and he outwardly observes only as much of Islamic law as he must because of the Muslims there. This went so far that this vile, godless, hypocritical minister of theirs wrote a treatise whose substance was that the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, approved of the religion of the Jews and Christians: that he did not condemn their beliefs, that they were neither censured nor forbidden to follow their religion, and that they were not commanded to embrace Islam.

This vile, ignorant man cited His words as evidence:

“Say, ‘O disbelievers,
I do not worship what you worship,
nor do you worship what I worship.
Nor will I worship what you worship,
nor will you worship what I worship.
For you is your religion, and for me is my religion.’”

He claimed that this verse implied that the Prophet approved of their religion. He said: “This verse remains in force; it has not been abrogated.” Various events ensued as a result. It is clear that this reflects his ignorance.

For His words,

“For you is your religion, and for me is my religion,”

contain nothing implying that the religion of the disbelievers is true or that the Prophet approves of it. Rather, they indicate his disavowal of their religion. Hence the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said of this surah:

“It is a declaration of disavowal of polytheism.”

Likewise, He says in another verse:

“If they reject you, then say, ‘To me are my deeds, and to you are yours. You are free of responsibility for what I do, and I am free of responsibility for what you do.’”

Thus, His words,

“For you is your religion, and for me is my religion,”

are like His words,

“To us are our deeds, and to you are yours.”

He followed this with its necessary implication and consequence, saying:

“You are free of responsibility for what I do, and I am free of responsibility for what you do.”

Even if it were supposed that this surah contained something implying that they were not commanded to abandon their religion, it is necessarily known from the religion of