NAME: الكافرون, Al-Kafiroon.
Name taken from Verse 1 where there is a mention of the word ”Kafiroon”.
١ قُلْ يَا أَيُّهَا الْكَافِرُونَ
1 Say, “O disbelievers,
ENGLISH NAME: Disbelievers.
CHAPTER NUMBER: 109
SURAH KAFIRUN TOTAL VERSES: 6
SURAH KAFIRUN TOTAL WORDS: 27
TOTAL UNIQUE WORDS WITHOUT REPETITION: 18
TOTAL LETTERS: 99
REVELATION PERIOD:
Meccan, Approx. 613 – 620 AD.
MAIN CHARACTERS:
God, Prophet Muhammad/Believers, Disbelievers.
SURAH KAFIRUN MAIN TOPICS:
The Right Attitude Towards Those Who Reject Your Religion.
SURAH KAFIRUN KEY VERSES:
١ قُلْ يَا أَيُّهَا الْكَافِرُونَ
1 Say, “O disbelievers,
٦ لَكُمْ دِينُكُمْ وَلِيَ دِينِ
6 For you is your religion, and for me is my religion.”
SUMMARY OF TOPICS
1-5(God Asks Prophet Muhammad And Believers To Proclaim That They Will Never Be A Worshipper of Other Deities), 6(The Right Attitude Towards Those Who Reject Your Religion is To Say This “For you is your religion, and for me is my religion).
SURAH KAFIRUN BRIEF COMMENTARY & BACKGROUND
This Surah has 6 verses. It takes its name from verse 1: “قُلْ يَا أَيُّهَا الْكَافِرُونَ” ( Say, “O disbelievers) where the word “الكافرون” meaning “Disbelievers” appears. This Surah was revealed in Mecca.
This Surah tells us that what should be the right attitude towards those who reject your religion. There cannot be any bargain in the matters of faith and worship. It also tells that people are free to follow whatever religion they want, but the truth and falsehood cannot be mixed together.
When Prophet openly started preaching this Divine Message to the people of Mecca than strong opposition started from their side. During this time, several efforts were also made to negotiate with the Prophet with different sort of proposals. One of such incident was narrated in traditions which according to Abdullah bin Abbas, the Quraysh leaders came to the Prophet and said; “We shall give you so much of wealth that you will become the richest man of Mecca, we shall give you whichever woman you like in marriage; we are prepared to follow and obey you as our leader, only on the condition that you will not speak ill of our gods. If you do not agree to this, we present another proposal which is to your as well as to our advantage.” When the Prophet PBUH asked what it was, they said that if he would worship their gods, Lat and Uzza, for a year, they would worship his God for the same space of time. The Holy Prophet said: “Wait a while; let me see what my Lord commands in this regard.” Thereupon the revelation came down: قُلْ يَا أَيُّهَا الْكَافِرُونَ… and Surah Zumar verse 64: قُلْ أَفَغَيْرَ اللَّهِ تَأْمُرُونِّي أَعْبُدُ أَيُّهَا الْجَاهِلُونَ . Say to them: ignorant people do you bid me to worship others than Allah?
Anas ibn Malik and Ibn Abbas reported Prophet of God PBUH said that إِذَا زُلْزِلَتِ الْأَرْضُ زِلْزَالَهَا is equivalent to half the Quran, قُلْ هُوَ اللَّهُ أَحَدٌ is equivalent to a third of the Quran, and قُلْ يَا أَيُّهَا الْكَافِرُونَ is equivalent to a quarter of the Quran.
Ibn Abbas narrated Prophet of God PBUH said to the people: “Should I tell you the word which will protect you from polytheism? It is that you should recite قُلْ يَا أَيُّهَا الْكَافِرُونَ when you go to bed.
