Say! O Unbelievers - Nouman Ali Khan

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

Tafsir of Surah al Kafiroon – Nouman Ali Khan

This is the surah which has intimated people because of the simple yet repetitive language. Nothing is simple in Allah’s book.

The connection between this surah and the one that preceded it - al Kauther, the kuffaar had insulted the Messenger of Allah, sallalahu alayhi wa sallam. Allah responded to them in the last ayah when he said inna nashaniaka hu wal abtar. Here, in this surah, Allah tells His Messenger to call them Kafiroon. Look at the difference between them trying to insult the Messenger and how Allah is insulting them. Their insult had no legacy as he’s, sallalahu alayhi wa sallam, mention will be made until Day of Judgement. On the other hand, the name Allah gives them fits them perfectly. When they criticised the Messenger, it wasn’t an actual criticism. When Allah criticises them, it’s because of their action. In the end of al Kauther, Allah called them the enemy, the worst kind of enemy and in this surah we learn who the enemy is, after years and years of warning.

These kuffaar, they outnumbered the believers in terms of political power and social status. They felt that because the Prophet, sallalahu alayhi wa sallam didn’t have sons to carry his name, they thought they had strength. They offered him a compromise by alternating seasons to share shirk and Islam. This compromise tells you something:

1. They know this man (the Prophet, sallalahu alayhi wa sallam) will never stop calling for what he is calling for – the only solution is the political compromise. This is one of the tricks of shaytaan. Allah has given His Messenger so much, nothing can outdo it. Allah has given him al Kauther.

Introduction:

They were willing to give a little bit but still Allah called them al Kafiroon and this is really important to understand. In this surah Allah doesn’t talk to them, He gets His Messenger to talk to them. Making da’wah is kinda like sales and these kuffaar will think the Prophet, sallalahu alayhi wa sallam is desperate when he is giving them da’wah. Allah tells His Messenger, that he is not desperate. The word ‘Kafiroon’ is used in the active participle (ism fa’il) form. When you call them al Kafiroon, there is no hope for them, their fate is sealed. This surah is not talking about all kuffaar but specific kuffaar who have had the best opportunity to accept Islam. This means that these people are at the point of no return and this is it for them. This kufr of theirs is a result of all these years when they refused to leave their shirk. When Allah uses kufr in the Quran, He mentions disbelief in Allah, His Messengers, His revelations, In the Day of Judgement. Kufr is not only used for rejection and disbelief but also to be ungrateful to a favour of Allah.

قل: The kuffaar think they have a choice of what they worship. The Messenger is not letting them choose, he is just telling them Allah’s message. That is why he is called a Messenger as he only delivers as the command comes from Allah. There is no room for compromise.

Who is the surah talking to?

This is not for everyone who disbelief. This is specific to those people who received the special favour for many generations from Allah and then they receive the best favour – the Messenger and they still disbelieved. People nowadays apply this surah to everyone but we have to be careful on how we use the words of Allah. Ash Shawkani said that these kuffaar are specific and Allah already knew that they would never believe. The only One who knows they will be kaafir is only Allah.

How did the Prophet deliver this surah?

He stood on their head and said  يَا أَيُّهَا الْكَافِرُون. In this word Qul, it’s an insult to the kuffaar and at the same time it’s an award to the Messenger. The kuffaar believed that the Prophet, sallalahu alayhi wa sallam is truthful so when he calls them al Kafiroon, it adds a level of disgust. The door to da’wah for these people is closed which means the mercy of the Prophet is closed

يَا أَيُّهَا الْكَافِرُونَ

O Unbelievers: you use it in a formal sense and a sense of dignity. It has a different aspect – it’s not small talk but a serious matter. Allah is distancing Himself from the Kafiroon and severing of all relationships with them

لَا أَعْبُدُ مَا تَعْبُدُونَ

I do not serve that which you serve – we need to talk about ibaadah here. Ibn Taymiyyah lists 5 things:

1. Obedience to Allah – obedience to Him comes first, and can only obey Allah’s creation only if you’re obeying Allah. There is no obeying creation in disobeying Allah

2. Love – we have to love Allah more than anything else. Those who believe are intense in the love of Allah.

3. Trust the Master – You accept yourself as a slave and Him as a Master and whatever situation He puts you through, you have to trust Him. You have to know it is the better alternative. Allah intends to lighten your burden.

4. Sincerity – when we do something, we have to do it for the sake of Allah. You cannot mix with Allah other things. In your intention, it has to be only for Allah. In fact the demands put on us; this sincerity is talked about in the previous surah.

5. The terms of slavery – you are in no position to define what it means to be a slave of Allah. The kuffaar are worshipping Allah but the terms of what they call as obeying Allah is their own.

There is worship and slavery which is combined into one word. Ibaadah - It means I will not worship or become a slave to. The Arabs had two problems; they refused to worship Allah and refused to be Allah’s slave. In this ayah, the Messenger is being told to tell them he will not worship what they worship or enslave himself to his desires. What they worship are idols.

The ‘La’ almost indicates the future

وَلَا أَنتُمْ عَابِدُونَ مَا أَعْبُدُ

Nor do you serve Him Whom I serve: عَابِدُونَ here is in the noun. Saying that this will never happen and they will always remain in kufr. These ayat have to do with the future

وَلَا أَنَا عَابِدٌ مَّا عَبَدتُّمْ

Nor am I going to serve that which you serve: I am not a worshipper of, in other words, I have never been enslaved to what you have been worshipping. This ayah is in the past tense. There is no way he was going to be compromising

وَلَا أَنتُمْ عَابِدُونَ مَا أَعْبُدُ

Nor do you serve Him Whom I serve: this one is in the past tense. When you go to someone and declare animosity, you use the harshest tones and you repeat yourself. The nature of the God the Messenger worships, that is highlighted in the word ‘ma’

لَكُمْ دِينُكُمْ وَلِيَ دِينِ

You shall have your religion and I shall have my religion: the most misunderstood ayah in our time. First of all, lakum ‘your way of life is ONLY for you’. It will never ever be for anyone. The fact it is ‘only’ is because it comes before deen. These ayat are the precursors to the hijrah of the Prophet, sallalahu alayhi wa sallam. The only purpose of the Messenger is da’wah. The word ‘deen’ comes from the word ‘dayn’ which is loan. The word ‘deen’ is also used for government as they give what the people owe. ‘Deen’ the day when people get what they owe is the Yawm ul Deen. ‘Your judgement is for you and My judgement is for me’. Some people have misunderstood this ayah to mean that the Prophet, sallalahu alayhi wa sallam doesn’t care if the people do shirk. They need to understand that this ayah was revealed at least after a decade of da’wah! Their deen has to go for the mission to be completed so he says, you do what you have to do and we will see what deen comes out on top. Allah sent His Messenger with the judgement of truth so it may overshadow all the other deen there is, even if the Mushrikoon hate it.

In the previous surah, a personal attack was made against the Prophet, sallalahu alayhi wa sallam and his family and in response, in this surah, Allah shows that the Prophet himself is enough to stand up to them. Removing the ya at the end, the emphatic power that the Messenger is declaring the deen. Also Allah’s role has been maximised so by removing the ya, it is though Allah is saying, in the end you don’t even mention yourself much. You’re not making the decision.

This was the end of the lecture by the teacher. Whatever good you take from here is from Allah and all mistakes are from myself