وَلا أَنتُم عابِدونَ ما أَعبُدُ
Nor do you worship what I worship.
EXEGESIS
The particle mā (what) is used to refer to insentient things, and hence the verse is translated as Nor do you worship what I worship, and not ‘whom I worship’. However, it might seem to have made more sense to use the preposition man (who) which is used for sentient beings, and thus the verse would have read: Nor do you worship whom I worship. Several answers have been given as to why the preposition mā (what) has been used instead of man (who):
- It is in order to keep in line with the style of the previous verse which used mā for the gods of the disbelievers.
- It is used in reference to an attribute and is not referring to a living being such as God. As such, the verse is saying: I do not worship falsehood and you do not worship truth.
- This mā is used in the infinitive sense (maṣdariyyah) in this verse as well as the previous verse, and thus the verse is discussing the method of worship and not the object of worship. The verses would then mean: I do not worship in the manner of your worship, and nor do you worship in the manner of my worship.
- Mā here means alladhī (which) and thus the verse would mean: Nor do you worship that which I worship. This view has been attributed to Abū Muslim. In line with this, the next two verses could be read in the infinitive sense.
- No specific reason needs to be given if we reject the original claim that mā is used for non-living things while man is used for living beings. Such a view has been attributed to the grammarian Sībawayh, and thus on this premise there would be no need to accept any of the previous explanations. Ibn Āshūr states that mā can be used for both intelligent and non-intelligent creatures, while man is specific to intelligent beings and thus it is permissible to use mā in such instances where there is no chance of confusion.
EXPOSITION
In this verse, the proposal of the disbelievers is being rejected by stating that their claim that they will worship Allah for one year in return for the Prophet worshipping their idols for one year is a false claim. According to most exegetes, in line with the previous verse, this verse aims to negate any future worship of the disbelievers, and should thus be read as a prediction of their continued stubbornness. It is as if the Prophet is responding to their suggestion by saying ‘Allah has ordered me to remain worshipping Him alone (verse 2) and has also informed me that you will never come to worship Him’. This can be read in line with verses such as 36:7 and 2:6 where it is made explicit that some people will never accept the true faith no matter how much they are invited.
Some have used this verse as a proof of the Holy Prophet’s prophethood since in this verse he made an explicit claim about the unseen future which turned out to be true, since none of the disbelievers who initially made this offer ever accepted Islam.
Some of those who deny human free will (ahl jabr) have used this verse to say that God’s foretelling of their continued disbelief means it is impossible for them to ever worship Allah, and as such this predestination has compelled them to disbelieve. Of course, for the Twelver Shia, this problem has been solved by explicating that God’s fore-knowledge does not strip one of free will, and these verses can always be understood as God saying ‘through the exercise of your free will, you will never worship Allah’.
[1] Mizan, 20/374.
[2] Razi 32/331; Zamakhshari, 4/809.
[3] Razi 32/331; Zamakhshari, 4/809.
[4] Razi, 32/331; Muhit, 10/559.
[5] Muhit, 10/561.
[6] Ibn Ashur, 30/510-511.
[7] Daqaiq, 14/473; Mizan, 20/374.
[8] Mizan, 20/374.
[9] Ibn Ashur, 30/510.
[10] They are a group of Muslims who are of the opinion that since God knows everything that is going to happen, everything has thus been predestined and we have no free will.
[11] Razi, 32/331.