B i s m i l l a a h i r R a h m a a n i r R a h e e m
Teachings of the Qur'aan
Al-Kaafiroon
Soorah 109:1-6
Name and Background
Teachings and Commentary
Ayub A. Hamid
Name and Background
The name "Al-Kaafiroon" (the disbelievers) has been taken
from the first verse and is not the topic of this small Soorah.
The Soorah teaches how the Prophet sall Allaahu 'alayhi wa
sallam and the Muslims should let the disbelievers clearly and categorically
know that there can be no compromise or reconciliation between Islam and
disbelief when it comes to the exclusive submission, worship and slavery to
Allaah Subhaanahu wa Ta'aala. They are two different paradigms that cannot be
patched together and that lead to totally different paths and destinations.
When the Prophet sall Allaahu 'alayhi wa sallam had started
giving the message of Islam to Makkans, they strongly opposed him thinking that
their strong reaction would stop him from his mission. When it did not work,
they became violent and they tried to stop his mission through aggression and
through false propaganda against him. When his mission kept growing despite
their violence and false propaganda, they increased the intensity of their
brutality and persecution of the believers. When their most vicious efforts,
short of killing the Prophet himself, failed to stop him from his mission and
failed to stem the growth of his followers, they started offering him
compromises in different forms. Some of the offers they made were the
following:
According to 'Abdullaah Ibn 'Abbaas (as reported by Ibn
Jareer, Ibn abee Haatim and Tabaraani), the Quraish offered to give him enough
wealth to make him the richest man in the city, marry him to any woman he
wanted, and accept him as their leader only if he stopped speaking against
their gods. When he rejected these offers, they suggested that he join them so
that all Makkans would alternate worship of their idols for one year and
worship of Allaah as the Prophet sall Allaahu 'alayhi wa sallam was inviting
them to do the next year. This was their compromise-solution to establish unity
and respect for everyone's religion.
Another attempt was made by Waleed ibn Mugheerah, 'Aas ibn
Waail, Aswad ibn Al-Muttalib and Umayyah ibn Khalaf, as reported by Ibn Jareer,
Ibn abee Haatim and Ibn Hishaam. They proposed that the Prophet sall Allaahu
'alayhi wa sallam join the Makkan leadership team so that he could be involved
and consulted on all important affairs and so that they could jointly bring the
whole Makkan community together to worship all gods, including Allaah
Subhaanahu wa Ta'aala the way suggested by the Prophet sall Allaahu 'alayhi wa
sallam, until gradually the best ideas and practices naturally emerge and were
adopted.
There are other reports of suggestion from the Makkans along
the same lines as noted above indicating that there were multiple attempts made
like these. This Soorah is the response to all those proposals. As you can see,
the subject matter of this Soorah is not of compromise, reconciliation and
tolerance in the sense that some people interpret it nowadays. It is a
categorical announcement of there being no possibility of compromise with
obstinate opponents who do not want to listen to the Prophet sall Allaahu
'alayhi wa sallam and a determined ongoing struggle until Islam is established
as it deserves to be established. It is an open defiance of and challenge to
the established order in the society at the height of the clash between the two
paradigms of life, without any willingness to compromise on the matters of
principle.
This dedication to the exclusive servitude to Allaah
Subhaanahu wa Ta'aala without any compromise and the instruction to convey it
unequivocally to the disbelievers was not only for the Prophet sall Allaahu
'alayhi wa sallam, but also for the Muslims of all times.
Looking at the order of the Soorahs, you can see that it is
preceded by the prediction of the success of the prophetic mission in Soorah
Al-Kowthar. After predicting the outcome, this Soorah challenges the diehard
adversaries that because the mission of the Prophet sall Allaahu 'alayhi wa
sallam will go ahead until the goals are achieved, they can do what they want.
Then, the next Soorah, An-Nasr, describes the eventual success of the mission
and conquer of Makkah.
