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''Kafir'' ( ar, كَافِر, kāfir; , , or ; ; or ) is an
Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic languages, Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C ...
term in
Islam Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic Monotheism#Islam, monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God in Islam, God (or ...
which refers to a person who disbelieves the
God in Islam God in Islam ( ar, ٱللَّٰه, Allāh, contraction of '' al- ’Ilāh'', lit. "the God") is seen as the eternal creator and sustainer of the universe, who will eventually resurrect all humans. In Islam, God is conceived as a perfect ...
, denies his authority, rejects the tenets of Islam, or simply is not a
Muslim Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...
—one who does not believe in the guidance of the
Islamic prophet Prophets in Islam ( ar, الأنبياء في الإسلام, translit=al-ʾAnbiyāʾ fī al-ʾIslām) are individuals in Islam who are believed to spread God in Islam, God's message on Earth and to serve as models of ideal human behaviour. So ...
Muhammad Muhammad ( ar, مُحَمَّد;  570 – 8 June 632 Common Era, CE) was an Arab religious, social, and political leader and the founder of Islam. According to Muhammad in Islam, Islamic doctrine, he was a prophet Divine inspiration, di ...
. ''Kafir'' is often translated as '
infidel An infidel (literally "unfaithful") is a person accused of disbelief in the central tenets of one's own religion, such as members of another religion, or the irreligious. Infidel is an ecclesiastical term in Christianity around which the Church ...
', '
pagan Paganism (from classical Latin ''pāgānus'' "rural", "rustic", later "civilian") is a term first used in the fourth century by early Christians for people in the Roman Empire who practiced polytheism, or ethnic religions other than Judaism. ...
', 'rejector', ' denier', 'disbeliever', 'unbeliever', 'nonbeliever', and 'non-Muslim'. The term is used in different ways in the
Quran The Quran (, ; Standard Arabic: , Classical Arabic, Quranic Arabic: , , 'the recitation'), also romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a revelation in Islam, revelation from God in Islam, ...
, with the most fundamental sense being ungrateful toward 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 ''mu'min'' ('believer'). A person who denies the existence of a creator might be called a dahri. One type of ''kafir'' is a ''
mushrik ''Shirk'' ( ar, شرك ''širk'') in Islam is the sin of idolatry or polytheism (''i.e.'', the deification or worship of anyone or anything besides Allah). Islam teaches that God does not share his divine attributes with any partner. Associating ...
'' (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 People of the Book or Ahl al-kitāb ( ar, أهل الكتاب) is an Islamic term referring to those religions which Muslims regard as having been guided by previous revelations, generally in the form of a scripture. In the Quran they are ident ...
. 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 Christian theology is the theology of Christian belief and practice. Such study concentrates primarily upon the texts of the Old Testament and of the New Testament, as well as on Christian tradition. Christian theologians use biblical exegesis, ...
to be a form of ''shirk''. In modern times, ''kafir'' is sometimes applied to self-professed Muslims, particularly by members of
Islamist movement Islamism (also often called political Islam or Islamic fundamentalism) is a political ideology which posits that modern states and regions should be reconstituted in constitutional, economic and judicial terms, in accordance with what is c ...
s. The act of declaring another self-professed Muslim a ''kafir'' is known as ''
takfir ''Takfir'' or ''takfīr'' ( ar, تكفير, takfīr) is an Arabic and Islamic term which denotes excommunication from Islam of one Muslim by another, i.e. accusing another Muslim to be an apostate. The word is found neither in the Quran nor in ...
'', a practice that has been condemned but also employed in theological and political polemics over the centuries. A ''
dhimmi ' ( ar, ذمي ', , collectively ''/'' "the people of the covenant") or () is a historical term for non-Muslims living in an Islamic state with legal protection. The word literally means "protected person", referring to the state's obligatio ...
'' or ''mu'ahid'' is a historical term for non-Muslims living in an
Islamic state An Islamic state is a State (polity), state that has a form of government based on sharia, Islamic law (sharia). As a term, it has been used to describe various historical Polity, polities and theories of governance in the Islamic world. As a t ...
with legal protection. ''Dhimmis'' were exempt from certain duties specifically assigned to Muslims if they paid the ''
jizya Jizya ( ar, جِزْيَة / ) is a per capita yearly taxation historically levied in the form of financial charge on dhimmis, that is, permanent Kafir, non-Muslim subjects of a state governed by Sharia, Islamic law. The jizya tax has been unde ...
'' 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 Hindus (; ) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism.Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pages 35–37 Historically, the term has also been used as a geographical, cultural, and later religious identifier for ...
,
Christians Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...
,
Jews Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...
,
Samaritans Samaritans (; ; he, שומרונים, translit=Šōmrōnīm, lit=; ar, السامريون, translit=as-Sāmiriyyūn) are an ethnoreligious group who originate from the ancient Israelites. They are native to the Levant and adhere to Samarit ...
,
Gnostics Gnosticism (from grc, γνωστικός, gnōstikós, , 'having knowledge') is a collection of religious ideas and systems which coalesced in the late 1st century AD among Jewish and early Christian sects. These various groups emphasized pe ...
, Mandeans, and Zoroastrians) were inferior to the status of Muslims in Islamic states. Jews and Christians were required to pay the ''jizya'' and ''
kharaj Kharāj ( ar, خراج) is a type of individual Islamic tax on agricultural land and its produce, developed under Islamic law. With the first Muslim conquests in the 7th century, the ''kharaj'' initially denoted a lump-sum duty levied upon the ...
'' taxes, while others, depending on the different rulings of the schools of Islamic jurisprudence, might be required to convert to Islam, pay the ''jizya'', exiled, or subject to the
death penalty Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty, is the state-sanctioned practice of deliberately killing a person as a punishment for an actual or supposed crime, usually following an authorized, rule-governed process to conclude that t ...
. In 2019,
Nahdlatul Ulama Nahdlatul Ulama (, , NU) is an Islam in Indonesia, Islamic organization in Indonesia. Its membership estimates range from 40 million (2013) to over 95 million (2021), making it the largest Islamic organization in the world. NU also is a charitab ...
, 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".


