At first...

At first, it says: “Verily those who disbelieved, and hinder (the believers) from the way of Allah…” They also hinder the believing people from the Great Center of Monotheism, i.e. Masjid-ul-Haram (The Sacred Mosque). It is the same center that Allah appointed for all believers equally, irrespective of those who live in that land or those who come from a far distance unto it.

The verse continues saying: “…and the Sacred Mosque which We have made equally for all men, (for) the dweller therein and (for) the visitor from the country…” Such people, who hinder them are deserving of a painful chastisement, because the Sacred Mosque is an international place which, like skies and oceans, is not allocated as a right specially to a person, a country and a government.

Therefore, the verse implies that whoever intends to deviate from the path of the truth and commits injustice and oppression, Allah will taste him of a painful punishment. The verse says: “…and whoever does intend to wrong therein unjustly, We will make him taste of a grievous chastisement.” In fact, these disbelievers, besides rejecting the Truth, have committed three great crimes: Hindering people from the path of Allah, Faith, and obeying Him.

Hindering from the path of Allah and appointing a privilege for themselves. In this Holy land, they commit injustice, sin, and heresy. So, Allah will punish this group who deserve painful chastisement in the Hereafter.

By the way, Imam Sadiq (as) concerning this verse, said: “Whoever worships other than Allah in the Sacred Mosque, or takes other than the saints of Allah as the administrator of this sacred site, then he has been involved in injustice and heresy.” [^3] Some Points In this verse, the disbelief of this group has been stated in ‘past tense’, but ‘hindering (people) from the way of Allah’ has been said in ‘simple present tense’.

This refers to the fact that their disbelief is ancient while their effort and endeavor for misleading people is habitual and continues.