The Tafsīr of Sūrah Qul yā Ayyuhal-Kāfirūn (Chapter - 109)

Which was revealed in Makkah

The Recitation of these Sūrahs in the Optional Prayers

It has been confirmed in Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim from Jābir that the Messenger of Allāh ﷺ recited this Sūrah (Al-Kāfirūn) and

Qur’an 112:1قُلْ هُوَ ٱللَّهُ أَحَدٌ

«Say: "He is Allāh One."» (112:1) in the two Rak'ahs of Ṭawāf.^{1Muslim 2 :888 in a lengthy Ḥadīth.} It is also recorded in Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim in a Ḥadīth of Abu Hurayrah that the Messenger of Allāh ﷺ recited these two Sūrahs in the two Rak'ahs (optional prayer) of the Morning prayer.^{2Muslim 1 :502.}

Imām Aḥmad recorded from Ibn 'Umar that the Messenger of Allāh ﷺ recited in the two Rak'ahs before the Morning prayer and the two Rak'ahs after the Sunset prayer on approximately ten or twenty different occasions,

Qur’an 109:1قُلْ يَٰٓأَيُّهَا ٱلْكَٰفِرُونَ

«Say: "O Al-Kāfirūn!"» and

Qur’an 112:1قُلْ هُوَ ٱللَّهُ أَحَدٌ

«Say: " He is Allāh One."» (112:1)^{3Aḥmad 2 :24 and 58.}

Aḥmad also recorded that Ibn 'Umar said, “I watched the Prophet ﷺ twenty-four or twenty-five times reciting in the two Rak'ahs before the Morning prayer and the two Rak'ahs after the Sunset prayer,

Arabic quotation as printed; not matched to Tanzil, so not shown as the Qur’anقُلْ يَٰٓأَيُّهَا ٱلْكَٰفِرُونَ لَآ أَعْبُدُ مَا تَعْبُدُونَ وَلَآ أَنتُمْ عَٰبِدُونَ مَآ أَعْبُدُ وَلَآ أَنَا۠ عَابِدٌ مَّا عَبَدتُّمْ وَلَآ أَنتُمْ عَٰبِدُونَ مَآ أَعْبُدُ لَكُمْ دِينُكُمْ وَلِىَ دِينِ إِذَا جَآءَ نَصْرُ ٱللَّهِ وَٱلْفَتْحُ وَرَأَيْتَ ٱلنَّاسَ يَدْخُلُونَ فِى دِينِ ٱللَّهِ أَفْوَاجًا فَسَبِّحْ بِحَمْدِ رَبِّكَ وَٱسْتَغْفِرْهُ إِنَّهُۥ كَانَ تَوَّابًۢا تَبَّتْ يَدَآ أَبِى لَهَبٍ وَتَبَّ مَآ أَغْنَىٰ عَنْهُ مَالُهُۥ وَمَا كَسَبَ سَيَصْلَىٰ نَارًا ذَاتَ لَهَبٍ وَٱمْرَأَتُهُۥ حَمَّالَةَ ٱلْحَطَبِ فِى جِيدِهَا حَبْلٌ مِّن مَّسَدٍۭ

Qur’an 109:1قُلْ يَٰٓأَيُّهَا ٱلْكَٰفِرُونَ

«Say: "O Al-Kāfirūn!"» and

Qur’an 112:1قُلْ هُوَ ٱللَّهُ أَحَدٌ

«Say: "He is Allāh One."» (112:1)"^{4Aḥmad 2 :99.} Aḥmad recorded that Ibn 'Umar said, “I watched the Prophet ﷺ for a month and he would recite in the two Rak'ahs before the Morning prayer,

Qur’an 109:1قُلْ يَٰٓأَيُّهَا ٱلْكَٰفِرُونَ

«Say: "O Al-Kāfirūn."» and

Qur’an 112:1قُلْ هُوَ ٱللَّهُ أَحَدٌ

«Say: "He is Allāh One."» (112:1)"^{5Aḥmad 2 :94.} This was also recorded by At-Tirmidhi, Ibn Mājah and An-Nasā'ī. At-Tirmidhi said, “Ḥasan.”^{6Tuḥfat Al-Aḥwadhi 2 :470, Ibn Mājah 1 :363, and An-Nasā'ī 2 :170.} It has already been mentioned previously in a Ḥadīth that it (Sūrat Al-Kāfirūn) is equivalent to a fourth of the Qur'ān and Az-Zalzalah is equivalent to a fourth of the Qur'ān.

بِسْمِ ٱللَّهِ ٱلرَّحْمَٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ

In the Name of Allāh, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.