Etymology

The word is the active participle of the verb ar, كَفَرَ, kafara, label=none, from
root In vascular plants, the roots are the organs of a plant that are modified to provide anchorage for the plant and take in water and nutrients into the plant body, which allows plants to grow taller and faster. They are most often below the sur ...
K-F-R : ''The article contains bi-directional text.'' K-P-R is a Semitic root, in Arabic and Hebrew rendered as ''K-F-R'' ( ar, ك-ف-ر; he, כ-פ-ר). The basic meaning of the root is "to cover", but it is used in the sense "to conceal" and hence ...
. As a pre-Islamic term it described farmers burying seeds in the ground. One of its applications in the Quran has also the same meaning as farmer. Since farmers cover the seeds with soil while planting, the word implies a person who hides or covers. Ideologically, it implies a person who hides or covers the truth. Arabic poets personify the darkness of night as , perhaps as a survival of pre-Islamic Arabian religious or mythological usage. The noun for 'disbelief', 'blasphemy', 'impiety' rather than the person who disbelieves, is .


In the Quran

The distinction between those who believe in Islam and those who do not is an essential one in the
Quran The Quran (, ; Standard Arabic: , Classical Arabic, Quranic Arabic: , , 'the recitation'), also romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a revelation in Islam, revelation from God in Islam, ...
. , and its plural , is used directly 134 times in Quran, its verbal noun is used 37 times, and the verbal cognates of are used about 250 times. 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. Whereby it is not necessary to deny the existence of God, but it suffices to deviate from his will as seen in a dialogue between God and
Iblis Iblis ( ar, إِبْلِيس, translit=Iblīs), alternatively known as Eblīs, is the leader of the devils () in Islam. According to the Quran, Iblis was thrown out of heaven, after he refused to prostrate himself before Adam. Regarding the o ...
, the latter called a . According to
Al-Damiri Al-Damiri (1341–1405), the common name of Kamal al-Din Muhammad ibn Musa al-Damiri ( ar, كمال الدين محمد بن موسى الدميري), was an Arab Muslim writer from Egypt on canon law and natural history. He wrote the first work ...
(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 . 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 the ''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 The Last Judgment, Final Judgment, Day of Reckoning, Day of Judgment, Judgment Day, Doomsday, Day of Resurrection or The Day of the Lord (; ar, یوم القيامة, translit=Yawm al-Qiyāmah or ar, یوم الدین, translit=Yawm ad-Dīn, ...
and destination in
hell In religion and folklore, hell is a location in the afterlife in which evil souls are subjected to punitive suffering, most often through torture, as eternal punishment after death. Religions with a linear divine history often depict hell ...
. 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 The Quran (, ; Standard Arabic: , Classical Arabic, Quranic Arabic: , , 'the recitation'), also romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a revelation in Islam, revelation from God in Islam, ...
, begins to also signify the group of people to be fought by the ('believers').
Khaled Abou El Fadl Khaled Abou el Fadl ( ar, خالد أبو الفضل, ) (born October 23, 1963) is the Omar and Azmeralda Alfi Distinguished Professor of Law at the UCLA School of Law where he has taught courses on International Human Rights, Islamic jurisprude ...
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."


Types of unbelievers


People of the Book

Charles Adams writes that the Quran reproaches the People of the Book with for rejecting Muhammad's message when they should have been the first to accept it as possessors of earlier revelations, and singles out Christians for disregarding the evidence of God's unity. The Quranic verse ("Certainly they disbelieve [] who say: God is the third of three"), among other verses, has been traditionally understood in Islam as Islamic view of the Trinity, rejection of the Christian doctrine on the Trinity, though modern scholarship has suggested alternative interpretations. Other Quranic verses strongly deny the deity of Jesus Christ, son of Mary and reproach the people who treat Jesus as equal with God as disbelievers who will have strayed from the path of God which would result in the entrance of hellfire. While the Quran does not recognize the attribute of Jesus as the Son of God or God himself, it respects Jesus as a prophet and messenger of God sent to children of Israel. Some Muslim thinkers such as
Mohamed Talbi Mohamed Talbi ( ar, محمد الطالبي), (16 September 1921 – 1 May 2017) was a Tunisian historian and professor. He was the author of many books about Islam. Biography Professor Emeritus at University of Tunis, Mohamed Talbi was a Tunisi ...
have viewed the most extreme Quranic presentations of the dogmas of the Trinity and divinity of Jesus (, , ) as non-Christian formulas that were rejected by the Church. 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 The ''Encyclopaedia of Islam'' (''EI'') is an encyclopaedia of the academic discipline of Islamic studies published by Brill. It is considered to be the standard reference work in the field of Islamic studies. The first edition was published in ...
'', in traditional
Islamic jurisprudence ''Fiqh'' (; ar, فقه ) is Islamic jurisprudence. Muhammad-> Companions-> Followers-> Fiqh. The commands and prohibitions chosen by God were revealed through the agency of the Prophet in both the Quran and the Sunnah (words, deeds, and e ...
, are "usually regarded more leniently than other lural of 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 Mushrikun

The mushrikun are those who believe in shirk 'association', which refers to accepting other gods and divinities alongside
God In monotheism, monotheistic thought, God is usually viewed as the supreme being, creator deity, creator, and principal object of Faith#Religious views, faith.Richard Swinburne, Swinburne, R.G. "God" in Ted Honderich, Honderich, Ted. (ed)''The Ox ...
. The term is often translated as
polytheist Polytheism is the belief in multiple deities, which are usually assembled into a pantheon of gods and goddesses, along with their own religious sects and rituals. Polytheism is a type of theism. Within theism, it contrasts with monotheism, the b ...
. 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 Theodicy () means vindication of God. It is to answer the question of why a good God permits the manifestation of evil, thus resolving the issue of the problem of evil. Some theodicies also address the problem of evil "to make the existence of ...
, Sunni theologians charged their
Mutazila Muʿtazila ( ar, المعتزلة ', English: "Those Who Withdraw, or Stand Apart", and who called themselves ''Ahl al-ʿAdl wa al-Tawḥīd'', English: "Party of ivineJustice and Oneness f God); was an Islamic group that appeared in early Islamic ...
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 Religious toleration may signify "no more than forbearance and the permission given by the adherents of a dominant religion for other religions to exist, even though the latter are looked on with disapproval as inferior, mistaken, or harmful". ...
applied only to the People of the Book, while mushrikun, based on the
Sword Verse #REDIRECT Sword Verse This verse does not apply to all the situation. Islam considers all people are equal irrespective of their creed, color, gender, language or religion etc. Discrimination among people is never permitted in Islam. This verse ...
, faced a choice between conversion to Islam and fight to the death, which may be substituted by enslavement. In practice, the designation of People of the Book and the dhimmī status was extended even to non-monotheistic religions of conquered peoples, such as Hinduism. Following destruction of major Hindu temples during the Muslim conquests in South Asia, Hindus and Muslims on the subcontinent came to share a number of popular religious practices and beliefs, such as veneration of
Sufi saints Sufi saints or Wali ( ar, ولي, plural ʾawliyāʾ أولياء) played an instrumental role in spreading Islam throughout the world. In the traditional Islamic view, a saint is portrayed as someone "marked by pecialdivine favor ... ndholi ...
and worship at Sufi
dargah A dargah ( fa, درگاه ''dargâh'' or ''dargah'', Turkish: ''dergâh'', Hindustani: ''dargah'' दरगाह درگاہ, bn, দরগাহ ''dorgah'') is a shrine or tomb built over the grave of a revered religious figure, often ...
s, although Hindus may worship at Hindu shrines also. In the 18th century, followers of
Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab ; "The Book of Monotheism") , influences = , influenced = , children = , module = , title = Imam, Shaykh , movement = Muwahhidun (Wahhabi) , native_name = محمد بن ...
, known as
Wahhabis Wahhabism ( ar, ٱلْوَهَّابِيَةُ, translit=al-Wahhābiyyah) is a Sunni Islamic Islamic revival, revivalist and Islamic fundamentalism, fundamentalist movement associated with the reformist doctrines of the 18th-century Arabians, ...
, 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 Shah Ismail Dehlvi (26 April, 1779 – 6 May, 1831) was an Indian Islamic scholar and Salafi-oriented Sufi reformer. He was an active member in the jihad proclaimed by Sayyid Ahmad of Raebareilly with the support of Pashtun tribes against ...
and
Ahmed Raza Khan Barelvi Ahmed Raza Khan, commonly known as Aala Hazrat, Ahmed Raza Khan Barelvi, or Ahmed Rida Khan in Arabic, (14 June 1856 CE or 10 Shawwal 1272 AH – 28 October 1921 CE or 25 Safar 1340 AH), was an Islamic scholar, jurist, mufti, philosopher, ...
, leaders of the Mujāhidīn movement on the North-West frontier of India in the early 19th century.


Sinners

Whether a Muslim could commit a sin great enough to become a was disputed by jurists in the early centuries of Islam. The most tolerant view (that of the ) was that even those who had committed a major sin () were still believers and "their fate was left to God". The most strict view (that of Kharidji Ibadis, descended from the
Kharijites The Kharijites (, singular ), also called al-Shurat (), were an Islamic sect which emerged during the First Fitna (656–661). The first Kharijites were supporters of Ali who rebelled against his acceptance of arbitration talks to settle the ...
) was that every Muslim who dies having not repented of their sins was considered a . In between these two positions, the believed that there was a status between believer and unbeliever called "rejected" or .


The
Kharijites The Kharijites (, singular ), also called al-Shurat (), were an Islamic sect which emerged during the First Fitna (656–661). The first Kharijites were supporters of Ali who rebelled against his acceptance of arbitration talks to settle the ...
' view that the self-proclaimed Muslim who had sinned and "failed to repent had ipso facto excluded himself from the community, and was hence a " (a practice known as ) was considered so extreme by the
Sunni Sunni Islam () is the largest branch of Islam, followed by 85–90% of the world's Muslims. Its name comes from the word '' Sunnah'', referring to the tradition of Muhammad. The differences between Sunni and Shia Muslims arose from a disagr ...
majority that they in turn declared the
Kharijites The Kharijites (, singular ), also called al-Shurat (), were an Islamic sect which emerged during the First Fitna (656–661). The first Kharijites were supporters of Ali who rebelled against his acceptance of arbitration talks to settle the ...
to be , following the hadith that declared, "If a Muslim charges a fellow Muslim with , he is himself a if the accusation should prove untrue". Nevertheless, in Islamic theological polemics 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.


