✦ AT A GLANCE ✦
الكافرون
Al-Kafirun
✦ Why this name
The Disbelievers — al-Kafirun, addressed directly in the opening verse.
✦ When it came
Meccan. The Quraysh had proposed a compromise: worship our gods for a year, and we will worship yours for a year. This was the answer.
✦ The story
Six verses that close a door politely and completely.
*"Say: O disbelievers, I do not worship what you worship, nor are you worshippers of what I worship. Nor will I be a worshipper of what you worship, nor will you be worshippers of what I worship."*
It is repetitive on purpose. The offer was made more than once; the refusal is stated more than once. There is no ambiguity left to negotiate with.
And then the last verse, which is not hostile at all: *"For you is your religion, and for me is mine."*
The Prophet ﷺ recited this surah and Al-Ikhlas together in the two rak'ahs before Fajr, and used to recommend reciting it before sleep as a declaration of freedom from associating partners with Allah.
✦ How it unfolds
✦ Verses to carry
✦ Where it sits
Recited with Al-Ikhlas in the sunnah of Fajr and in Maghrib — one surah defining what is refused, the other what is affirmed.