Until the advent of materialism and 19th c. dogma, Western Civilisation was superior to anything Islam had developed. Islam has not aided in the development of the modern world; in fact civilisation has only been created in spite of Islam. Proof of this resides in the 'modern' world and the unending political-economic and spiritual poverty of Muslim states and regions. Squatting on richer civilisations is not 'progress'. Islam is pagan, totalitarian, and irrational.
Sura 109 is held up in awe by the one-world wonders as an example of Islam's endless love and tolerance. It ranks up there with 2:256 in the pantheon of cultural Marxist worship, in which the reader is informed that Infidels will be fought, overcome and dominated by those who follow Allah [read the entire passage from 2:256 to 2:275]. Sura 109 is a short Sura, orally transcribed by Muhammad when his cult was weak, with few followers and harassed by Meccan authorities, who were tired of listening to Muhammad's gibberish that the Arab pagan pantheon was 'evil', and that the Hub'Allah demanded a stricter, totalitarian, and more ritualistic method of worship – with himself as the prime actor in the cult.
Here is Sura 109 translated by Hilali-Khan:
“Al-Kafirun In the Name of Allah, the Most Beneficent, the Most Merciful.
Say (O Muhammad (Peace be upon him)to these Mushrikun and Kafirun): "O Al-Kafirun (disbelievers in Allah, in His Oneness, in His Angels, in His Books, in His Messengers, in the Day of Resurrection, and in Al-Qadar, etc.)!
"I worship not that which you worship,
"Nor will you worship that which I worship.
"And I shall not worship that which you are worshipping.
"Nor will you worship that which I worship.
“To you be your religion, and to me my religion (Islamic Monotheism)."
Cultural Marxists and self-loathing Western idiots can't get enough of this Sura. You worship your Gods, I will worship mine. Oh wow, that is so tolerant. It proves Islam's superiority! But not really. There are three aspects to this verse that the one-world wonders miss.
Before Muhammad started Jihad, war, extermination, overt racism, and brigandage his small band of family members and cult devotees never numbered more than a handful. So of course someone who is being persecuted by the authorities is going to whine, 'please leave me alone, worship your 'Gods', and I will worship mine.'
More importantly, and rarely mentioned, is the fact that Muhammad is talking about Allah or Hub'Allah, being the main 'god' amongst many. In other words the import of this Sura is that it references Arab polytheism. What Muhammad is saying is that the Arabs can worship their many Gods, but he will worship only one – Hubal or 'ilah – namely the 'one Lord'.
This Sura references a contract stemming from the above 2 points, forwarded by Muhammad to the Quraish elite.
Now some other translators have a different set of words for the 5th sentence, and all of them make it clear that Muhammad is denying polytheism and elevating his idea of that Allah is the main 'God' amongst all the Gods:
Nor will ye worship that which I worship. Pickthall and Ali
Nor will you be the worshipper of what I worship. Daryabadi and Dawood
Nor will ye serve what I serve;- Palmer
Nor will you ever worship what I worship. Khalifa
And neither will you [ever] worship that which I worship. Asad
etc.
Sura 109 is not a celebration of multi-cultural harmony. It is Muhammad stating the obvious. You pagan Arabs will continue to worship your Gods [as long as your state and society are strong]; and our small cult will worship our one 'God'. So let's agree to disagree is what he is asking.
But notice the contradiction in this Sura. The Koran demands that you believe that Allah or Hub'Allah is the 'one'. Only he can be worshipped. Yet Sura 109 is clear – other gods were being worshipped including Allah. Allah is not unique, not connected to Judaism, and has no reference in Judeo-Christian theology. Allah was being worshipped by the pagan Arabs [in the form of Hub'Al] along with 359 other deities. Muhammad is thus confirming the paganism of this Allah.
Lastly, the Sura is a proposed contract from Muhammad to the Quraish elite. We know this from Moslem sources. Maududi the early twentieth century Moslem fanatic and supporter of unfettered Jihad states that Sura 109 refers to a proposed peace initiative from Muhammad to the Quraish elite. When you take this into account the Sura does not declaim for tolerance, but simply rejects the Meccan belief system. This fact eventually drove Muhammad from Mecca – at the threat of being killed by the Quraish. Tolerance does not exist in Islam, nor in Muhammadan theology. As Maududi confirms:
“....[this Sura] was revealed in order to exonerate the Muslims from the disbelievers religion, their rites of worship, and their gods, and to express their total disgust and unconcern with them and to tell them that Islam and kufr (unbelief) had nothing in common and there was no possibility of their being combined and mixed into one entity. Although it was addressed in the beginning to the disbelieving Quraish in response to their proposals of compromise, yet it is not confined to them only, but having made it a part of the Quran, Allah gave the Muslims the eternal teaching that they should exonerate themselves by word and deed from the creed of kufr wherever and in whatever form it be, and should declare without any reservation that they cannot make any compromise with the disbelievers in the matter of Faith.”
So much for one-world, inter-faith tolerance. Sura 109 has nothing to do with love and hope. It is a clear statement of supremacism, and the innate Moslem belief of their own superiority.