Another group that are "distinguished from the mass of " are the , or apostate ex-Muslims, who are considered renegades and traitors. Their traditional punishment is death, even, according to some scholars, if they recant their abandonment of Islam.


/

are non-Muslims living under the protection of an
Islamic state An Islamic state is a State (polity), state that has a form of government based on sharia, Islamic law (sharia). As a term, it has been used to describe various historical Polity, polities and theories of governance in the Islamic world. As a t ...
. 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 Oxford University Press (OUP) is the university press of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world, and its printing history dates back to the 1480s. Having been officially granted the legal right to print books ...
, 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 Oxford University Press (OUP) is the university press of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world, and its printing history dates back to the 1480s. Having been officially granted the legal right to print books ...
. .
whereas others state that religious minorities subjected to the status of (such as
Jews Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...
,
Samaritans Samaritans (; ; he, שומרונים, translit=Šōmrōnīm, lit=; ar, السامريون, translit=as-Sāmiriyyūn) are an ethnoreligious group who originate from the ancient Israelites. They are native to the Levant and adhere to Samarit ...
,
Gnostics Gnosticism (from grc, γνωστικός, gnōstikós, , 'having knowledge') is a collection of religious ideas and systems which coalesced in the late 1st century AD among Jewish and early Christian sects. These various groups emphasized pe ...
, 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.


Types of disbelief

Various types of unbelief recognized by legal scholars include: * (verbally expressed unbelief) * (unbelief expressed through action) * (unbelief of convictions) * (major unbelief) * (minor unbelief) * (general charge of unbelief, i.e. charged against a community like ahmadiyya * (charge of unbelief against a particular individual) * (charge of unbelief against "rank and file Muslims" for example following taqlid. * (category covers general statements such as 'whoever says X or does Y is guilty of unbelief') * (original unbelief of non-Muslims, those born to non-Muslim family) * (acquired unbelief of formerly observant Muslims, i.e. apostates)


Iman

Muslim belief/doctrine is often summarized in " the Six Articles of Faith", (the first five are mentioned together in the ). #
God In monotheism, monotheistic thought, God is usually viewed as the supreme being, creator deity, creator, and principal object of Faith#Religious views, faith.Richard Swinburne, Swinburne, R.G. "God" in Ted Honderich, Honderich, Ted. (ed)''The Ox ...
# His
angels In various theistic religious traditions an angel is a supernatural spiritual being who serves God. Abrahamic religions often depict angels as benevolent celestial intermediaries between God (or Heaven) and humanity. Other roles include ...
# His Messengers # His Revealed Books, # The
Day of Resurrection In Islam, "the promise and threat" () of Judgment Day ( ar, یوم القيامة, Yawm al-qiyāmah, Day of Resurrection or ar, یوم الدین, italic=no, Yawm ad-din, Day of Judgement), when "all bodies will be resurrected" from the dead, ...
# , Divine Preordainments, i.e. whatever God has ordained must come to pass According to the
Salafi The Salafi movement or Salafism () is a reform branch movement within Sunni Islam that originated during the nineteenth century. The name refers to advocacy of a return to the traditions of the "pious predecessors" (), the first three generat ...
scholar
Muhammad Taqi-ud-Din al-Hilali Muhammad Taqi-ud-Din bin Abdil-Qadir Al-Hilali (; 1893–1987) was a 20th-century Moroccan Salafi,Henri Lauzière, M.A., The Evolution of the Salafiyya in the Twentieth Century through the life and thought of Taqi al-Din al-Hilali, iii most notab ...
, " 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): # : disbelief in divine truth or the denial of any of the articles of Faith (Quran 39:32) # : refusing to submit to God's Commandments after conviction of their truth (Quran 2:34) # : doubting or lacking conviction in the six articles of Faith. (Quran 18:35–38) # : turning away from the truth knowingly or deviating from the obvious signs which God has revealed. (Quran 46:3) # : hypocritical disbelief (Quran 63:2–3) Minor disbelief or indicates "ungratefulness of God's Blessings or Favours". According to another source, a paraphrase of the by
Ibn Kathir Abū al-Fiḍā’ ‘Imād ad-Dīn Ismā‘īl ibn ‘Umar ibn Kathīr al-Qurashī al-Damishqī (Arabic: إسماعيل بن عمر بن كثير القرشي الدمشقي أبو الفداء عماد; – 1373), known as Ibn Kathīr (, was ...
, there are eight kinds of (major unbelief), some are the same as those described by Al-Hilali (, ) and some different. # : Disbelief out of stubbornness. This applies to someone who knows the Truth and admits to knowing the Truth, and knowing it with their tongue, but refuses to accept it and refrains from making a declaration. # : Disbelief out of denial. This applies to someone who denies with both heart and tongue. # : Disbelief out of rejection. This applies to someone who acknowledges the truth in their heart, but rejects it with their tongue. This type of is applicable to those who call themselves Muslims but who reject any necessary and accepted norms of
Islam Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic Monotheism#Islam, monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God in Islam, God (or ...
such as and . # : Disbelief out of hypocrisy. This applies to someone who pretends to be a believer but conceals their disbelief. Such a person is called a or hypocrite. # : Disbelief out of detesting any of God's commands. # : Disbelief due to mockery and derision. # : Disbelief due to avoidance. This applies to those who turn away and avoid the truth. # : Disbelief because of trying to substitute God's Laws with man-made laws.


