For some time, I was inclining to the interpretation that "al masjid al haram" referred to the time period of the 4 inviolable full moons/months. One argument against that based on language and usage in the Quran is simply that we already have the terms "al shahru al haram" and "al ashuhru al haram." There is no need for another term for this time. God does not haphazardly use 3 terms for the same thing. "al shahru al haram" is used for the general term for a restricted full moon/month and "al ashuru al haram" are the 4 restricted full moons/months. Al masjid al haram /=/ al ashuru al haram. Additionally, "masjid" would thus be understood as "time of submission/acknowledgement/subservience" and so on.
Now I will analyze the occurences of "masjid" and "masajid" in the Quran:
2:114 Who are more wicked than those who bar God's masajid; so that His name not be remembered in them (feeha); and they seek their destruction (kharabiha - see 59:2 for usage ? physical destruction)? It is they who should not be able to enter them except in fear; they will have humiliation in this world and in the Hereafter a painful retribution.
Why would people bar a restricted period for God?s name to not be remembered? Why is that so important in the restriction period as opposed to other times? How can you physically destroy a time period? Why would God want those who bar his masajid to only enter them in fear if it refers to a peaceful time? If we insert the interpretation of a an institution or physical temple it makes more sense.
2:144 We see the shifting of your face towards the sky; We will thus set for you a qiblah that will be pleasing to you, "You shall turn your countenance/purpose towards the direction (shatra) of al masjid al haram; and wherever you may be, you shall turn your countenance/purpose towards towards it." Those who have been given the law know it is the truth from their Lord. God is not oblivious of what you do.
2:149 And from wherever you go out, you shall turn your countenance/purpose towards al masjid al haram; it is the truth from your Lord; and God is not unaware of what you do.
Do those who were given the law have a 4 period time period of restriction? Or do they have a gathering place where they do there pilgrimage and have a cultural center where they can meet with other believers? Also, it says ?fa walli wahjaka shatra al masjid al haram,? which does not mean physical turning, rather to think about the meeting point of all believers and the peace and cooperation it entails. We are to take part of the spirit of ?al masjid al haram? with us wherever we go. Thus, physical place or an institution can still make sense. The restriction period is only 4 months, so we technically cannot observe it from wherever and whenever. It would be interpreted with the same reasoning.
2:191 Fight them wherever you meet them, and expel them from where they expelled you, and know that persecution is worse than being killed. Do not fight them at/in the vicinity of (aainda) al masjid al haram unless they fight you in it (feeha); if they fight you then fight them. Thus is the reward of those who do not appreciate.
If masjid al haram was a non-phsical building and/or the restriction time, using both aainda and feeha doesn?t make as much sense as if it is a building. Otherwise in and in the presence of (aainda) is the same ? you are either in the restriction time or you are not. However, you can fight someone at/in the vicinity of a building and you can fight them in it.
2:187 It has been made lawful for you during the night of fasting to approach your women sexually. They are a garment for you and you are a garment for them. God knows that you used to betray yourselves so He has accepted your repentance, and forgiven you; now you may approach them and seek what God has written for you. You may eat and drink until the white thread is distinct from the black thread of dawn; then you shall complete the fast until night; and do not approach them while you are devoted in the masajid. These are God's boundaries, so do not transgress them. It is thus that God makes His signs clear to the people that they may be righteous.
If masajid meant time of submission/acknowledgement, it would not make sense. If you are approaching women, then by default you are not making sujud to the message of God. Place makes more sense.
2:217 They ask you about fighting in the restricted month/full moon (al shahri al harami). Say, "Fighting in it is great offense," yet repelling from the path of God and not appreciating Him and the al masjid al haram, driving its inhabitants out is far greater with God. Persecution is worse than being killed." They still will fight you until they turn you back from your system if they are able. Whoever of you turns back from his system, and dies as ingrates, then these have nullified their work in this life and the next; these are the people of the fire; there they will abide eternally!
Why mention both the restricted month/full moon and masjid al haram in the same sentence? Clearly they are different. How can you drive out inhabitants of a restricted time?
5:2 O you who acknowledge, do not violate God's decrees, nor the restricted month, nor the donations, nor what is regulated, nor maintainers of al masjid al haram who are seeking a bounty from their Lord and a blessing. When it is permitted for you, then you may hunt. Let not the hatred of another people, because they had barred you from the Restricted Temple, tempt you to aggress. Bond together in piety and righteousness, and do not bind together in sin and animosity. Be aware of God, for God's retribution is severe.
