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Tafsir Surat al-Kafirun (The Disbelievers)
By: Ayatullah al-Uzma Nasir Makarim Shirazi in Tafsir Namuneh
Translated from Farsi into English by: Fatima Zabeth Beenesh
Surat Al-Kāfirūn (The Disbelievers) - รรฆรร รรกรรรรรฆรค
The Sura e Kafirun descended at Mecca and it has 6 ayaat.
The contents and virtues of Surat Al-Kāfirūn
This sura is descended at Mecca and its tone and contents presents clear witness of this fact. Similarly the shan e Nuzul (all about the descent of the Sura) too by the will of Merciful God will be later defined and another reason for this statement is that some guessed it to be Madani( sura descended at Madina).
The tone of the sura reveals that it was descended in the period when the Muslims were in minority and the unbelievers were in the majority and the noble prophet peace be upon him was under severe pressure by the unbelievers. They were persistently wanted to bring him to compromise with the polytheism. The great prophet peace be upon him was refusing them all and casting them aside and making them desperate, without twisting the fists of rage with them.
This is an example for all the Muslims for not compromising with the enemies in the fundamentals of the religion. Whenever such a demand is offered from their side the enemy must get completely desperate. Specifically this sura twice emphasised this words โI never worship your idolsโ. And this stress is to make them desperate, as the stress is laid twice thatโ you never worship my Supreme and Single God which is the proof of their stubbornness and its final outcome is that โI am with my religion of monotheism and you be with the your rotten and contaminated religion of polytheism.
About the virtues and merits of the Sura e Kafirun there are numerous narrations which defines the extra ordinary importance of its contents such as: In a hadis by the great prophet Muhammad peace be upon him, it is described: One who recites the Sura e Kafirun as if he had recited one fourth of the noble Quran. The rebellious devils leave him and he gets pure by the dirt of polytheism and becomes safe and secure by the fear and terror of the judgment day.
The term โone fourth of honourable Quranโ is for the reason that almost one fourth of the holy Quran struggled with the polytheism and idol worshipping and its extract is illustrated in this sura. And getting far away from the uncontrollable devils is to drive away the idol worshippers and we are well aware that polytheism is the best tool of Satan.
To get saved on the Day of Judgment, at the first place it to be influenced by the belief of the monotheism and the denial of the polytheism and around the axis of this subject Sura e Kafirun rotates.
In another hadis by the great prophet peace be upon him, we read: a man approached him and requested him: O prophet of Allah! I came to you to teach me something for recitation at the hours of bed time. He said: when you go to bed recite Sura a Kafirun and sleep. This is the expression of hatred towards the polytheism.
In a narration by the prophet of Allah peace be upon him who told to Jubair bin mutaโm: What do you like the best company as a friend and the belongings to be with you while starting a voyage?
Yes! O Prophet of Allah my parents be sacrificed upon you.
He replied: Recite these five chapters of Holy Quran by the names Kafirun, Nasr, Tauheed (qul huvallahu ahad), Nas and Falaq. Start your recitation by bismillahir rahman nir raheem.
In a hadis by imam Sadiq alaihis salam we read, who said: My father used to tell Sura e Kafirun is one fourth of noble Quran and while completing this sura, he used to express in this manner โI worship only One God, I worship only One Godโ.
Surat Al-Kāfirūn (The Disbelievers) - รรฆรร รรกรรรรรฆรค
 รรกรรธรณรรบรฃรรณรครถ รรกรรธรณรรถรญรฃรถ รรกรกรธรฅรถ รรถรรบรฃรถ 
รรตรกรบ รญรณร รรณรญรธรตรฅรณร รรกรบรรณรรรถรรตรฆรครณ (109:1)
109:1 SAY: O you who deny the truth! -
รกรณร รรณรรบรรตรรต รฃรณร รรณรรบรรตรรตรฆรครณ (109:2)
109:2 I do not worship that which you worshipโ,
รฆรณรกรณร รรณรครรตรฃรบ รรณรรรถรรตรฆรครณ รฃรณร รรณรรบรรตรรต (109:3)
109:3 and neither do you worship that which I worship!