Ignorance

In Islam, ('ignorance') refers to the time of Arabia before Islam.


History of the usage of the term


Usage in the earliest sense

When the Islamic empire expanded, the word was broadly used as a descriptive term for all
pagan Paganism (from classical Latin ''pāgānus'' "rural", "rustic", later "civilian") is a term first used in the fourth century by early Christians for people in the Roman Empire who practiced polytheism, or ethnic religions other than Judaism. ...
s and anyone else who disbelieved in Islam. Historically, the attitude toward unbelievers in Islam was determined more by socio-political conditions than by religious doctrine. A tolerance toward unbelievers "impossible to imagine in contemporary Christendom" prevailed even to the time of the
Crusades The Crusades were a series of religious wars initiated, supported, and sometimes directed by the Latin Church in the medieval period. The best known of these Crusades are those to the Holy Land in the period between 1095 and 1291 that were in ...
, particularly with respect to the People of the Book. However, due to animosity towards
Franks The Franks ( la, Franci or ) were a group of Germanic peoples whose name was first mentioned in 3rd-century Roman sources, and associated with tribes between the Lower Rhine and the Ems River, on the edge of the Roman Empire.H. Schutz: Tools, ...
, the term developed into a term of abuse. During the
Mahdist War The Mahdist War ( ar, الثورة المهدية, ath-Thawra al-Mahdiyya; 1881–1899) was a war between the Mahdist Sudanese of the religious leader Muhammad Ahmad bin Abd Allah, who had proclaimed himself the "Mahdi" of Islam (the "Guided On ...
, the
Mahdist State The Mahdist State, also known as Mahdist Sudan or the Sudanese Mahdiyya, was a state based on a religious and political movement launched in 1881 by Muhammad Ahmad bin Abdullah (later Muhammad al-Mahdi) against the Khedivate of Egypt, which had ...
used the term against Ottoman Turks, and the Turks themselves used the term towards Persians during the Ottoman-Safavid wars. In modern Muslim popular imagination, the (
Antichrist In Christian eschatology, the Antichrist refers to people prophesied by the Bible to oppose Jesus Christ and substitute themselves in Christ's place before the Second Coming. The term Antichrist (including one plural form) 1 John ; . 2 John . ...
-like figure) will have k-f-r written on his forehead. However, there was extensive
religious violence in India Religious violence in India includes acts of violence by followers of one religious group against followers and institutions of another religious group, often in the form of rioting. Religious violence in India has generally involved Hindus and ...
between Muslims and non-Muslims during the
Delhi Sultanate The Delhi Sultanate was an Islamic empire based in Delhi that stretched over large parts of the Indian subcontinent for 320 years (1206–1526).
and
Mughal Empire The Mughal Empire was an early-modern empire that controlled much of South Asia between the 16th and 19th centuries. Quote: "Although the first two Timurid emperors and many of their noblemen were recent migrants to the subcontinent, the d ...
(before the political decline of Islam). In their memoirs on Muslim invasions, enslavement and plunder of this period, many Muslim historians in South Asia used the term for
Hindus Hindus (; ) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism.Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pages 35–37 Historically, the term has also been used as a geographical, cultural, and later religious identifier for ...
,
Buddhist Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and ...
s,
Sikhs Sikhs ( or ; pa, ਸਿੱਖ, ' ) are people who adhere to Sikhism (Sikhi), a monotheistic religion that originated in the late 15th century in the Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent, based on the revelation of Guru Nanak. The term ...
and
Jain Jainism ( ), also known as Jain Dharma, is an Indian religion. Jainism traces its spiritual ideas and history through the succession of twenty-four tirthankaras (supreme preachers of ''Dharma''), with the first in the current time cycle being ...
s.Elliot and Dowson
Tarikh-i Mubarak-Shahi
The History of India, as Told by Its Own Historians ''The History of India, as Told by Its Own Historians'' is a book comprising translations of medieval Persian chronicles based on the work of Henry Miers Elliot. It was originally published as a set of eight volumes between 1867-1877 in London. T ...
– The Muhammadan Period, Vol 4, Trubner London, p. 273
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. Relations between
Jews Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...
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 Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...
and
Palestine __NOTOC__ Palestine may refer to: * State of Palestine, a state in Western Asia * Palestine (region), a geographic region in Western Asia * Palestinian territories, territories occupied by Israel since 1967, namely the West Bank (including East ...
. Calling the Jews of Israel, "the usurping ",
Yasser Arafat Mohammed Abdel Rahman Abdel Raouf al-Qudwa al-Husseini (4 / 24 August 1929 – 11 November 2004), popularly known as Yasser Arafat ( , ; ar, محمد ياسر عبد الرحمن عبد الرؤوف عرفات القدوة الحسيني, Mu ...
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 Nahdlatul Ulama (, , NU) is an Islam in Indonesia, Islamic organization in Indonesia. Its membership estimates range from 40 million (2013) to over 95 million (2021), making it the largest Islamic organization in the world. NU also is a charitab ...
, 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".


