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Kāfir (; كَافِرُون , كُفَّار , or كَفَرَة ; كَافِرَة ; كَافِرَات or كَوَافِر ) is an Arabic-language term used by Muslims to refer to a non-Muslim, more specifically referring to someone who disbelieves in the Islamic God, denies his authority, and rejects the message of Islam as the truth.
Kafir is often translated as 'infidel', 'truth denier',
'rejector', 'disbeliever', 'unbeliever', The term is used in different ways in the Quran, with the most fundamental sense being ungrateful towards God. Kufr means 'disbelief', 'unbelief', 'non-belief', 'to be thankless', 'to be faithless', or 'ingratitude'. The opposite term of kufr ('disbelief') is iman ('faith'), and the opposite of kafir ('disbeliever') is mumin ('believer'). A Atheism might be called a dahri.One type of kafir is a mushrik (مشرك), another group of religious wrongdoer mentioned frequently in the Quran and other Islamic works. Several concepts of vice are seen to revolve around the concept of kufr in the Quran. Historically, while Islamic scholars agreed that a mushrik was a kafir, they sometimes disagreed on the propriety of applying the term to Muslims who committed a grave sin or the People of the Book. The Quran distinguishes between mushrikūn and People of the Book, reserving the former term for idol worshippers, although some classical commentators considered the Christian doctrine to be a form of shirk.
In modern times, kafir is sometimes applied to self-professed Muslims,
particularly by members of Islamist movements.Emmanuel M. Ekwo Racism and Terrorism: Aftermath of 9/11 Author House 2010 page 143 The act of declaring another self-professed Muslim a kafir is known as takfir, a practice that has been condemned but also employed in theological and political polemics over the centuries.A dhimmi or mu'ahid is a historical term for non-Muslims living in an Islamic state with legal protection.
Dhimmis were exempt from certain duties specifically assigned to Muslims if they paid the jizya poll tax, but otherwise equal under the laws of property, contract, and obligation according to some scholars, whereas others state religious minorities subjected to the status of dhimmis (such as Hindus, Christians, Jews, Samaritans, Gnostics, Mandeans, and Zoroastrians) were inferior to the status of Muslims in Islamic states. Jews and Christians were required to pay the jizya and kharaj taxes, while others, depending on the different rulings of the madhhab, might be required to convert to Islam, pay the jizya, exiled, or subject to the death penalty.In 2019, Nahdlatul Ulama, the world's largest independent Islamic organization, issued a proclamation urging Muslims to refrain from using the word kafir to refer to non-Muslims because the term is both offensive and perceived as "theologically violent".
The noun for 'disbelief', 'blasphemy', 'impiety' rather than the person who disbelieves, is .
By extension of the basic meaning of the root, 'to cover', the term is used in the Quran in the senses of ignore/fail to acknowledge and to spurn/be ungrateful. The meaning of 'disbelief', which has come to be regarded as primary, retains all of these connotations in the Quranic usage. In the Quranic discourse, the term typifies all things that are unacceptable and offensive to God. Within the Quranic context, the term implies an active offense and often bears the connotation of "ungratefulness".Hawting, Gerald R. The idea of idolatry and the emergence of Islam: From polemic to history. Cambridge University Press, 1999. p. 49 In Surah 26:19, the Pharaoh accuses Moses of being a kafir for being ungrateful to what he has done to him when Moses was a child.Hawting, Gerald R. The idea of idolatry and the emergence of Islam: From polemic to history. Cambridge University Press, 1999. p. 49 Likewise, Iblis (Satan) does not deny the existence of God, but is called a for rejecting God.Juan Cole University of Michigan, Ann Arbor Juan Cole University of Michigan, Ann Arbor According to Al-Damiri (1341–1405) it is neither denying God, nor the act of disobedience alone, but Iblis' attitude (claiming that God's command is unjust), which makes him a .Sharpe, Elizabeth Marie into the realm of smokeless fire: (Qur'an 55:14): A critical translation of al-Damiri's article on the jinn from "Hayat al-Hayawan al-Kubra 1953 The University of Arizona download date: 15 March 2020 The most fundamental sense of in the Quran is 'ingratitude', the willful refusal to acknowledge or appreciate the benefits that God bestows on humankind, including clear signs and revealed scriptures.
According to E. J. Brill's First Encyclopaedia of Islam, 1913–1936, Volume 4, the term first applied in the Quran to unbelieving Meccans, who endeavoured "to refute and revile the Prophet". A waiting attitude towards the was recommended at first for Muslims; later, Muslims were ordered to keep apart from unbelievers and defend themselves against their attacks and even take the offensive. Most passages in the Quran referring to unbelievers in general talk about their fate on the day of judgement and destination in Jahannam.
According to scholar Marilyn Waldman, as the Quran "progresses" (as the reader goes from the verses revealed first to later ones), the meaning behind the term does not change but "progresses", i.e. "accumulates meaning over time". As the Islamic prophet Muhammad's views of his opponents change, his use of "undergoes a development". moves from being description of Muhammad's opponents to the primary one. Later in the Quran, becomes more and more connected with . Finally, towards the end of the Quran, begins to also signify the group of people to be fought by the ('believers').