Same point as above.
7:31 O Children of Adam, dress nicely at every masjid, and eat and drink and do not indulge or waste; He does not like the indulgers and the prodigals.
What is the significance of dressing nicely at a time of acknowledgement or the restricted months? This applies much more soundly to a place of submission.
9:28 O you who acknowledge, those who have set up partners are impure, so do not approach al masjid al haram after this their year. If you fear poverty, then God will enrich you from His blessings if He wills. God is Knowledgeable, Wise.
How can one person in the same city approach or not approach a time period? You can observe or not observe but you cannot approach it ? you are either in it or you are not. A physical building makes more sense. Also, this verse talks about the believers not approaching al masjid al haram since the idolaters took over.
9:107 There are those who have taken a masjid to do harm and hypocrisy, to cause division among those who acknowledge, and as an outpost for those who fought God and His messenger before. They will swear that they only wanted to do good, but God bears witness that they are liars.
This verse makes much more sense to denote a physical building. If masjid was a time of submission, how can you use that for causing violence?
9:108 You shall never stand in it. A masjid that is founded on righteousness from the first day is more worthy of your standing; in it are men who love to be cleansed. God loves the cleansed.
How can you stand in a time of acknowledgement? If understood as a place of submission, it makes much more sense even if we translate ?taqum feehi? as ?persist in it.? Standing in the temple is more literal and makes much more sense. Nothing is forced.
17:1 Extolled be to the One who took His servant by night from al masjid al haram to al masjid al aqsa whose surroundings We had blessed, so that We may show him of Our signs. Indeed, He is the Hearer, the Seer.
Was Muhammad taken out of a time period? How can you bless the surroundings of a time of submission/obeisance? ?Time of submission? is not impossible, but place of submission makes more sense.
17:7 If you do good, then it will be good for you, and if you do bad, then so be it. But when the promise of the second time comes, they will make your faces filled with sorrow and they will enter the masjid as they did the first time, and they will strike down all that was raised up.
How can you strike down all that was raised up in a masjid? Why would you strike something down at a time of submission/peace? This is talking about the descendants of Israel. Did they have temples or simply times of acknowledgement? If both, I still think place of submission makes more sense.
18:21 Thus We let them be discovered so that they would know that God's promise is true and that there is no doubt regarding the moment. They argued amongst themselves regarding them, so they said, "Erect a monument/building for them!" Their Lord is fully aware of them. Those who managed to win the argument said, "We will construct a masjid over them."
How can you construct a time of acknowledgement over someone? Is a time of acknowledgement a monument/building? Clearly, place of submission fits better.
22:25 Those who have rejected and repel from the path of God and al masjid al haram that We have made for people, for the dweller in it (feehi) or the visitor to it; and whoever inclines to evil action in it, We will let them taste a painful retribution.
How can someone dwell vs visit a time of acknowledgement? Can someone reside in it? Can you simply visit it? A physical place makes much more sense.
22:40 The ones who were driven out of their homes without justice, except that they said, "Our Lord is God!" If it were not for God defending people against themselves, then many pious communities would be demolished/broken into pieces (haddama), as well as markets, commitments and masajid in which (feeha) the name of God is frequently mentioned, would have been destroyed. God will give victory to those who support Him. God is Powerful, Noble.
Physical building fits much better. Haddama means to demolish or to break into pieces.
48:25 They are the ones who rejected and barred you from al masjid al haram, and barred your donations from reaching their destination. There had been acknowledging men and women whom you did not know, and you may have hurt them, and on whose account you would have committed a sin unknowingly. God will admit into His mercy whomever He wills. Had they become separated, We would then have punished those of them who rejected with a painful retribution.
How can you bar someone from the four restricted months? They are ongoing. Clearly this is referring to hajj and the donations that get sent and the meeting at al masjid al haram.
48:27 God has fulfilled with truth His messenger's vision: "You will enter the al masjid al haram, God willing, secure, with your heads shaven and shortened, having no fear." Thus, He knew what you did not know, and He has coupled with this a near victory.
This verse connects to 9:28 which spoke about the idolaters taking over al masjid al haram and the believers not approaching it. Because of this connection, I think physical building again makes more sense. Taken on its own I do see how ?time of acknowledgement/submission? can be understood.
72:18 The masajid are for God, so do not call on anyone with God.
Place makes more sense than time. I do see how time can make sense. However, throughout history people had places of submission.