Surah 109. Al-Kafirun

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Verses [Section]: 1-6[1]

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Quran Text of Verse 1-6109. Al-Kafirun Page 603109. Al-Kafirunبِسْمِ اللّٰهِ الرَّحْمٰنِ الرَّحِیْمِقُلْSayیٰۤاَیُّهَاOالْكٰفِرُوْنَۙdisbelievers لَاۤNotاَعْبُدُI worshipمَاwhatتَعْبُدُوْنَۙyou worship وَ لَاۤAnd notاَنْتُمْyouعٰبِدُوْنَ(are) worshippersمَاۤ(of) whatاَعْبُدُۚI worship وَ لَاۤAnd notاَنَاI amعَابِدٌa worshipperمَّا(of) whatعَبَدْتُّمْۙyou worship وَ لَاۤAnd notاَنْتُمْyou areعٰبِدُوْنَworshippersمَاۤ(of) whatاَعْبُدُؕI worship لَكُمْFor youدِیْنُكُمْ(is) your religionوَ لِیَand for meدِیْنِ۠(is) my religion

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Translation of Verse 1-6In the name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful.

(109:1) Say: “O unbelievers!”¹

(109:2) I do not worship those that you worship²

(109:3) neither do you worship Him Whom I worship;³

(109:4) nor will I worship those whom you have worshipped;

(109:5) nor are you going to worship Him Whom I worship.⁴

(109:6) To you is your religion, and to me, my religion.⁵

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Commentary

1. The following salient points in this verse merit attention:

i. Although the verse directs the Prophet (peace be upon him) to tell this to unbelievers, the same command applies to every Muslim, including the unbeliever who repents and accepts Islam. Every Muslim should clearly disavow polytheism and idolatry.

ii. The term ‘unbeliever’ is not some form of abuse. In Arabic, it simply means one who does not believe, as compared to a believer who believes. The Prophet's use of this embraces all those who reject his Messenger ship and teachings. When a Muslim uses this term, he has in mind all those who do not believe in the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) as Allah’s Messenger.

iii. The unbelievers, not polytheists, are addressed. Included in this are all those who do not take the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) as the Messenger of God and his teachings as the divine message, be they Jews, Christians, Magians, unbelievers, polytheists or atheists. The address is not specific only to Quraysh or Arab polytheists.

iv. They are addressed as unbelievers in view of unbelief being their main trait. If any of them gives up unbelief, they will not be covered by this. For unbelievers, this is the eternal Qur’anic message.

v. Some Qur’anic scholars are of the view that the above is addressed only to those Quraysh chiefs who had made proposals to the Prophet (peace be upon him) regarding some pact on matters of faith. Allah had, however, informed the Prophet (peace be upon him) that they would never embrace faith. The opinion of these scholars’ rests on the following two assumptions: (a) The thrust of the verse “I do not worship whom you worship” (Verse 2) does not apply to Jews and Christians. For "they worship Allah. (b) Moreover, Verse 5 asserts: “Nor are you going to worship Him Whom I worship.” This is not applicable to those who were unbelievers at the time of its revelation but who later accepted Islam. Both these speculations are unsound. We will explain below the import of these verses, pointing out how they do not contain such meanings. At this juncture, only this point is worth affirming: had this Sarah been specific to its immediate addressees, why is it being recited even now, long after their deaths. Why is it included in the Qur’an, to be studied by Muslims until the Last Day?

2. Included in this are all the false gods worshipped by the unbelievers and polytheists across the world down the ages. These might be angels, jinn, Prophets, saints, spirits of the living or the dead, the sun, the moon, the stars, animals, trees, rivers, idols and other imaginary gods and goddesses. One should also state that even the Arab polytheists recognized Allah as the Lord and further that polytheists down the millennia have also denied Allah as the Lord. Moreover, the People of the Book take only Allah as the Lord. Given this, how could they all be dismissed while they worship Allah as well? The rejoinder to this is that if Allah is one of the many lords being worshipped, a monotheist cannot be party to such worship. For him, Allah is not one of many lords. Rather, He is the Only One True Lord. One cannot worship a multitude of gods including Allah. The Qur’an is absolutely clear and emphatic on the point that worship should exclusively be for Allah, without assigning any share in divinity: “All that they had been commanded was that they serve Allah, with utter sincerity, devoting themselves exclusively to Him,” (al-Bayyinah 98: 5). The same assertion recurs forcefully in al-Nisa’ 4: 145-146; al-A‘raf 7: 29; al-Zumar 39: 2, 3, 11, 14 and 15; and al-Mu'min 40: 14 and 64-66. It also features in the following Hadith Qudsi: “Allah says: ‘I have nothing to do with one’s association of others in worshipping. I absolve Myself of him who associates others in- worshipping Me. His worship is wholly for the associate.’” (Muslim, Ahmad, Ibn Majah). Unbelief actually consists in taking Allah as one of many lords and in regarding others as His partners in serving and worshipping them. This Surah, therefore, aims at disavowing and rejecting such unbelief.