รฆรณรกรณร รรณรครณร รรณรรรถรรฑ รฃรธรณร รรณรรณรรรธรตรฃรบ (109:4)
109:4 Nor will I be a worshipper of what you worship.
รฆรณรกรณร รรณรครรตรฃรบ รรณรรรถรรตรฆรครณ รฃรณร รรณรรบรรตรรต (109:5)
109:5 Nor will you be worshippers of what I worship.
รกรณรรตรฃรบ รรถรญรครตรรตรฃรบ รฆรณรกรถรญรณ รรถรญรครถ (109:6)
109:6 For you is your religion, and for me is my religion.
It is mentioned in the narrations that this sura is about a group of the chiefs of the Quraish tribe Like Valeed bin Mugahira, Aas bin Vail, Haris bin Qais, Umayeh bin Khalf as they said: O Muhammad you come and follow our religion we too follow your religion. We will provide you entirely your share whatever privileges we possess. One year you worship our Gods and the next upcoming year we will worship your God. If your religion is better we too share your religion and in that case you too achieved your benefit.
The prophet peace be upon him replied: I take refuse to the Mighty God and I will not bring any thing as his equal and identical before him.
They requested at least touch our Gods and seek heavenly gifts from them and we too support you and confirm you and worship your Supreme God. The prophet Muhammad peace be upon him replied: I am waiting for the reply from my Provider God.
At these hours the sura of kafirun descended. The prophet of Allah peace be upon him arrived at Masjid e Haram, at that time, a group of the heads of Quraish were present there. He stood before them and recited the Sura e Kafirun till the end. When they received the message of the Sura they got totally disheartened. At that they insulted and tortured the messenger of Allah peace be upon him and his companions.
The definition:
I never compromise with the idol worshippers
The ayat of this sura addressed the prophet of Allah peace be upon him and expressed: Say O unbelievers
รรตรกรบ รญรณร รรณรญรธรตรฅรณร รรกรบรรณรรรถรรตรฆรครณ
I will not worship whatever you worship.
รกรณร รรณรรบรรตรรต รฃรณร รรณรรบรรตรรตรฆรครณ
You too wonโt worship whatever I worship.
รฆรณรกรณร รรณรครรตรฃรบ รรณรรรถรรตรฆรครณ รฃรณร รรณรรบรรตรรต
Like this manner separated its line of faith clearly from them. And evidently stated: I will never bring faith in idol worshipping and you too by this stubbornness and blindly following your forefathers emphasise upon your belief. And from idol worshipping you acquire, illegal and abundant profits and then in that case you will never get ready to bring faith purely in One and Unique God.
Once again to make the idolaters depressed completely from every type of evil planning towards the monotheists it adds: and I will never worship which you worship.
รฆรณรกรณร รรณรครณร รรณรรรถรรฑ รฃรธรณร รรณรรณรรรธรตรฃรบ
And you too will not worship what I worship.
รฆรณรกรณร รรณรครรตรฃรบ รรณรรรถรรตรฆรครณ รฃรณร รรณรรบรรตรรต
Therefore do not emphasise upon it which is of no use, it is impossible to compromise upon the matter of idol worshipping.
And now when it is in such a manner your religion is for you and my religion is for me.
รกรณรรตรฃรบ รรถรญรครตรรตรฃรบ รฆรณรกรถรญรณ รรถรญรครถ
Here some questions arise which have to be answered:
1- Why the sura started by the command โQulโ (say)?
Was not it better to say only
รญรณร รรณรญรธรตรฅรณร รรกรบรรณรรรถรรตรฆรครณ
Without being in the beginning the term โQulโ in other words: the prophet peace be upon him having to implement the divine command and would have said the only sentence โO the unbelieversโ why he uttered the word Qul โsayโ?