Qur’an 109:1–6قُلْ يَٰٓأَيُّهَا ٱلْكَٰفِرُونَ لَآ أَعْبُدُ مَا تَعْبُدُونَ وَلَآ أَنتُمْ عَٰبِدُونَ مَآ أَعْبُدُ وَلَآ أَنَا۠ عَابِدٌ مَّا عَبَدتُّمْ وَلَآ أَنتُمْ عَٰبِدُونَ مَآ أَعْبُدُ لَكُمْ دِينُكُمْ وَلِىَ دِينِ

«1. Say: "O disbelievers!"» «2. "I worship not that which you worship."» «3. "Nor will you worship whom I worship."» «4. "And I shall not worship that which you are worshipping."» «5. "Nor will you worship that which I worship."» «6. "To you be your religion, and to me my religion."»

The Declaration of Innocence from Shirk

This Sūrah is the Sūrah of disavowal from the deeds of the idolators. It commands a complete disavowal of that. Allāh's statement,

Qur’an 109:1قُلْ يَٰٓأَيُّهَا ٱلْكَٰفِرُونَ

«Say: "O disbelievers!"» includes every disbeliever on the face of the earth, however, this statement is particularly directed towards the disbelievers of the Quraysh. It has been said that in their ignorance they invited the Messenger of Allāh ﷺ to worship their idols for a year and they would (in turn) worship his God for a year. Therefore, Allāh revealed this Sūrah and in it He commanded His Messenger ﷺ to disavow himself from their religion completely. Allāh said,

Qur’an 109:2لَآ أَعْبُدُ مَا تَعْبُدُونَ

«I worship not that which you worship.» meaning, statues and rival gods.

Qur’an 109:3وَلَآ أَنتُمْ عَٰبِدُونَ مَآ أَعْبُدُ

«Nor will you worship whom I worship.» and He is Allāh Alone, Who has no partner. So the word Ma (what) here means Man (who). Then Allāh says,

Qur’an 109:4–5وَلَآ أَنَا۠ عَابِدٌ مَّا عَبَدتُّمْ وَلَآ أَنتُمْ عَٰبِدُونَ مَآ أَعْبُدُ

«And I shall not worship that which you are worshipping. Nor will you worship whom I worship.»

meaning, 'I do not worship according to your worship, which means that I do not go along with it or follow it. I only worship Allāh in the manner in which He loves and is pleased with.' Thus, Allāh says,

Qur’anوَلَآ أَنتُمْ عَٰبِدُونَ مَآ أَعْبُدُ

«Nor will you worship whom I worship.» meaning, 'you do not follow the commands of Allāh and His Legislation in His worship. Rather, you have invented something out of the promptings of your own souls.' This is as Allāh says,

Qur’an 53:23إِن يَتَّبِعُونَ إِلَّا ٱلظَّنَّ وَمَا تَهْوَى ٱلْأَنفُسُ وَلَقَدْ جَآءَهُم مِّن رَّبِّهِمُ ٱلْهُدَىٰٓ

«They follow but a guess and that which they themselves desire, whereas there has surely come to them the guidance from their Lord!» (53:23)

Therefore, the disavowal is from all of what they are involved. For certainly the worshipper must have a god whom he worships and set acts of worship that he follows to get to him. So the Messenger ﷺ and his followers worship Allāh according to what He has legislated. This is why the statement of Islām is “There is no God worthy of being worshipped except Allāh, and Muḥammad is the Messenger of Allāh.” This means that there is no (true) object of worship except Allāh and there is no path to Him (i.e., way of worshipping Him) other than that which the Messenger came with. The idolators worship other than Allāh, with acts of worship that Allāh has not allowed. This is why the Messenger ﷺ said to them,

Qur’an 109:6لَكُمْ دِينُكُمْ وَلِىَ دِينِ

«To you be your religion, and to me my religion.»

This is similar to Allāh's statement,

Qur’an 10:41وَإِن كَذَّبُوكَ فَقُل لِّى عَمَلِى وَلَكُمْ عَمَلُكُمْ أَنتُم بَرِيٓـُٔونَ مِمَّآ أَعْمَلُ وَأَنَا۠ بَرِىٓءٌ مِّمَّا تَعْمَلُونَ

«And if they belie you, say: "For me are my deeds and for you are your deeds! You are innocent of what I do, and I am innocent of what you do!"» (10:41)

and He said,

Qur’anلَنَآ أَعْمَٰلُنَا وَلَكُمْ أَعْمَٰلُكُمْ

«To us our deeds, and to you your deeds.» (28:55)

Al-Bukhāri said, “It has been said,

Qur’an 109:6لَكُمْ دِينُكُمْ

«To you be your religion.» means disbelief.

Qur’an 109:6وَلِىَ دِينِ

«and to me my religion.» means, Islām.^{1Fatḥ Al-Bāri 8 :604.}

This is the end of the Tafsīr of Sūrat Qul yā Ayyuhal-Kāfirūn.