الكافرون
Al Kafirun
Also known as: Al-Bara'ah, Al-Muqashqishah (The Deliverer from Hypocrisy)
Verses
6
Revelation
Makki
Period
Early Meccan
Surah No.
109 / 114
Al-Kafirun is a surah of definitive and absolute separation between Islamic monotheism and polytheism. Revealed when the Quraysh proposed a compromise – the Prophet worships their gods for a year and they worship Allah for a year – the surah is an unequivocal refusal. The Prophet declares that he does not and will not worship what they worship, and they do not and will not worship what he worships, concluding with the principle of religious non-compromise: "For you is your religion, and for me is my religion."
أسباب النزول
The Quraysh made several proposals for religious compromise, the most notable being: worship our gods for a year and we will worship your God for a year, or touch our idols and we will believe in you. Al-Kafirun was revealed as an emphatic rejection of every such proposal. The surah is called "the surah of bara'ah (disavowal)" from all forms of shirk and is recommended to be recited before sleeping as a protection.
“For you is your religion, and for me is my religion.”
The concluding verse has been cited in interfaith discourse for fourteen centuries. Scholars clarify it is not relativism but a declaration of absolute non-compromise: I will not adopt your religion, you will not adopt mine – peaceful separation, not doctrinal equivalence.
The Prophet (peace be upon him) called this surah "the surah of disavowal from shirk" and recommended reciting it before sleeping, saying it is equivalent to a quarter of the Quran. He recited it in the two rak'ahs of Fajr sunnah and tawaf prayer.