لَكُم دينُكُم وَلِيَ دينِ
To you your religion, and to me my religion.’
EXEGESIS
The letter lām in lakum indicates exclusivity. This would mean: Your religion is exclusive to you, and my religion is exclusive to me. A further indication of exclusivity is shown by the preceding of the predicate lakum over the subject dīnukum, which grammatically is used to show exclusivity.
The root meaning of the word dīn is subservience, submission, and subjection. The common meaning of religion is also linked to this root meaning as man is subservient and obedient to the laws of his religion. Another interpretation given is that the word dīn in this verse does not mean religion but means recompense (as in 1:3), and thus the meaning would be: To you your recompense, and to me my recompense.
EXPOSITION
The question of religious pluralism is one of the most contested in contemporary times. The last verse of this chapter has been the subject of much debate amongst exegetes. The vast majority of exegetes are in agreement that the verse should not be understood in its literal sense as saying that Islam is accepting of other religions and there is no imperative to convert to Islam. Rather, the verse is addressing the Prophet’s stance towards the disbelievers who offered such a compromise. There can be no reconciliation between truth and falsehood. The Prophet has clearly stated his position in the previous verses and thus this verse acts as a concluding remark.
Some have understood this verse as a kind of absolute reconciliation between Islam and polytheism and have considered this verse as indicating a form of religious pluralism, suggesting that Islam is permitting everyone to remain on their own religion and that there is no pressure to join the religion of Islam. Abū Ḥayyān al-Andalusī seems to suggest that this is what the verse is indicating; however, he then states that this verse has been abrogated by the verse that talks about engaging in jihad to spread the word of Islam (9:5). Qurṭubī also opines that this verse has been abrogated whilst indicating that some exegetes believe the whole chapter has been abrogated.
In opposition to this understanding, several other interpretations have been put forward regarding the true intent of this verse.
The tone and style of the previous verses acts as a contextual indicator that this verse is a kind of threat and taunt. It is as if the verse is saying: You will soon see the eventuality of your religion, suit yourselves! This is similar to 28:55 where the believers utter similar statements. The Quran is full of verses utterly rejecting polytheism and considers it as one of the worst sins, and thus it does not make sense to say this verse is somehow allowing people to remain on polytheism.
Some have compared this verse to 41:40 where the apparent meaning is a permissibility granted to the disbelievers to do whatever they want, while the intended meaning is a threat in the context of the verse; see also 10:41.
In a similar vein, Subḥānī opines that the verse is portraying the stark difference between monotheism and polytheism and aims to draw a sharp distinction between the two. There can be no reconciliation between Islam and polytheism. Furthermore, such a sense of religious pluralism goes against verses such as 2:137: So if they believe in the like of what you believe in, then they are certainly guided, where the faith of the People of the Book has been conditioned to their faith in what has been revealed to the Holy Prophet, and hence it is not enough for them to only believe in their religion.
The grammatical signifiers mentioned in the Exegesis strengthen the understanding that the verse is aiming to draw a complete distinction between Islam and polytheism.
The above explanations are congruent only if we accept dīn in this verse to mean religion or creed and not retribution and recompense. What gives credence to the interpretation that dīn here means creed or religion is that it has been attributed to Ibn Abbas that he understood this verse, as a direct audience of the Quran, as saying: To you is your disbelief about Allah, and to me is my monotheism and sincerity for Him.
INSIGHTS FROM HADITH
- It is narrated from Imam al-Ṣādiq (a): ‘When you recite I do not worship what you worship [verse 2] then say: “I worship Allah alone. My religion is sincerely for Him.” And when you complete the chapter, say three times: “My religion is Islam.”’ In another narration, Imam al-Ṣādiq (a) says we ought to complete the chapter by saying: ‘My Lord is Allah, and my religion is Islam.’ In a third narration, the Imam would say upon completion of this chapter: ‘Allah alone do I worship; Allah alone do I worship.’
REVIEW OF TAFSĪR LITERATURE
Some mystical exegetes opine that certain words have been omitted from the verse, as is natural in the Arabic language. As such the verse reads: To you the recompense of your religion, and to me the recompense of my religion.
Other views are that dīn could mean punishment, supplication, or custom.
Maududi highlights that based on this verse, some of the Sunni jurists such as Abū Ḥanīfah and al-Shāfiʿī have deduced that kufr (disbelief) is one community and thus all non-Muslims can be collectively thought to be part of this community, regardless of whether they be Jews, Christians, polytheists, or atheists. Based on this, the laws of inheritance would apply amongst them in cases where they are related by marriage or blood, and hence a Christian may inherit a Jew, for example, and vice versa.
Al-Jaṣṣāṣ also mentions this view stating that kufr as a whole can be considered as one sect.
Other Sunni jurists, such as Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal and Mālik ibn Anas, have rejected such a ruling and have understood each religion as a separate sect and thus, for example, Jews and Christians are considered as belonging to two different sects and they cannot inherit from each other. They base their opinion on verses such as For each [community] among you We had appointed a code [of law] and a path (5:48), and a narration from the Holy Prophet stating: ‘People of two different creeds cannot inherit one another.’
[1] Haider Hobbollah, Commentary on Sūrat al-Kafirun: https://www.iqraonline.net/commentary-on-surah-al-kafirun-part-2/.
[2] Amthal, 20/513.
[3] Muhit, 10/561.
[4] Qurtubi, 20/229.
[5] Amthal, 20/512.
[6] Tibyan, 10/423.
[7] Subḥānī, Munyat al-Ṭālibīn fī Tafsīr al-Qurʾān al-Mubīn, 30/689.
[8] Subḥānī, Munyat al-Ṭālibīn fī Tafsīr al-Qurʾān al-Mubīn, 30/688.
[9] Daqaiq, 14/473.
[10] Daqaiq, 14/474.
[11] Nur, 5/686.
[12] Qushayrī, Laṭāʾif al-Ishārāt, 3/777.
[13] Razi, 32/332.
[14] Maududi, p. 593.
[15] Al-Jaṣṣāṣ, Aḥkām al-Qurʾān, 5/377.
[16] Abu Dawud, 2/95; Ahmad, 2/178, 2/195.