what you worship do I worship” express pure dissociation. “Nor are you worshippers of what I worship” affirms that he has One whom he worships exclusively, and that you have no part in worshipping Him. Thus the surah contains both negation and affirmation, corresponding to the words of Abraham, the leader of those devoted to pure monotheism:
“Indeed, I am free of what you worship, except the One who created me.” (43:27)
It also corresponds to the words of the company of monotheists:
“And when you have withdrawn from them and from what they worship, except Allah.” (18:16)
It thus encompasses the true meaning of “There is no god but Allah.” This is why the Prophet ﷺ would pair it with the surah “Say: He is Allah, One” in the Sunnah prayers of Fajr and Maghrib.
These two surahs are the surahs of pure devotion to Allah. They encompass the two kinds of affirmation of His oneness without which a servant can attain neither salvation nor success. The first is affirming His oneness in knowledge and belief. This entails declaring Allah far above the unworthy conceptions of polytheism and disbelief, and above having offspring or a parent. He is the One God, the Eternal Refuge. He “neither begets,” and thus has no offspring, “nor was He begotten,” and thus has no progenitor, “nor is there anyone equal to Him,” and thus has no peer. Moreover, He is the Eternal Refuge, possessing all attributes of perfection.
The surah therefore affirms the attributes of perfection befitting His majesty and denies everything unworthy of Him: any partner, whether progenitor, offspring, or equal. This is affirming His oneness in knowledge and belief.
The second is affirming His oneness in purpose and will: worshipping none but Him, associating no one else with Him in worship, and making Him alone the object of worship.
The surah “Say: O disbelievers” encompasses this affirmation of His oneness.
Together, the two surahs encompass both kinds of affirmation of Allah’s oneness, dedicating both exclusively to Him. The Prophet ﷺ would therefore begin the day with them in the Sunnah prayer of Fajr and conclude it with them in the Sunnah prayer of Maghrib.
The Sunan collections report that “he would recite both in the witr prayer.” Thus they would conclude his deeds of the night, just as they concluded his deeds of the day.
From this, the answer to the seventh question may be derived: why his dissociation from what they worship is mentioned first, followed by their dissociation from what he worships. Reflect on this.
As for the eighth question—why the wording here is “O disbelievers” rather than