Lesson Eleven
Fortress of the Disbelievers
(Al-Kafirun Surah )
In the Name of God, the All-Compassionate, the All-Merciful
1- "Say: ‘Oh, disbelievers" !
2- "I do not worship what you worship" ,
3- "And you will not be worshipers of what I worship" .
4- "I shall not be a worshiper of what you have (decided to) worship" ,
5- "Nor will you be worshipers of what I worship" .
6- "You have your religion, and I have my religion’."
In Divine ‘Victory’ Fortress, the Almighty God has revealed to the believer the forgiveness that the Envoy (PBUH) seeks for them and the perfect Care and Sympathy of God for them.
Then, in this Fortress, He cites to us the state of the believer who is close to Him. This state results from their nearness to God. He also refers to the state of the unbeliever, which results from their disbelief and shunning of God.
The believer never commits evil or takes part in wrongdoing as long as they keep near to God, while the unbeliever continues to sin and never abstains from evil, as long as they persist in their disbelief and shunning of God.
Therefore, the Almighty says:
Verse no. 1
36. "Say: ‘Oh, disbelievers’!"
The word "disbelievers" indicates a category of people. It is not limited to the unbelievers of a particular time, but includes every person with this quality; that is, every person who is ungrateful for or heedless of God’s Favor and Graces. This is because ‘disbelief’ is ingratitude to the Creator as well as ungratefulness and neglect for favor. Such being the case, disbelief is the opposite of ‘thankfulness’, which is to notice charity and witness the grace of the giver.
Therefore the verse "Say: ‘Oh, disbelievers’," means: you who is a believer, speak, addressing yourself to those opposers to make a declaration to them, beginning: ―You who are not thankful for the benefits we receive from God, whose spirits have become blind because they were not illuminated by their Provider’s Light and have not seen the favor and charity He sends to them!"
Verse no. 2
37. ―‘I do not worship what you worship’,"
That is, ―I do not obey the idols, devils, spirits or anything other than the Almighty God that you obey, because my nearness to my Provider allows me to receive a vision and to act on the basis of His Light and His Guidance.
―I do not do the evil which you do; nor do I follow my whims, since I have seen the total loss and harm that is folded therein."
Worship is expressed here by the verb ‘worship’, which comes in the present tense to show that the words refer to the present state of the one who speaks, and to specify this with the time of their speaking.
Then, in the following verses, the word comes in the participle form expressed by the words ‘worshipers’ and ‘worshiper’ in order to show the continuation, because the participle form expresses the unchangeable of the quality and it is unlimited to a certain time.
Verse no. 3
38. "And you will not be worshipers of what I worship."
That is, ―due to your shunning of your Creator, your spirits have lost the light which would illuminate your way, and they have become deprived of the insight which would show them the way that would lead to their happiness.
―Therefore, you will not desist from evil no matter what I advise you and no matter what I explain to you, as long as you persist in such shunning of the Creator."
Verse no. 4
39. "I shall not be a worshiper of what you have (decided to) worship,"
That is, ―as long as I continue existing in my current state of nearness to God, being illuminated by the Godly Light which shows me the path of truth, it is impossible for me to conduct myself as you do, or to carry out the same actions as you."
Verse no. 5
40. "Nor will you be worshipers of what I worship."
That is, ―as long as you persist in your current state – whereby you have a lack of gratitude for God’s Graces, a lack of thankfulness for His Favour, and distance from Him in spiritual terms – you will never follow my way; nor will your spirits be satisfied with doing good actions. Therefore, you will continue to commit harm and evil."
Verse no. 6
41. "You have your religion, and I have my religion."
"You have your religion, and I have my religion." The word "religion" in Arabic is ‘Din’ which is derived from the verb ‘dana’ meaning ‘to submit’ and ‘yeild.’
The word ‘Din’ also means Divine Law or Doctrine. It is called so because one submits to its orders after ascertaining the happy consequences of following them.
‘Din’ has other meanings, all of which are related to the general meaning indicated above. Thus it can mean ‘account’ and ‘reward’ because when the judgement or reward is fair one would submit and yield to it. In this verse, the "religion" is meant as retribution for one’s deeds. God makes you submit to it because He gives you your due in full as a repayment for what you have rendered.
Accordingly, the meaning of this verse is that those being addressed will reap the results of their deeds: namely, punishment for the acts they have committed. Meanwhile, the speaker will receive the results of their deeds, which is the reward for the charity they have rendered.
This Fortress denotes that, if a person draws nearer to their Provider, they will never do evil and will continue to be protected from falling into such evil for as long as they preserve their closeness to their Provider. If they do not enter into their Provider’s Presence and do not appreciate His Boons, this will drive them to commit wrong doing and hurt others. Because of this, they will never know the right path or carry out good actions for as long as they continue in their disbelief and shunning of God.
Thus, belief and closeness to God are the sources of every virtue and charity. Disbelief and distance from the Almighty, on the other hand, are the reasons behind every evil, and the origin of every injury and misery.