Teachings
In the name of Allaah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
1 Say: O disbelievers! 2 I shall not worship [1] what you
worship. 3 And you are not true worshippers of Whom I worship. 4 Since I never
have been and I am never going to worship what you have been worshipping 5 and
since you are not willing to worship exclusively Whom I worship, there can be
no compromise between us. 6 You keep your religion to yourselves, I shall
continue practising my way of life.
Commentary
This is the only place in the Qur-aan where the Prophet sall
Allaahu 'alayhi wa sallam has been told to address the disbelievers as "O
disbelievers!" This is to emphasize their obduracy in response to the Prophet's
untiring work to present Islam to them. As they are being notified of the
uncompromising stance of Muslims in the matters of faith, the address starts by
matter-of-factly stating their insistence on disbelief as the basic cause of
this situation. Also, note that they have not been addressed as "O idolaters,
or O Polytheists or O Mushriks" because such disbelievers are only a subset of
all the disbelievers. Allaah wants Muslims to have this sort of uncompromising
attitude towards all disbelievers to whom Islam has been presented and
explained but who continue to reject it insolently.
Some people translate the first verse in the present tense:
"I do not worship", but other scholars disagree with this because the use of
the word Laa instead of Maa before 'abudu makes it specific for future tense as
per linguistic rules. In addition, Makkans already knew that the Prophet sall
Allaahu 'alayhi wa sallam did not worship their idols, so there was no benefit
in stating the obvious. What needed to be emphasized was a clear statement of
his intentions of never making any compromise in this respect.
The use of "what" instead of "who" as a qualifier for "you
worship" in the second verse has very profound implications. "Who" would refer
to an entity or a group of entities worshipped by the disbelievers, while
"what" refers to the nature and concepts of the entity or entities being
worshipped by disbelievers. Denying worshipping of "who disbelievers worship"
would be incorrect because Arabs did worship Allaah in addition to their idols.
But the concepts and beliefs about Allaah of even those disbelievers who claim
to worship One God, the Creator, are faulty and unacceptable. So even when the
entity is the same, the concepts are misguided. In those situations, "what" a
Muslim worships is absolutely not "what" the disbelievers worship, though the
entity may be the same. Thus, this style negates all misguided views about
worshipping One God, the Creator, such as worshipping:
· Allaah along with many others deities or idols;
· Allaah who begets daughters;
· The God Who is one of the three;
· The God Who has a son whom he crucifies to be able
to forgive others;
· The God Who is racist Who is not the Lord of the
Universe but of a certain tribe;
· The God Who needs rest on the 7th day;
· The God Who wrestles with Jacob;
· The God Who needs to take human shape or incarnate
Himself in human bodies; etc.
Use of "what" also excludes such gods as one's own opinion,
wisdom, reasoning, aspirations and desires which many people worship by giving
these things the same or more importance than to the commands of Allaah
Subhaanahu wa Ta'aala.
a.. In the same way, in the third verse, the use of "what"
refers to the correct concepts about Allaah, the One and only God and Creator,
which refers to beliefs about Allaah such as, He:
a.. Is the sole Creator and the Lord of the universe and
Who is managing the affairs of the universe on an ongoing basis;Is infinite in
form, shape and all of His attributes;
a.. Has nothing like Him, opposite to Him, similar to Him,
equal to Him or greater than Him;
b.. Has ultimate and absolute power, knowledge, wisdom and
authority;
c.. Has no weakness, shortcoming, imperfection or bias;
d.. Has no wives, daughters, sons, partners or helpers;
e.. Is just and fair to everyone, treating them all equally
and consistently on the basis of the same principles without playing any
favourites;
f.. Commands and has the legitimate rights to promulgate
laws and give commands as the Creator and Master of all;
g.. Dislikes and disapproves of anything which is not done
purely for His pleasure but is shared by other motives and considerations; etc.