By keeping in the view the contents of sura the answer to the question is evident. For instance the polytheists of Arab invited the prophet peace be upon him to compromise with them in the issue of idol worshipping. And he must negate this matter for his side and say: I will never submit to you and by no means make unclean my worship by polytheism. If the word โQulโ was not been present in the beginning of the sura the words would have been related to the Dominant God in this case the ayat
รกรณร รรณรรบรรตรรต รฃรณร รรณรรบรรตรรตรฆรครณ
And likewise the ayaat were unable to give the proper meaning.
Similarly in the message by jibril (Gabriel) from Benevolent God, the prophet peace be upon him is responsible to protect the purity of noble Quran have to repeat it accurately. It is illustrating that Jibril (gabrail) alaihis salam and the prophet peace be upon him in expressing the message they did not brought a single alteration. They practically proved that they are the agents who are always ready to follow the divine commands. As it is mentioned in the ayat 15 of sura e Yunus we read:
รรตรกรบ รฃรณร รญรณรรตรฆรครต รกรถรญ รรณรครบ รรตรรณรรธรถรกรณรฅรต รฃรถรค รรถรกรบรรณรร รครณรรบรรถรญ ร
รถรครบ รรณรรธรณรรถรรต ร
รถรกรรธรณ รฃรณร รญรตรฆรรณรฌ ร
รถรกรณรญรธรณ
Say: I have no right to alter the Quran by my own choice I am only following the revelation which descended upon me.
2- Do the idol worshippers deny the Single God?
We are well aware that the idol worshippers never denied the single and unique God. According to the ayaat of noble Quran it is clearly mentioned that whenever it was asked about the creator of the heavens and the earth they were replying: the creator is one supreme God.
Luqman (Luqman)
รฆรณรกรณรรถรค รรณรรณรกรบรรณรฅรตรฃ รฃรธรณรครบ รรณรกรณรรณ รรกรรธรณรฃรณรรฆรณรรรถ รฆรณรรกรบรรณรรบรรณ รกรณรญรณรรตรฆรกรตรครธรณ รรกรกรธรณรฅรต รรตรกรถ รรกรบรรณรฃรบรรต รกรถรกรธรณรฅรถ รรณรกรบ รรณรรบรรณรรตรฅรตรฃรบ รกรณร รญรณรรบรกรณรฃรตรฆรครณ (31:25)
And if you asked them, "Who created the heavens and earth?" they would surely say, โAllah." Say, "[All] praise is [due] to Allah "; but most of them do not know.
Sura e Luqman 25
Then how it is expressing in this suraโ I do not worship your God and you too do not worship my Godโ.
The answer to this Question, by keeping in the mind that the discussion is not about the creation but it is about the worshipping of god. It is evident that the idol worshippers use to believe, the creator of the world is God but they believed they must worship the idols to make them intercessors in the presence of God. Or they are completely not capable to worship God but to worship the idols with physical materialistic figures. Here the noble Quran draws a red line under this superstition and inappropriate thinking: The worship must be only for the One God not for the Idols neither for both.
3- Why it was repeated twice?
The ayat repeatedly denied the worship of the idols from the prophetโs side. And the rejection of the idol worshippers, they are many discussions on this regard.
A group of scholars believes: this repetition of ayat is to dishearten the idol worshippers and separate the path of Islam from the route of Polytheism. It proves no cooperation between the idol worshipping and the Monotheism. In other words as they were persistently inviting the prophet peace be upon him towards the idol worshipping and they were emphasising upon it. The noble Quran as well repeatedly denied them.
To one of the companions of imam Sadiq alaihis salam named Abu Jafar Ahul titled as Momin e taq, someone asked him about the repetition of the ayat in the sura e Kafirun and said: Does it possible for a wise man to repeat the words in his commandment.
