Surat al-Kafirun is a Makkan Surat Number 109. The Noble
Messenger (s.a.w.a.s.) said, “Its recitation is equivalent to reciting
one-fourth of Glorious Qur’an.” He advised Ja’bir ibn Mat’am to recite the Four
Qul and the Surat Nasr beginning each Surat with ‘Bismillah-ir-Rahman ir-Rahim’,
when he travels as the most amount of needed provisions. He further advised to recite
this Surat before going to bed as it wards off polytheism.
Salvation on the Day of Judgment will only be attained
through Monotheism and the negation of Polytheism. The Infallible Imam Sadiq
(a.s.) said, ‘My father, when he recited this Surat, used to say, ‘I worship
only Allah, I worship only Allah.’
The meaning of the root word ‘Kafar’ is to cover or hide
like a peasant covers the seed with soil as stated in Surat al-Hadid Ayah 20,
“…Kamasale Ghaisin A’jabal Kuffara Naba’tahu…” “..(It is like the vegetation after
rain…” A person who deny the truth and is ungrateful to his Creator is
‘Ka’fir’. The literal meaning of the Surat is:
In the Name
of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful
Say: O you disbelievers, I
worship not what you worship, nor do you worship Whom I worship,
Neither shall I
worship what you worship, nor you will worship Whom I worship
To you be your
religion, and to me my religion
Islamic narrations denote that this Surah was revealed about
some of the pagan chiefs of the Quraysh tribe such as Walid ibn Mughaira, As ibn-i-Wa’il,
Harith ibn-i-Qays, Umaiyya ibn-i-Khalaf etc. Their contention was that the
Noble Messenger (s.a.w.a.s.) worship their gods for one year and they will
worship Allah. He (s.a.w.a.s.) declined the offer.
The Infallible Imam Jafar As-Sadiq (a.s.) said, “ The reason
for the repetition in the Sura is just in reply to repetition in the proposal
by the disbelievers who told the Holy Prophet that he should worship for one
year what they worship and the other year they will worship what he worshiped.
Moreover, “Nor do you worship Whom I worship” for the first time it speaks
about present tense and the second time completely denies addressing the chiefs
you ‘shall never worship Whom I worship’. After the Great Victory of the
Conquest of Makkah large number of Quraysh entered the folds of Islam as stated
in Surah al-Nasr Ayah 2, “and you see the people entering Allah’s religion in
throngs…”
The reason for commencing the Surat with the word “Qul” was
that the Quraysh invited Muhammad (s.a.w.a.s.) to collude with them regarding
idols, so it means he should repel this from himself and say that he would
never agree with them in idolatry. Additionally, it manifests the integrity of
the Messenger that he exactly and completely communicated the message as
received from Allah through Gabriel.
The statements in this Surat are purely logical, that the
Holy Prophet having himself preached the truth, can never
naturally or reasonably yield to falsehood and the
disbelievers being attached to their own fancies and vested interest could not
act according to the truth they were ever opposed to.
The meaning of the Ayah, “To you be your religion, and to me
my religion” conveys a warning that let your religion be yours and you will see
the fatal consequences. This idea is like Surat al-Qasas Ayah 55, “and when
they hear vain talk, they avoid it and say, ‘Our deeds belong to us, and your
deeds belong to you.’
Sources: Glorious Qur’an-English translation – Tafsir-e-Namouna
compiled by Ayatullah Naser Makarem Shirazi
The Holy Qur’an – English translation by Ayatullah
Agha H.M.M. Pooya & S.V. Mir Ahmed Ali
An Enlightening Commentary into the Light of
the Holy Qur’an volume 20
(57/20 TAHAWWUR
ALI MIRZA
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