Muhammad's parents

According to Islamic sources, none of forefathers of Islamic prophet Muhammad were . According to Ibn Hajar, the Quran clearly declared that the people of the time of were among the Muslims.Ibn Hajar, ''Al-Minah al-Makkiyyah'', p. 151. Ibn Hajar is of opinion that none of the Islamic prophet Muhammad's parents who were non-prophets were (disbelievers) and the whole of the hadiths on this subject (although some hadiths seem to contradict it) mean that. Ibn Hajar says about Islamic Prophet Muhammad saying his is in the Hell, that the in the hadith refers to the paternal uncle and that Arabs widely use to refer to (paternal uncle).
Shia Muslim Shīʿa Islam or Shīʿīsm is the second-largest branch of Islam. It holds that the Islamic prophet Muhammad designated ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib as his successor (''khalīfa'') and the Imam (spiritual and political leader) after him, most ...
scholars likewise consider Muhammad's parents to be in Paradise. In contrast, the
Salafi The Salafi movement or Salafism () is a reform branch movement within Sunni Islam that originated during the nineteenth century. The name refers to advocacy of a return to the traditions of the "pious predecessors" (), the first three generat ...
website
IslamQA.info Islam Q&A is an Islamic da‘wah website that offers answers to questions about Islam based on the interpretations of the Qur'an and Sunnah (including hadith) literature by its founder and its superviser Muhammad Al-Munajjid, an adherent of t ...
, founded by the
Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in Western Asia. It covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and has a land area of about , making it the fifth-largest country in Asia, the second-largest in the A ...
n Salafi scholar
Muhammad Al-Munajjid Muhammad Saalih Al-Munajjid (محمد صالح المنجد) (born June 7, 1960/30 Dhul hijjah,1380) is a Syrian-born Palestinian- Saudi Islamic scholar. He is the founder of the fatwa website IslamQA, a popular website for Saudi Arabian Salafi r ...
, argues that Islamic tradition teaches that Muhammad's parents were ('disbelievers') who are in Hell.


