Monk"), a prominent member of the Khazraj tribe, who had embraced Christianity many years earlier and enjoyed a considerable reputation among his compatriots and among the Christians of Syria. From the very outset he allied himself with the Prophet's enemies, the Meccan Quraysh, and took part on their side in the battle of Uhud (3 H.). Shortly thereafter he migrated to Syria and did all that he could to induce the Emperor of Byzantium, Heraclius, to invade Medina and crush the Muslim community once and for all. In Medina itself, Abu 'Amir had some secret followers among the members of his tribe, with whom he remained in constant correspondence. In the year 9 H. he informed them that Heraclius had agreed to send out an army against Medina, and that large-scale preparations were being made to this effect (which was apparently the reason for the Prophet's preventive expedition to Tabuk). In order that his followers should have a rallying-place in the event of the expected invasion of Medina, Abu 'Amir suggested to his friends that they build a mosque of their own in the village of Quba', in the immediate vicinity of Medina (which they did), and thus obviate the necessity of congregating in the mosque which the Prophet himself had built in the same village at the time of his arrival at Medina (see note 145 below). It is this "rival" mosque to which the above verse refers. It was demolished at the Prophet's orders immediately after his return from the Tabuk expedition. Abu 'Amir himself died in Syria shortly afterwards. (For all the relevant Traditions, see Tabari's and Ibn Kathir's commentaries on this verse.)
Although the whole of this verse relates primarily to the historical occasion explained in the preceding note, it has a definite bearing on all attempts at creating sectarian divisions among Muslims, and is thus a clear amplification of an earlier injunction to this effect (see 6:159 and the corresponding note 161).