3. Generally speaking, the Arabic relative pronoun ma is used of something non-living or non-rational and man of rational beings. Given a verse employs the word mi, it thus raises the question of its rationale. The following four answers have been offered by: Quranic scholars in response: (i) Ma is used here interchangeably for man (ii) here Ma means “those”. (iii) Ma signifies the act of worship, be it monotheistic or polytheistic. (iv) Since ma is also employed in Verse 3, in correspondence with the same it is used here also. However, in the above instance, only the word ma is repeated in both verses, while it carries two different meanings. Such instances are fairly common in the Qur’an. For example, Verse 194 of al-Baqarah reads as follows: “If someone has attacked you, attack him just as he attacked you.” Notwithstanding the use of “attack” in both instances, this does not carry an identical meaning. Likewise, the word nasi is used.in Verse 67 of al-Tawbah in the context of both unbelievers and Allah. Nasi (to forget) does not hold true of Allah yet it is used in the verse to maintain parity in the speech. What it actually means is that Allah has disregarded the unbelievers.

Although all four interpretations above are valid in their own right and are in line with Arabic idiom they still do not clearly establish why ma is employed here in place of man. Actually, in Arabic, man is the relative pronoun specific to someone's person ' while ma relates to his features. For example, in asking “who is he?”, we want to establish his identity and when we enquire “what is he?”, our enquiry relates to his status, profession or some other outstanding feature. In response to the latter question, we learn about his profession, qualifications and other credentials. Had the verse been: “You do not worship Whom I worship”, they could argue that they believe in and worship Allah. The Qur’anic verse, however, specifies that they do not worship Him with His special attributes whom the Prophet (peace be upon him) worships. This is exactly what distinguishes the Prophet's religion from the belief systems of all unbelievers. For, his God is markedly different from their gods. As to the unbelievers, some of them believe in a god who had to take rest on the seventh day after having created the’ universe in six days. Their god is not the Lord of the universe, but only the lord of the Israelites. He has special love for a particular race; he wrestles with Jacob and fails to defeat him and has a son, named ‘Uzayr. Some believe in a god who is the father of his only son, Jesus Christ, who crucifies his son in order to redeem the sins of others. Some believe in a god who maintains a family and has to rest content with only daughters. Some subscribe to an anthromorphic god who acts like human beings and has a human body. Some equate their god with the First Cause, or believe in a god who has disengaged himself from the universe after having created it. For them, laws of nature govern the universe and their god has no linkage with man. In sum, even those unbelievers who do have some concept of God do not believe in the God Who is the Creator, Master, Regulator and Sovereign of the universe. Not only has He created the universe, He manages it for all time. His command alone reigns supreme. He is free from every defect, imperfection, weakness and lapse. There is nothing like unto Him. Nor does He have any equal or partner. No one shares His being, attributes, powers and lordship. He is above and beyond taking anyone as His son or having children or having a special relationship with any ethnic group. He has direct links with all of His creatures in His capacity of being their Sustainer and Provider Who is full of mercy towards them. He listens to their supplications and has full control over their birth, death, profit and loss and destiny. Not only does He nourish His Creatures He imparts them with guidance as well. Apart from being our Lord Whom we worship, we receive His guidance through His Messengers and Scriptures. Our job is to obey His commands. We are answerable to Him for our deeds. He will resurrect and recompense us. Only the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) and his followers entertain such a comprehensive concept of God. Others worship gods invented by themselves.

4. Some Qur’anic scholars take Verses 3 and 5 as exact replicas of each other thereby reinforcing their import. Others, however, think these two identically worded verses express two different ideas in their own contexts. We share the view that it is not a simple case of repetition. As to their various meanings, Qur’anic scholars have gone to great lengths in establishing these. Constraints of space do not allow us to reproduce and comment on each of these, so let us recapitulate their quintessence. Verse 4 says that the Prophet (peace be upon him) will not worship those whom the unbelievers have worshipped. This is much different from the thrust of Verse 2: “I do not worship those that you worship.” Apart from refusal, it declares that in future too, he will not do so. Furthermore, the very thought of doing such an act is outrageous. Likewise, these contain reference to the idols then being worshipped by the unbelievers, and also those that were worshipped in the past. It goes without saying that different idols have been the object of worship in various periods of time. So too have people differed on their gods. The verse declares the disavowal of both present and past idols. Even the thought of worshipping false gods does not cross the Prophet’s mind.

