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wa-qāla lladhīna kafarū li-lladhīna ʾāmanū ttabiʿū sabīlanā wa-l-naḥmil khaṭāyākum wa-mā hum bi-ḥāmilīna min khaṭāyāhum min shayʾin ʾinnahum la-kādhibūna
The faithless say to the faithful, ‘Follow our way and we will bear [responsibility for] your iniquities.’ They will not bear anything of their iniquities. They are indeed liars.
— Ali Quli Qarai
Surah Al-‘Ankabut - Verse 12
12. “And those who disbelieve say unto those who believe: ‘Follow our path and we will certainly bear (the burden of) your sins.’ And they shall not be bearers of any thing of their sins. Verily they are liars.”
In order to invite and encourage others to do mischief and wrong, the deviated persons often say: if it has any sin we carry the burden of that sin, while no one can undertake the sin of another one. This verse points to one example of the weak and haughty logics of the polytheists which exists among a vast group, too, even just now. It says:
Today, we see many seductive persons that at the time of invitation to a wrong action say if it has any sin they bear its sin, but we know that none can bear the burden of any one’s sin. In principle, this thing is not rational, because Allah is just and He does not punish anyone for the crime of another one. Besides, with these baseless words, the responsibility of a person for his deeds does not go away, and against that which some short-minded persons imagine these meanings do not decrease aught from the man’s punishment.
That is why no court heeds this kind of words that so and so has undertaken its sin. It is right that this person who has encouraged the other has a share in his sin, but this participation does not decrease his responsibility at all. Therefore, in the next sentence of the verse, the Qur’an explicitly says: