Sūrat al-Kāfirūn
سورۃ الکافرون
Sūrat al-Kāfirūn, Makkī — revealed in Makkah. It has six (6) āyāt.
بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَٰنِ الرَّحِيمِ
Bismillāhi l-Raḥmāni l-Raḥīm.
In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
And the commentary on Sūrat al-Kawthar's last verse — for he was an important person in a family of Quraysh descendants — this family of Negus — he had built a beautifully appointed house in Yemen and worshippers came around it — and around the descriptions of Ibrāhīm and Ismāʿīl (upon them be peace) and the disbelievers from Quraysh — because they said that Muḥammad ﷺ has no children — and the children born to them continue — if there are no children then their posterity will not continue from the lineage of the spiritual Muḥammadī ﷺ — in the adhān one says ashhadu anna Muḥammadan ʿabduhu wa-rasūluh — the prayer-goers call out — at ḥajj a crowd of five hundred million in the name of Muḥammad ﷺ — the great army of servants of Muḥammad ﷺ — it is the most extraordinary gathering — the family will come to an end through the enemies — this is because the enemies of the name will persist — they hate from everyone's side — from the name of Muḥammad ﷺ — the cause of their enmity — whatever they might do — they will remain — and the jealous enemy — he will always remain as dust and enemy — and until the world remains his name will remain — and the enemy and jealous one will find no taker for their name.
قُلْ يَا أَيُّهَا الْكَافِرُونَ لَا أَعْبُدُ مَا تَعْبُدُونَ
qul yā ayyuhā l-kāfirūn. lā aʿbudu mā taʿbudūn.
"Say: 'O disbelievers! I do not worship what you worship.'" (al-Kāfirūn 109:1–2)
Qul — say. Yā ayyuhā l-kāfirūn — O disbelievers, O deniers! Speak out clearly — there is no point hiding the truth. Lā aʿbudu — I do not worship. Mā taʿbudūn — what you worship, those idols you worship, those very ones — and the second sentence in its entirety is the predicate of the first. Mā aʿbudu — those whom I worship in the source form.
Translation: "(O Messenger ﷺ, say it clearly) O disbelievers! I do not worship those (idols) that you worship."
وَلَا أَنتُمْ عَابِدُونَ مَا أَعْبُدُ
wa-lā antum ʿābidūna mā aʿbud.
"And you are not worshippers of what I worship." (al-Kāfirūn 109:3)
Wa-lā antum — and you are not. ʿĀbidūn — those who worship. Mā aʿbudu — that which I worship — in the way I worship — the first sentence is the subject predicate and here mā in mā aʿbud is the source, meaning the type of worship. Translation: "And you are not worshippers of that which I worship."
وَلَا أَنَا عَابِدٌ مَّا عَبَدتُّمْ
wa-lā anā ʿābidun mā ʿabadtum.
"And I am not a worshipper of what you worship." (al-Kāfirūn 109:4)
This sentence is from ʿabadtum — it shows continuous and uninterrupted repetition — and the second sentence mā ʿabadtum — the first one is the predicate — and mā aʿbudu is the source, the one that narrates the manner of worship.
Translation: "And I am not a worshipper of those things you worship in the same way you worship."
In short, your object of worship is separate and mine is separate — your puja (worship) is a different style and my worship is a different style.
وَلَا أَنتُمْ عَابِدُونَ مَا أَعْبُدُ
wa-lā antum ʿābidūna mā aʿbud.
"And you are not worshippers of what I worship." (al-Kāfirūn 109:5)
Wa-lā antum ʿābidūna — and you are not worshippers. Mā aʿbudu — in the way that I worship — because that is the way I am a source — and the second mā ʿabadtum — the first is the predicate — and here in mā aʿbudu it is the source, the type of worship that it narrates.
Translation: "And you are not worshippers of what I worship — in the way that I worship."
In short, your object of worship is separate and mine is separate — your method of worship is separate and my method of worship is separate.
لَكُمْ دِينُكُمْ وَلِيَ دِينِ
lakum dīnukum wa-liya dīn.
"For you is your religion, and for me is my religion." (al-Kāfirūn 109:6)
Dīn has two meanings: (1) obedience and adherence to a creed — mālik yawmi l-dīn — meaning God of the Day of Judgement and Recompense. Lakum — for you — your own religion and your own deeds. Wa-liya dīn — and for me my own deeds — God will give their just recompense.
Translation: "You will receive the recompense (of idol-worship) for your own deeds (the punishment will come) and I will receive the recompense of my good deeds (God's worship and the Prophet's obedience will give me reward)."
Esteemed readers! Some people think this verse is abrogated — because the people of this verse accepted the religion of Islam and we are with that sound religion and we have no need to fight disbelievers. Here I say my reasoning is that the verse is not abrogated — the reason is that we are all believers who were one people — the meaning is not in the sense of two; but there is the sense of two. One verse is the al-sirāṭ al-mustaqīm — some people say that here the meaning of balance is given us — the meaning of dīn is the same here as what religion means — because a sentence is necessary for both meanings — "you have your religion and ours for us and your punishment for you and your acts and our good acts and reward for us — every person is accompanied by the traces of his actions and these remain with him. This judgement — this decision is not abrogated — and this verse is not abrogated. Therefore why? Because the recompense here is the essential meaning — and the actions with the consequences are sufficient in their result — and each person's state — every person's outcome is with his actions. This is not abrogated" — thus I say my reasoning from the perspective of meaning.
Our religion is distinct from our religion — ihdā al-ṣirāṭa l-mustaqīm — some people say to us the teaching of balance here — the meaning of dīn in religious texts is what the meaning of dīn gives us — because a connection to names is established saying ʿabdullāhī bandan — one who believes in being a slave to God — being a slave — meaning a servant here — one of the meanings of ʿabd is like a bound slave — ʿabd mamlūk — and from the other meaning of maʿtūq — meaning the slave type of ʿubūdiyya (servitude) — let me make clear — looking from this side of the meaning — ʿabdullāhī — meaning a servant is here — belonging is to God in obedience — meaning a maṭīʿ (obedient) servant and a kāfir (disbeliever) — and I myself am a maṭīʿ servant and I cannot make an agreement with you — because the command from God is aṭīʿū llāha wa-aṭīʿū l-rasūla wa-ulī l-amri minkum — the greater is whoever is obedient to the Messenger and who is the one who obeys — a worse blasphemy than disobedience to the Messenger is for the one who disbelieves. Look — Ḥażrat ʿUmar Fārūq (may Allah be pleased with him) was becoming Caliph and prior to his khutba (sermon) he stated: "I am in the service of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ — I am a servant and servant of God." A Jewish man asked Ḥażrat ʿAlī (may Allah be pleased with him) several questions and in reply to this he asked: "Are you from among the Prophets — are you any Prophet?" He said: anā ʿabdun min ʿibādi Muḥammadin — "I am a slave among the slaves of Muḥammad." — I am one servant among the servants — so sorry — here the word ʿabd meaning servant or slave — I am a servant here.