As already indicated, Verses 3 and 5 have different contexts, notwithstanding their identical wordings. That the Prophet (peace be upon him) does not worship those whom the unbelievers worship signifies that the latter do not worship the One True God served by him. Verse 5 declares that they will not worship Him Whom the Prophet (peace be upon him) worships. It is out of the question that the Prophet (peace be upon him) may ever worship their idols. Nor is it expected in view of the unbelievers’ revulsion towards monotheism that they will mend their ways and worship the One True God Who is worshipped by the Prophet (peace be upon him).

5. “To you is your religion, and to me, my religion” underscores that the two worship different lords. The Prophet (peace be upon him) cannot worship their lords and the unbelievers are not going to worship his lord. The two, thus, have nothing in common in faith. So this verse does not teach tolerance towards unbelievers. Rather, it declares Muslims’ disavowal of them as long as they cling to unbelief. They should forget about any deal with the Prophet (peace be upon him) or the believers on matters of faith. This note of _ total dissociation from unbelief is to the fore in some Makkan Surahs revealed after Surah al-Kafirun. Take the following as illustrative:

And if they reject you as false, tell them: “My deeds are for myself and your deeds for yourselves. You will not be held responsible for my deeds, nor I for your deeds.” (Yunus 10: 41)

(O Prophet), tell them: “O people! If you are still in doubt concerning my religion, know that I do not serve those whom you serve besides Allah. I only serve Allah Who will cause (all of) you to die.” (Yunus 10: 104).

Then if they disobey you say to them: “I am quit of what you do.” (al-Shu‘ara’ 26: 216)

Tell them: “You will not be called to account about the guilt we committed, nor will we be called to account for what you did.” Say: “Our Lord will bring us together and then He will rightly judge between us.” (Saba’ 34: 25-26)

Tell them: “My people, continue to work in your position as you will, I too will continue with my work. Soon you shall know whom the degrading chastisement will visit and upon whom the everlasting chastisement will alight.” (al-Zumar 39: 39-40)

You have a good example in Abraham and his companions: they said to their people: “We totally dissociate ourselves from you, and from the deities that you worship instead of Allah. We renounce you and there has come to be enmity and hatred between us and you until you believe in Allah the One True God.” (al-Mumtahanah 60: 4)

In the light of the above Qur’anic assertions it is quite clear that the statement: “To you is your religion, and to me, my religion” stands for the two distinct paths, which the two groups should be free to follow. The Qur’an further says:

“Say: ‘Allah alone shall serve, consecrating my devotion to Him. So serve, apart from Him, whomsoever you please.’” (al-Zumar 39: 14)

On the basis of the above verse, Imam Abu Hanifah and Imam Shafi’i contend that unbelief represents one faith group, no matter how different the unbelievers might be in their respective belief systems. Going by the same logic, a Christian may inherit a Jew and vice versa, if they have any ground for a share in such inheritance. In contrast, Imam Malik, Imam Awza‘i and Imam Ahmad maintain that the adherents of one faith cannot be the heir to the adherent of another faith. Their stance is premised on the Hadith narrated by ‘Abd Allah ibn ‘Amr ibn ‘As: “The Prophet (peace be upon him) said: ‘Adherents of two faith communities cannot be each other’s inheritor,'” (Ahmad, Aba Dawud, Ibn Majah and Daraqutni). Another relevant Hadith on the issue is cited by Tirmidhi, Ibn Hibban and Bazzar on the authority of Jabir, ‘Abd Allah ibn ‘Umar and Abu Hurayrah respectively. While delving into this issue the noted Hanafi jurist, Imam Sarakhsi states: “Unbelievers may be one another’s heirs on the same grounds Muslims are. They may sometimes have ties of inheritance which is not possible in the case of Muslims... Actually, Allah recognizes only two religions — the true faith and the false religion. That is why the Qur’an asserts: “To you is your religion, and to me, my religion.” For Allah there are only two types of people - the believers, dwellers of Paradise, and the unbelievers of all kinds, the inmates of Hell. Allah proclaims: “These two groups (the believers and unbelievers) are in dispute about their Lord,” (al-Hajj 22: 19). All the unbelievers together are pitted against believers. We do not recognize them as separate groups in terms of their faith. As opposed to Muslims, they form a single group. While Muslims affirm the Messenger ship of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) and the Qur’an, they cry lies to these, and are therefore unbelievers. They are a single group in dispute with Muslims. The Hadith under discussion reinforces the same point. The Prophet (peace be upon‘him) is on record as declaring: “A Muslim cannot be an unbeliever’s inheritor nor an unbeliever inherit a Muslim,” (al-Mabsut, III, pp. 30-32). The above Hadith cited by Imam Sarakhsi features on Usamah ibn Zayd’s authority in the Hadith collections of Bukhari, Muslim, Nasa’i, Ahmad, Tirmidhi, Ibn Majah and Abu Dawud. (Tirmidhi, Bab al-Mirath).