LessonsSupplementary Practice 22: Comparative Rhetorical Study of Sūrat al-Kāfirūn and al-NaṣrQuiz

مَا تَعْبُدُونَ ... مَا أَعْبُدُ
What you worship ... what I worship. (109:2–3)

One established analysis takes mā as relative, focusing on the object of worship. Some grammatical and exegetical discussions also entertain a maṣdariyyah reading, which can foreground the act or mode of worship.

These discussions do not obscure the core message: the two parties do not share the worship being proposed. A responsible analysis distinguishes a well-supported interpretation from a claimed unanimous grammatical ruling.

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The interpretive range of mā

Supplementary Practice 22: Comparative Rhetorical Study of Sūrat al-Kāfirūn and al-Naṣr

مَا تَعْبُدُونَ ... مَا أَعْبُدُ
What you worship ... what I worship. (109:2–3)

One established analysis takes mā as relative, focusing on the object of worship. Some grammatical and exegetical discussions also entertain a maṣdariyyah reading, which can foreground the act or mode of worship.

These discussions do not obscure the core message: the two parties do not share the worship being proposed. A responsible analysis distinguishes a well-supported interpretation from a claimed unanimous grammatical ruling.