Khaled Abou El Fadl argues that Quran 2:62 supports religious pluralism, implying that some non-Muslims are not kafirs: "Those who believe, Jews, Christians, Sabians—whoever believes in God and the Last Day and do good, will have their reward with their Lord and they will not fear, nor grieve." El Fadl, Khaled Abou (2005), The Great Theft: Wrestling Islam From The Extremists, Harper San Francisco, p.216-217
On the other hand, modern scholarship has suggested alternative interpretations of verse Q.. Cyril Glasse criticizes the use of (plural of ) to describe Christians as "loose usage". According to the Encyclopedia of Islam, in traditional Fiqh, are "usually regarded more leniently than other plural" and "in theory" a Muslim commits a punishable offense if they say to a Jew or a Christian: "Thou unbeliever". Charles Adams and A. Kevin Reinhart also write that "later thinkers" in Islam distinguished between ahl al-kitab and the polytheists/ mushrikīn.
Historically, People of the Book permanently residing under Islamic rule were entitled to a special status known as , while those visiting Muslim lands received a different status known as .
The Quran distinguishes between mushrikun and People of the Book, reserving the former term for idol worshipers, although some classical commentators considered Christian doctrine to be a form of shirk. Shirk is held to be the worst form of disbelief and it is identified in the Quran as the only sin that God will not pardon (, ).
Accusations of have been common in religious polemics within Islam. Thus, in the early Islamic debates on free will and theodicy, Sunni theologians charged their Mutazila adversaries with , accusing them of attributing to man creative powers comparable to those of God in both originating and executing actions. Mu'tazila theologians, in turn, charged the Sunnis with shirk because under their doctrine a voluntary human act results from an "association" between God, who creates the act, and the individual who appropriates it by carrying it out.
In classical jurisprudence, Islamic religious tolerance applied only to the People of the Book, while mushrikun, based on the Sword Verse, faced a choice between conversion to Islam and fight to the death, which may be substituted by enslavement.
In the 18th century, followers of Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab, known as Wahhabism, believed kufr or shirk was found in the Muslim community itself, especially in "the practice of popular religion":
While ibn Abd al-Wahhab and the Wahhābīs were "the best-known premodern" revivalist and "sectarian movement" of that era, other revivalists included Shah Ismail Dehlvi and Ahmed Raza Khan Barelvi, leaders of the Mujāhidīn movement on the North-West frontier of India in the early 19th century.
Nevertheless, in Islamic theology was "a frequent term for the Muslim protagonist" holding the opposite view, according to Brill's Islamic Encyclopedia.
Present-day Muslims who make interpretations that differ from what others believe are declared ; (edicts by Islamic religious leaders) are issued ordering Muslims to kill them, and some such people have been killed also.
are non-Muslims living under the protection of an [[Islamic state]]. are exempt from certain duties assigned specifically to Muslims if they paid the poll tax () but were otherwise equal under the laws of property, contract, and obligation according to some scholars,H. Patrick Glenn, ''Legal Traditions of the World''. Oxford University Press, 2007, p. 219.The French scholar Gustave Le Bon (author of ''La civilisation des Arabes'') writes "that despite the fact that the incidence of taxation fell more heavily on a Muslim than a non-Muslim, the non-Muslim was free to enjoy equally well with every Muslim all the privileges afforded to the citizens of the state. The only privilege that was reserved for the Muslims was the seat of the caliphate, and this, because of certain religious functions attached to it, which could not naturally be discharged by a non-Muslim." Mun'im Sirry (2014), ''Scriptural Polemics: The Qur'an and Other Religions'', p.179. Oxford University Press. . whereas others state that religious minorities subjected to the status of (such as [[Jews]], [[Samaritans]], [[Gnostics]], [[Mandeans]], and [[Zoroastrians]]) were inferior to the status of Muslims in Islamic states. Jews and Christians were required to pay the while pagans, depending on the different rulings of the four , might be required to accept Islam, pay the jizya, be exiled, or be killed under the Islamic death penalty.Waines (2003). "An Introduction to Islam". ''Cambridge University Press''. p. 53Winter, T. J., & Williams, J. A. (2002). ''Understanding Islam and the Muslims: The Muslim Family Islam and World Peace''. Louisville, Kentucky: Fons Vitae. p. 82. . Quote: The laws of Muslim warfare forbid any forced conversions, and regard them as invalid if they occur. Some historians believe that forced conversion was rare in Islamic history, and most conversions to Islam were voluntary. Muslim rulers were often more interested in conquest than conversion.
Upon payment of the tax (), the would receive a receipt of payment, either in the form of a piece of paper or parchment or as a seal humiliatingly placed upon their neck, and was thereafter compelled to carry this receipt wherever they went within the realms of Islam. Failure to produce an up-to-date receipt on the request of a Muslim could result in death or forced conversion to Islam of the in question.
