Tafseer of The Disbelievers · Al-Kaafiroon · 109:5
Nor will you be worshippers of what I worship.
Important: The Arabic source text is always authoritative. This translation is a study aid and has not been verified by scholars — do not use it as a basis for religious proof or for deriving rulings (ahkam). When in doubt, always consult the Arabic text and a qualified scholar.
The Exalted says in His mention to His Prophet Muḥammad ﷺ — and the polytheists (mushrikīn) from his people had, it is reported, offered him that they would worship Allah for a year, on the condition that the Prophet of Allah ﷺ would worship their gods for a year — and so Allah revealed the instruction for the response to that: Say — O Muḥammad — to these polytheists who asked you to worship their gods for a year while they would worship your God for a year: O disbelievers (al-kāfirūn) in Allah, I do not worship what you worship — namely the gods and idols — now at this moment; and you are not worshippers of what I worship — now at this moment.
And I will not be a worshipper — in the future — of what you have worshipped — in the past; and you will not be worshippers — ever, in the future — of what I worship — now and in the future.
This was said because Allah's Address to His Messenger ﷺ applied to specifically designated persons among the polytheists, of whom Allah knew that they would never believe — and that had already been preceded in His eternal knowledge. So He commanded His Prophet ﷺ to deprive them of every hope of what they had desired and had set before themselves; and that this would never come to pass, neither from him nor from them, at any time whatsoever. And Allah deprived the Prophet of Allah ﷺ of every expectation concerning their belief and concerning any success ever coming from their side — and so it indeed was: they did not succeed and did not attain salvation, until some of them were killed by the sword on the day of Badr and others perished before that as disbelievers (kāfir).
In accordance with what we have said here, the exegetes (ahl al-taʾwīl) spoke, and the traditions (āthār) have also come.
*Mention of who said this:*
Muḥammad ibn Mūsā al-Ḥarashī related to me; he said: Abū Khalf related to us; he said: Dāwūd related to us, on the authority of ʿIkrima, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās: that Quraysh promised the Prophet of Allah ﷺ to give him so much wealth that he would become the richest man of Mecca, to marry him to whichever women he wished, and to tread in his heels (i.e. to follow him and honour him). They said to him: "This is ready for you with us, O Muḥammad — stop reviling our gods and do not speak ill of them. If you will not do that, then we offer you one matter that is beneficial for both you and us." He said: "What is that?" They said: "You worship our gods for one year — al-Lāt and al-ʿUzzā — and we worship your God for one year." He said: "Let me wait for what comes from my Lord." And then the revelation descended from the Preserved Tablet: Say: O disbelievers — the entire surah — and Allah revealed: Say: Do you then command me to worship something other than Allah, O ignorant ones? … up to His word: So worship, and be of the grateful.
Yaʿqūb related to me; he said: Ibn ʿUlayya related to us, on the authority of Muḥammad ibn Isḥāq; he said: Saʿīd ibn Mīnā, the freedman of al-Bakhtarī, related to me — he said: Al-Walīd ibn al-Mughīra, al-ʿĀṣ ibn Wāʾil, al-Aswad ibn al-Muṭṭalib and Umayya ibn Khalaf met the Prophet of Allah ﷺ and said: "O Muḥammad, come, let us worship what you worship, and you worship what we worship — and we will let you share in all our affairs. If what you have brought is better than what we have, then we have shared in it with you and taken our portion of it; and if what we have is better than what you have, then you have shared in our affair and taken your portion in it." Whereupon Allah revealed: Say: O disbelievers — until the surah came to an end.
