سُوْرَةُ الْكَافِرُوْنَ
Surah Al-Kaafiroon (109) — Ayah 5
وَلَآ أَنتُمْ عَـٰبِدُونَ مَآ أَعْبُدُ ﴿5﴾
Translation by Dr. Muhammad Muhsin Khan & Dr. Taqi-ud-Din al-Hilali
"Nor will you worship that which I worship.
Word by Word — Arabic, Transliteration & Meaning
وَلَآ
walā
And not
أَنتُمْ
antum
you
عَـٰبِدُونَ
ʿābidūna
(are) worshippers
مَآ
mā
(of) what
أَعْبُدُ
aʿbudu
I worship
Tafsir Taiseer ul-Quran — Maulana Abdul Rahman Kilani
Tafsir Taiseer ul-Quran (Facilitation of the Quran) is a comprehensive Quran commentary by Maulana Abdul Rahman Kilani, a renowned Salafi (Ahl al-Hadith) scholar from Pakistan. Known for his eloquent and accessible writing style, Kilani authored this tafsir with a focus on clarity — making Quranic meanings understandable to the common reader. The tafsir provides detailed historical context for verses related to battles and expeditions, and firmly refutes modernist ideologies using strong scriptural evidence. It is widely regarded as an invaluable resource for understanding the Quran and countering deviant interpretations. The tafsir is originally written in Urdu, translated to English by tohed.com.
5. Nor will you ever worship what I worship [3].
[3] Apparently, it seems that in verses 4 and 5, the subject matter of verses 2 and 3 is being repeated, and even if this is accepted as repetition, it serves the purpose of emphasis. However, this is not mere repetition; rather, there are two types of differences between them. One is that in the first two verses, ﴿ما﴾ is considered as a relative clause, and in the latter two verses, ﴿ما﴾ is considered as a verbal noun. In this case, the meaning of the latter verses would be that the way of worship I have adopted, you cannot accept it, and the way you have adopted, I cannot practice it. The way of worship of the Prophet ﷺ was that he would prostrate before Allah in prayer, and the disbelievers were particularly averse to this way of worship and would also prohibit it, as several incidents regarding Abu Jahl and Utbah bin Abi Mu'ayt have already been mentioned in Surah Al-'Alaq. And the way of worship of the disbelievers was that they would sing, whistle, and clap, and perform tawaf of the Ka'bah naked. How could he ever adopt their way of worship? And even if in the latter verses ﴿ما﴾ is also considered as a relative clause, two differences are still clear. One is that in the first verse, ﴿لاَ اعْبُدُ﴾ is mentioned, and in the latter verses, ﴿لاَ اَنَا عَابٍدٌ﴾ is mentioned, and it is obvious that the emphasis found in ﴿لاَ اَنَا عَابِدٌ﴾ (i.e., I will never worship) is not found in ﴿لاَ اَعْبُدُ﴾, and the second difference is that in the first verses, ﴿ما تَعْبُدُوْنَ﴾ (i.e., those whom you worship nowadays) is mentioned, and in the latter verses, ﴿ماعَبَدْتُمْ﴾ is in the past tense, meaning those whom you used to worship before or your forefathers used to worship. And it is evident that the polytheists used to change their deities according to their liking; whatever seemed beneficial or whatever beautiful stone they saw, they would pick it up and make it a deity and abandon the previous one.
[3] Apparently, it seems that in verses 4 and 5, the subject matter of verses 2 and 3 is being repeated, and even if this is accepted as repetition, it serves the purpose of emphasis. However, this is not mere repetition; rather, there are two types of differences between them. One is that in the first two verses, ﴿ما﴾ is considered as a relative clause, and in the latter two verses, ﴿ما﴾ is considered as a verbal noun. In this case, the meaning of the latter verses would be that the way of worship I have adopted, you cannot accept it, and the way you have adopted, I cannot practice it. The way of worship of the Prophet ﷺ was that he would prostrate before Allah in prayer, and the disbelievers were particularly averse to this way of worship and would also prohibit it, as several incidents regarding Abu Jahl and Utbah bin Abi Mu'ayt have already been mentioned in Surah Al-'Alaq. And the way of worship of the disbelievers was that they would sing, whistle, and clap, and perform tawaf of the Ka'bah naked. How could he ever adopt their way of worship? And even if in the latter verses ﴿ما﴾ is also considered as a relative clause, two differences are still clear. One is that in the first verse, ﴿لاَ اعْبُدُ﴾ is mentioned, and in the latter verses, ﴿لاَ اَنَا عَابٍدٌ﴾ is mentioned, and it is obvious that the emphasis found in ﴿لاَ اَنَا عَابِدٌ﴾ (i.e., I will never worship) is not found in ﴿لاَ اَعْبُدُ﴾, and the second difference is that in the first verses, ﴿ما تَعْبُدُوْنَ﴾ (i.e., those whom you worship nowadays) is mentioned, and in the latter verses, ﴿ماعَبَدْتُمْ﴾ is in the past tense, meaning those whom you used to worship before or your forefathers used to worship. And it is evident that the polytheists used to change their deities according to their liking; whatever seemed beneficial or whatever beautiful stone they saw, they would pick it up and make it a deity and abandon the previous one.