Here Abu Jafar Ahul could not find any answer he left for Madina to meet imam Jafar e Sadiq alaihis salam and enquired him about this subject. Imam alaihis salam expressed: the reason of descending these ayaat and its repetition is for the reason that the tribe of Quraish offered the prophet of Allah peace be upon him that one year you worship our Gods and the next year we will worship your God. Same way another upcoming year it is your turn to worship our idols. And its next approaching year (fourth year) we will worship your idols, the above ayaat descended and refused all the offers. The way of my worship is not like you I will never worship your idols as my adoration is pure and devoid of every kind of polytheism.
You adore the idols by imitating your forefathers and my worshipping the Unique God is due to my search and thanking him. But it is evident that this repetition is to emphasise upon his firm believe.
In another explanation it is defined as in the second ayat, it is said: whatever you are worshipping I will not worship. In the fourth ayat it is said: In the past too I never worshiped your idols.
The difference is that in the second ayat the term
รรณรรบรรตรรตรฆรครณ
is expressed in the form of the verb of continuation and in the fourth ayat it is ascertained in the form of verb in future tense
4- Does the meaning of ayat that defined below permits idol worshipping?
รกรณรรตรฃรบ รรถรญรครตรรตรฃรบ รฆรณรกรถรญรณ รรถรญรครถ
Your religion is for you and our religion is for us.
Sometimes as the last ayat of this sura that expresses the total peace, it is supposed that they are permitted to remain in their own religion and it is not insisting upon accepting the new religion.
But this belief is totally wrong and baseless as the tone of the ayat revealing in this term is an insult and threat to them. It means your religion is for you and you will see the grave consequences. As it is expressed in the ayat 55 of sura e Qasas:
รฆรณร
รถรรณร รรณรฃรถรรตรฆร รรกรกรธรณรรบรฆรณ รรณรรบรรณรรตรฆร รรณรครบรฅรต รฆรณรรณรรกรตรฆร รกรณรครณร รรณรรบรฃรณรรกรตรครณร รฆรณรกรณรรตรฃรบ รรณรรบรฃรณรรกรตรรตรฃรบ รรณรกรณรรฃรฑ รรณรกรณรญรบรรตรฃรบ รกรณร รครณรรบรรณรรถรญ รรกรบรรณรรฅรถรกรถรญรครณ (28:55)
And when they hear ill speech, they turn away from it and say, "For us are our deeds, and for you are your deeds. peace be on you(this is a wish of separation and expressing good bye), we do not desire the ignorant.
There are hundreds of examples of such expressions in the noble Quran which invalidates the polytheism and idol worshipping in all its aspects and count it as the utmost hated act among the deeds and concludes it as the sin which is a unpardonable.
5- Even for a moment, I never compromised with the polytheism.
Whatever it is defined in this sura, it is absolutely a fact that the idol worshipping and believing in single god, both are the programmes which contradicts each other and they are dissimilar in their own different ways. They are not similar to one another. Monotheism connects the man to the Unique God whereas polytheism makes him unaware of the Majestic God.
Monotheism is the secret of the unity and oneness in every field of life, whereas polytheism is the cause of every kind of dispersion and disunity in every field of life.
Monotheism takes the man upwards, out from the domain of materialism to the world of nature and connects him to the world beyond nature, whereas polytheism tumbles down the man into the bottom of nature and connects him to the helpless, weak and mortal creatures.
For this reason the prophet of Allah peace be upon him and all the other honourable prophets not only for a moment agreed with polytheism but their first and important mission was to fight with it.
Even today all the seekers of right path, the scholars and the preachers of this religion must have to continue it and in every point of the world announce their disgust and abhorrence to every kind of polytheism. This is the true path of Islam.
O The Mighty God! Keep us away from every kind of polytheism and it thoughts as acts are contaminated with the polytheism.
O The Provider God! The temptation of the polytheists of this period is highly dangerous. Keep us safe from the seizure of their trap.
O The Majestic God: Bestow us the bravery, clarity and firmness, similar to the prophet Muhammad peace be upon him, we as well turn down every kind of coordinating proposal of the polytheists and the unbelievers.
Ameen! O God the provider of the universe.
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