NOT EVERYONE IS COMPETENT TO MAINTAIN THE MOSQUES

VERSES NO. 17 - 18

      After dissoulution of treaties, there was the question that why we should turn away such a large group of people, even though they be idolaters, from the Sacred Mosque, while they respect it, and highly esteem the House of Allah, and can serve to maintain and improve it.

      The above verse came to give an end to such disputes among Muslims, once and for all, saying:

      ``Polytheists are not fit for maintenance and looking after the mosques of Allah. The maintainers of the Mosques of Allah are those who believe in Allah, the Last Day, and who perform the prayers, pay the alms- tax (and their more advanced qualification is that) they fear none but Allah.''

      Difficult is to find an English word to satisfy the translation of the Arabic, `AMARA, EMRAN' for having a vast shade of meaning in which we may put, maintenance, repair, built construct, edify and etc.

      The verses imply that, no one except the true and sincere believers should build, repair, maintain, improve, or organize, a mosque physically or spiritually. Those who are authorized to maintain the mosques are introduced in the next verse:

      ``Only he should maintain the mosques of Allah who believes in Allah and the last Day, and who performs the prayers and pays the alms- tax, and fears nothing except Allah.''

      In this relation, the following points are worthy of note:

      1- The custodians and guardians of the mosques, and those who take care of, and look after the sacred monuments should be chosen from among the pious and sincere believers, and the hands of the faithless profiteers should be cut off from the sacred places which are points of reference for the common people.

      2- Mosques are the training centers and teaching schools of religious and moral principles; and those who have the charge of such places should be pure in faith, clean in deeds, and brave enough, not to fear any but Allah.

      3- Here the word, `mosque' is collective and common noun that applies to all places wherein Allah is worshipped. So this commandment applies commonly to All the mosques, and in particular to the Sacred Mosque of Kaabeh.

      4- And finally we should always keep this in our mind that, spiritual maintenance of a mosque is more important than its physical maintenance.