Al-W¥^idÏ's Asb¥b al-Nuz‰l - The Royal Islamic Strategic Studies ...

Chapter 109: Surah al-Kafirun
In the name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful
(Say: O disbelievers! …) [109:1-6].
These verses was revealed about a group of people 1 from the Quraysh who said to the Prophet, Allah
bless him and give him peace: “Come follow our religion and we will follow yours. You worship our idols
for a year and we worship you Allah the following year. In this way, if what you have brought us is better
than what we have, we would partake of it and take our share of goodness from it; and if what we have
is better than what you have brought, you would partake of it and take your share of goodness from it”.
He said: “Allah forbid that I associate anything with Him”, and so Allah, exalted is He, revealed (Say: O
disbelievers!) up to the end of the Surah. The Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace,
then went to the Sacred Sanctuary, which was full of people, and recited to them the Surah. It was at that
point that they despaired of him. 2
1
They were: al-Harith ibn Qays al-Sahmi, al-‘As ibn Wa’il, al-Walid ibn al-Mughirah, al-Aswad ibn ‘Abd Yaghuth, al-Aswad ibn
al-Muttalib ibn Asad, Umayyah ibn Khalaf and others.
2
Tabari, :331; Qurtubi, :225; Durr, :654-655.