Other uses

By the 15th century, Muslims in Africa were using the word in reference to the non-Muslim African natives. Many of those were enslaved and sold to European and Asian merchants by their Muslim captors, most of the merchants were from
Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...
, which had established trading outposts along the coast of West Africa by that time. These European traders adopted the Arabic word and its derivatives. 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 Richard Hakluyt (; 1553 – 23 November 1616) was an English writer. He is known for promoting the English colonization of North America through his works, notably ''Divers Voyages Touching the Discoverie of America'' (1582) and ''The Pri ...
. 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 Joannes Leo Africanus (born al-Hasan Muhammad al-Wazzan, ar, الحسن محمد الوزان ; c. 1494 – c. 1554) was an Andalusian diplomat and author who is best known for his 1526 book '' Cosmographia et geographia de Affrica'', later ...
described the ''Cafri'' as "
negro In the English language, ''negro'' is a term historically used to denote persons considered to be of Black African heritage. The word ''negro'' means the color black in both Spanish and in Portuguese, where English took it from. The term can be ...
es", 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 The Union-Castle Line was a British shipping line that operated a fleet of passenger liners and cargo ships between Europe and Africa from 1900 to 1977. It was formed from the merger of the Union Line and Castle Shipping Line. It merged with ...
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 South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...
, 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 The Nile, , Bohairic , lg, Kiira , Nobiin language, Nobiin: Áman Dawū is a major north-flowing river in northeastern Africa. It flows into the Mediterranean Sea. The Nile is the longest river in Africa and has historically been considered ...
on its sixth album ''
Those Whom the Gods Detest ''Those Whom the Gods Detest'' is the sixth studio album by American technical death metal band Nile. The album was released on November 3, 2009, in North America, and on November 6, 2009, in Europe through Nuclear Blast. It was produced and mixed ...
'' uses the violent attitudes that
Muslim extremists Islamic extremism, Islamist extremism, or radical Islam, is used in reference to extremist beliefs and behaviors which are associated with the Islamic religion. These are controversial terms with varying definitions, ranging from academic und ...
have towards as subject matter. The
Nuristani people The Nuristanis, formerly known as Kafiristanis, are an ethnic group native to the Nuristan Province of northeastern Afghanistan and Chitral District of northwestern Pakistan. Their languages comprise the Nuristani branch of Indo-Iranian langua ...
were formerly known as the Kaffirs of
Kafiristan Kāfiristān, or Kāfirstān ( ps, کاپیرستان, prs, کافرستان), is a historical region that covered present-day Nuristan Province in Afghanistan and Chitral District of Pakistan. This historic region lies on, and mainly comprises ...
before the
Afghan Afghan may refer to: *Something of or related to Afghanistan, a country in Southern-Central Asia *Afghans, people or citizens of Afghanistan, typically of any ethnicity ** Afghan (ethnonym), the historic term applied strictly to people of the Pas ...
Islamization Islamization, Islamicization, or Islamification ( ar, أسلمة, translit=aslamāh), refers to the process through which a society shifts towards the religion of Islam and becomes largely Muslim. Societal Islamization has historically occur ...
of the region. The
Kalash people The Kalasha (Kalasha: کالؕاشؕا, romanised: ''Kaḷaṣa)'', or Kalash, are an Indo-Aryan indigenous people residing in the Chitral District of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan. The Kalash population in Pakistan numbers only in ...
who live in the Hindu Kush mountain range which is located south west of
Chitral Chitral ( khw, , lit=field, translit=ćhitrār; ur, , translit=ćitrāl) is situated on the Chitral River in northern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. It serves as the capital of the Chitral District and before that as the capital of Chitral ...
are referred to as by the Muslim population of Chitral. In modern
Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Cana ...
, the word , derived from the Arabic word by way of the
Portuguese language Portuguese ( or, in full, ) is a western Romance language of the Indo-European language family, originating in the Iberian Peninsula of Europe. It is an official language of Portugal, Brazil, Cape Verde, Angola, Mozambique, Guinea-Bissau and ...
, also means 'uncouth' or 'savage'.


See also


References


Notes


Citations


External links


Nonbelief: An Islamic Perspective



Takfir – Anathematizing

Universal Validity of Religions and the Issue of Takfir




{{Authority control Ethno-cultural designations Islam and other religions Islam-related slurs Islamic belief and doctrine Islamic terminology Sin in Islam