Surah Al-Kafirun of the Quran and Deen

The translation of the meaning of Surah Kafirun ( Al Quran, Surah No. 109):

1. "Say (O Muhammad to these Mushrikun and Kafirun: "O Al-Kafirun (disbelievers/who deny the truth).
2. I worship not that which you worship.
3. Nor do you worship that which I worship.
4. And I will not worship that which you have (ever) worshipped.
5. Nor will you worship that which I worship.
6. To you be your Deen, and to me my Deen (Islamic Montheism)."

Explanation

Surah Al-Kafirun, a chapter in Al Quran (Surah No. 109) was revealed in the Mecca period. This chapter instructs the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) to inform the disbelievers that the worship of false deities and the worship of One God are not, and can never be, compatible. This Surah takes its name from “the disbelievers” (Al-Kafirun) mentioned in the first verse and is the clear proclamation from Allah (swt) to Kafir (non-believers) that in the matters of Deen, there is no compromise for the true faith or belief with false worship stated as “To you be your Deen (false worship) and to me my Deen (Islam)”. Therefore, the word “Deen” was used for Islam and also for other ways of life according to previous scriptures Taurat, Injeel, Zabur and others which were distorted by their followers and other ideologies. It defines the right attitude to those who reject faith:  in matters of  Deen (Islam), we can make no compromise, but there is no place of persecutation or abuse anyone for his faith or belief (Deen other than Islam). The Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) firmly resisted all appeals to worldly motives and stood firm to his message of eternal Unity (one true God or Tauhid).

The following explanations and remarks are made by some Islamic Scholars on the meaning of Surah Kafirun :

“I, having been given the Truth, cannot come to you in false ways: you, having your vested interests, will not give them up. For your ways the responsibility is yours; I have shown you the Truth. For my ways the responsibility is mine: you have no right to ask me to abandon the Truth. Your persecutions will be vain: the Truth must prevail in the end; This was the attitude of Faith then: but it is true for all time. Hold fast to Truth “in scorn of consequence ”.

Reference: The Holy Quran- Text, Translation, and Commentary, by A. Yousuf Ali.

"This Surah is the Surah of disavowal (renunciation) from the deeds of the idolaters. It commands a complete disavowal of that. Therefore, the disavowal is from all of what they are involved in. 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 and his followers worship Allah according to what He has legislated. This is why the statement of Islam is "There is no God worthy of being worshipped except Allah, and Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah.'' This means that there is no (true) object of worship except Allah 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 Allah, with acts of worship that Allah has not allowed.”                             

                Reference: Tafsir Ibn Kathir

“The sixth Aya or the Surah Kafirun states “For you is your Deen and for me is my Deen”. It means you (non-believers) and I can never follow and walk the same path together. This is not a message of tolerance to the disbelievers. But a declaration of immunity, disgust with, and dissociation from them as long as they are disbelievers. Its object is to disappoint them absolutely and finally that in the matter of Deen, Allah’s Messenger and the followers would ever come to terms with non-believers. The fact is that Allah (swt) recognizes only two ways of life, the Deen of Truth and the Deen of falsehood. That is why He accented (the sixth verse in Arabic)  “Lakum Deena –Kum Waliya Deen”.

“And He has classified the people also into two groups, one group will go to Paradise and this consists of the believers and the second group will go to Hell and this consists of the disbelievers”.

Reference: Tafhim-ul-Quran, by Sayyed Abul Ala Maududi. 

“Significance of Deen is obedience to a law or to what is conceived as a system of established and therefore bindings- usages, i.e. something endowed with moral authority; hence way of life, faith, and Deen (way of life).

    Reference: “The Message of the Quran”, Translated by Muhammad Asad

The verses of the Quran from which we can understand more about the meaning of Surah Kafirun:

“And if they deny you, say, for me are my deeds and for you are your deeds. You are disassociated from what I do, and I am disassociated from what you do”.                                                                                      Surah Yunus 10:41

“O Prophet, say O mankind, if you still are in doubt concerning my “Deen”, then Know that I will never worship those whom you worship besides Allah. But I worship Allah who has the power to cause your death, and I am commanded to be one of the believers".

                     Surah Yunus 10:104

 

“O Prophet, say to them, I shall serve Allah Alone, I worship according to Allah’s Deen sincerely. As for you, you may serve whomever you please beside him”. 

                                                                 Surah Az Zumar 39:14

“Islam is the only Deen (way of life for mankind) before Allah”.                                                                                                                                                                             Surah Al-i-Imran 3:19

"And whoever seeks a way other than this way a submission (Islam), will find that it will not be accepted from him and in the Life to come he will be among the losers".

                                                           Surah Al-i-Imran 3:85

Misunderstanding

Some modernists have misunderstood this Surah (chapter) and think that it encourages that all Deens (religions, ideologies) are true. There is no basis for this in the background and context of this Surah (chapter).  In fact, it is the complete opposite of the above thought. The very name of the Surah implies that it was a form of refusal to worship the false idols of the Quraysh and not to compromise the most fundamental principle of Islam: worship of only One Allah (God) without any Partners. Also, there are numerous verses in the Qur’an that criticise idol worship, the divinity of Jesus, trinity, rejection of Islam, refusal to believe in Muhammad (pbuh) as a Messenger of God, etc. Not to mention the Qur’an explicitly stating that Muhammad (pbuh) was given the true Deen(way of life) to manifest over other Deens. Allah (swt) says in Quran:

 “It is He who has sent His Messenger with guidance and the Deen of truth to manifest it over all [other]  Deens (religions), although those who associate others with Allah dislike it"                                                                               Surah At-Taubah 9:33

Conclusion

Therefore, correct understanding of Surah Kafirun is that other Deens (Religions/Ideologies and Ways of Life) that exist should not be taken to be at par with Islam as Muslims believe that for Human Beings, Islam is the only way of life (Deen) before Allah (swt) for mankind. We further understand the following:

• Muslims should not compromise the Islamic identity and sacrifice the teachings of Islam and must not allow other people to interfere our relationship with Allah (swt).
• Islamic guidance is divine, that is it is from Allah (swt) alone and it is not based on human desires.
• Islam is a serious lifelong commitment and should not be viewed lightly and should be practiced with sincerity with the belief that on the Day of Judgment, humans will be judged for their deeds/actions in this worldly life; those who followed God’s guidance will be rewarded with paradise; those who rejected God’s guidance will be punished with hell.
• Islam respects the right of freedom of all religions/idoologies and ways of life which one chooses to follow and not forcing to believe in Islam. It does not mean that Muslims compromise their own values that Islam is the true Deen (Religion).

However, all Deens may coexist and followers enjoy common rights in a state or society. Man has freewill to choose a Deen (Religion/Ideology and Way of Life) but there is no place of compulsion in Islam. A Muslim's belief is in the light of this chapter's  historical and textual context and the message of the Quran.  On  the Day of Resurrection, Allah (swt) will give final judgement on who are in the way of His Deen (believers) and who are from other Deens   (non-believers) i.e.,  those who deny the truth.