According to the Salafi scholar Muhammad Taqi-ud-Din al-Hilali, " is basically disbelief in any of the articles of faith." He also lists several different types of major disbelief, (disbelief so severe it excludes those who practice it completely from the fold of Islam):
Minor disbelief or indicates "ungratefulness of God's Blessings or Favours".
According to another source, a paraphrase of the by Ibn Kathir, there are eight kinds of (major unbelief), some are the same as those described by Al-Hilali (, ) and some different.
However, there was extensive religious violence in India between Muslims and non-Muslims during the Delhi Sultanate and Mughal Empire (before the political decline of Islam).Holt et al., The Cambridge History of Islam – The Indian sub-continent, south-east Asia, Africa and the Muslim west, Scott Levi (2002), Hindu beyond Hindu Kush: Indians in Central Asian Slave Trade, Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society, Vol 12, Part 3, pp. 281–83 In their memoirs on Muslim invasions, enslavement and plunder of this period, many Muslim historians in South Asia used the term for Hindus, , Sikhs and .Elliot and Dowson, Tarikh-i Mubarak-Shahi, The History of India, as Told by Its Own Historians – The Muhammadan Period, Vol 4, Trubner London, p. 273Elliot and Dowson, Tabakat-i-Nasiri, The History of India, as Told by Its Own Historians – The Muhammadan Period, Vol 2, Trubner London, pp. 347–67Elliot and Dowson, Tarikh-i Mubarak-Shahi, The History of India, as Told by Its Own Historians – The Muhammadan Period, Vol 4, Trubner London, pp. 68–69 Raziuddin Aquil states that "non-Muslims were often condemned as , in medieval Indian Islamic literature, including court chronicles, Sufi texts and literary compositions" and were issued that justified persecution of the non-Muslims.Raziuddin Aquil (2008), On Islam and Kufr in the Delhi Sultanate, in Rethinking a Millennium: Perspectives on Indian History (Editor: Rajat Datta), , Chapter 7, pp. 168–85
Relations between Judaism and Muslims in the Arab world and use of the word were equally as complex, and over the last century, issues regarding have arisen over the conflict in Israel and Palestine. Calling the Jews of Israel, "the usurping ", Yasser Arafat turned on the Muslim resistance and "allegedly set a precedent for preventing Muslims from mobilizing against 'aggressor disbelievers' in other Muslim lands, and enabled 'the cowardly, alien ' to achieve new levels of intervention in Muslim affairs."
In 2019, Nahdlatul Ulama, the largest independent Islamic organization in the world, issued a proclamation urging Muslims to refrain from using the word to refer to non-Muslims, as the term is both offensive and perceived to be "theologically violent".
Shia Islam scholars likewise consider Muhammad's parents to be in Paradise.alhassanain. The Nasibis Kufr Fatwa – that the Prophet (s)'sparents were Kaafir (God forbid) Shia Pen. Chapter Four – The pure monotheistic lineage of Prophets and Imams (as) In contrast, the Salafi
website IslamQA.info, founded by the Salafi scholar Muhammad Al-Munajjid, argues that Islamic tradition teaches that Muhammad's parents were ('disbelievers') who are in Hell.
Some of the earliest records of European usage of the word can be found in The Principal Navigations, Voyages, Traffiques and Discoveries of the English Nation (1589) by Richard Hakluyt. In volume 4, Hakluyt writes: "calling them Cafars and Gawars, which is, infidels or disbelievers". Volume 9 refers to the slaves (slaves called Cafari) and inhabitants of Ethiopia ("and they use to go in small shippes, and trade with the Cafars") by two different but similar names. The word is also used in reference to the coast of Africa as "land of Cafraria". The 16th century explorer Leo Africanus described the Cafri as "", and he also stated that they constituted one of five principal population groups in Africa. He identified their geographical heartland as being located in a remote region of southern Africa, an area which he designated as Cafraria.
By the late 19th century, the word was in use in English-language newspapers and books. One of the Union-Castle Line ships operating off the South African coast was named SS . In the early 20th century, in his book The Essential , Dudley Kidd writes that the word had come to be used for all dark-skinned South African tribes. Thus, in many parts of South Africa, became synonymous with the word "native". Currently in South Africa, however, the word kaffir is regarded as a racial slur, applied pejoratively or offensively to blacks.
The song "Kafir" by the American technical death metal band Nile on its sixth album Those Whom the Gods Detest uses the violent attitudes that Muslim extremists have towards as subject matter.
The Nuristani people were formerly known as the Kaffirs of Kafiristan before the Afghanistan Islamization of the region.
The Kalash people who live in the Hindu Kush mountain range which is located south west of Chitral are referred to as by the Muslim population of Chitral.
In modern Spanish language, the word cafre]], derived from the Arabic word by way of the Portuguese language, also means 'uncouth' or 'savage'.
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