In verse 4, the word 'Aabid has been used for the Prophet
sall Allaahu 'alayhi wa sallam as an attribute that covers the past as well as
the future tense while the action of the disbelievers is in the past tense.
Thus, we have tried to convey this difference in describing the teachings of
this verse.
We have also tried to convey the message of the last verse
more openly in rendering the teachings of verses 4, 5 and 6 into English. After
the revelation of this Soorah, that message was repeated in many revelations
later on, such as the two examples given below:
If they reject you, tell them, "My actions are for me and
yours for you. You are disassociated from what I do, and I am disassociated
from what you do." (Younus 10:41)
Say: "O my People, you work according to your position, I am
continuing with my mission. Soon you will find out who gets a humiliating
punishment and who receives an enduring punishment." (Az-Zumur 39:39-40)
Although the first addressee of this Soorah was the Prophet
sall Allaahu 'alayhi wa sallam, himself, it is equally applicable to all
Muslims who are approached for or expected to make compromises in matters of
faith and principles. It is in fact the same attitude that has always been
expected of the believers of all ages. The Qur-aan quotes the example from
Prophet Ibraaheem 'alayhissalaam and his followers as follows:
Indeed there is a beautiful model for you in Ibraaheem and
those with him, when they said to their people: "We are totally disassociated
from you and whatever you worship besides Allaah. We reject your views and
there has appeared enmity and hatred between us forever until you believe in
Allaah alone. (Al-Mumtahinah 60:4)
To help people inculcate this message in their minds, he
taught his companions to recite this Soorah when retiring for sleep because it
helps in "disassociation from Shirk". There have been multiple Ahaadeeth
reported in this respect by Musnad Ahmad, Aboo Dawood, Tirrmidzi, Nasaai, Ibn
Abee Shaybah, Haakim, Ibn Marduyah and Baihaqi.
_________________________
[1] The derivatives of word 'Ibaadah used eight times in
this Soorah have been translated as "worship" only as a matter of convenience.
In reality, when referring to Allaah, 'Ibaadah includes complete submission,
exclusive obedience and slavery to Allaah as well as all expressions of
devotion and worship.
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Copyright © 2008 Ayub A. Hamid
All rights reserved
This document may be used, only with this copyright notice
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attributed to the author Ustaadz Ayub A. Hamid. Contact the author for all
other rights, which are reserved.
Note: This series is providing the teachings of the Qur'aan,
not a literal translation. Instead of literal translation, it gives
interpretive meanings of the verses, along with their contextual details.
Please remember that any translation of the Holy Qur'aan is in fact only an
expression of the translator's understanding of the Word of Allaah Subhaanahu
wa Ta'aala, and hence cannot be equated with the Qur'aan itself. Only the
original Arabic text can be called the Holy Qur'aan.
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Ustaadz Ayub A. Hamid is a visionary and strategic Islamic
thinker residing in Canada for the last 33 years. His recently published books
are:
1. Islam - Does It Make Sense?
2. Unveiling the Commands-The Truth about Hijaab, Khimaar
and Jilbaab.
3. Finding A Soulmate - A Guide for Parents and Youth.
4. A Book Unlike Any Other.
5. Islam - Adopting Its Paradigms.
6. Exploring the Islamic Beliefs.
http://soundvisioncanada.com/shop/pbrowse.asp?Pg=3&Cat=10004
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The following soowar 'Teachings of the Qur'aan' series by
Ustaadz Ayub A. Hamid, are available on request:-
Al Faatihah
Al Baqarah
Aali 'Imraan
A Nisaa'
Al Maaidah
Al An`aam
Al A`raaf
Al Anfaal
At Teen
Al`Alaq
Al Qadr
Al Bayyinah
Al Zilzaal
Al Aadiyatt
Al Qaari`ah
At Takaathur
Al`Asr
Al-Humazah
Al-Feel
Al-Quraish
Al-Maa`oon
Al-Kowthar
K a r i m a
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