The word mā (“what”) indicates a quality, unlike man (“who”), which denotes the individual. Thus, He says:

“Marry such women as are pleasing to you,”

meaning those who are pleasing; and:

“By the sky and Him who built it,”

meaning its Builder. A similar example is His saying:

“When he said to his sons, ‘What will you worship after me?’ They said, ‘We will worship your God and the God of your fathers.’”

He did not say, “Whom will you worship after me?” This is exactly parallel to His saying:

“Nor do you worship what I worship.”

The meaning, then, is: I do not worship the object of your worship, nor do you worship the object of mine.

His statement, “Nor do you worship what I worship,” also applies to their associating partners with Allah, for that is not worship of Allah. Allah accepts only deeds done sincerely for His sake. When they associate partners with Him, they are not worshipping Him, even if they supplicate to Him and pray to Him.

Moreover, they have not worshipped what he worships: the One described as the exclusive object of his worship. Rather, this encompasses worshipping Him alone, and it encompasses the Lord of whom he has spoken, with His names and attributes. Whoever denies anything he has reported about Him has not, in every respect, worshipped what he worships.

Furthermore, religious laws may differ in their prescribed acts of worship, so that the One worshipped is the same even though the manner of worship differs. Such people are not to be disavowed. Thus, everyone who worships Allah