Kafir ( ar,
كافر
Kafir ( ar, wikt:كافر, كافر '; plural ', ' or '; feminine '; feminine plural ' or ') is an Arabic language, Arabic and Glossary of Islam, Islamic term which, in the Islamic tradition, refers to a person who disbelieves in God ...
'; plural ', ' or '; feminine '; feminine plural ' 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 ...
and
Islamic term
The following list consists of notable concepts that are derived from Islamic and associated cultural (Arab, Persian, Turkish) traditions, which are expressed as words in Arabic or Persian language. The main purpose of this list is to disambig ...
which, in the Islamic tradition, refers to a person who disbelieves in
God as per Islam, or denies his authority, or rejects the tenets 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 ...
.
The term 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 "unbelief" or "non-belief", "to be thankless", "to be faithless", or "ingratitude". The opposite term of ''kufr'' is '' īmān'' (faith), and the opposite of ''kāfir'' is '' muʾmin'' (believer). A person who denies the existence of a creator might be called a '' dahri''.
''Kafir'' is sometimes used interchangeably with ''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 ...
'' (, those who practice polytheism
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 ...
), another type of religious wrongdoer mentioned frequently 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 other Islamic works. (Other, sometimes overlapping Quranic terms for wrong doers are ''ẓallām'' (villain, oppressor) and ''fāsiq'' (sinner, fornicator).) Historically, while Islamic scholars agreed that a polytheist/''mushrik'' is a ''kafir'', they sometimes disagreed on the propriety of applying the term to Muslims who committed a grave sin or to 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 ''mushrikun
''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. Associati ...
'' 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 towards self-professed Muslims particularly by members of Islamist movements. 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 ''Dhimmī
' ( 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 ''Muʿāhid'' 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. ''Dhimmī'' were exempt from certain duties assigned specifically to Muslims if they paid the poll tax (''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 ...
'') but were otherwise equal under the laws of property, contract, and obligation according to some scholars, whereas others state that religious minorities subjected to the status of ''Dhimmī'' (such as 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
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 ...
'' and '' kharaj'' taxes, while others, depending on the different rulings of the four ''madhhab
A ( ar, مذهب ', , "way to act". pl. مَذَاهِب , ) is a school of thought within ''fiqh'' (Islamic jurisprudence).
The major Sunni Mathhab are Hanafi, Maliki, Shafi'i and Hanbali.
They emerged in the ninth and tenth centuries CE an ...
'', might be required to convert to Islam, pay the ''jizya'', be exiled, or killed under the Islamic death penalty.[
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 based in Indonesia, 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 كَفَرَ kafara, 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 ...
ك-ف-ر 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 ''kâfir'', 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 ''kufr''.
Usage
The practice of declaring another Muslim as a ''kafir'' is ''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 ...
''. ''Kufr'' (unbelief) and ''shirk'' (idolatry) are used throughout the Quran and sometimes used interchangeably by Muslims. According to Salafist
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 generati ...
scholars, ''Kufr'' is the "denial of the Truth" (truth in the form of articles of faith in Islam), and ''shirk'' means devoting "acts of worship to anything beside God"[ or "the worship of idols and other created beings". So a mushrik may worship other things while also "acknowledging God".
]
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, ...
. ''Kafir'', and its plural ''kuffaar'', is used directly 134 times in Quran, its verbal noun "''kufr''" is used 37 times, and the verbal cognates of ''kafir'' 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 ''kafir''. 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 ''kafir''. The most fundamental sense of ''kufr'' 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 ''kafir'' 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 ''kafir'' 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 ''kafir'' "undergoes a development". ''Kafir'' moves from being ''one'' description of Muhammad's opponents to the primary one. Later in the Quran, ''kafir'' becomes more and more connected with '' shirk''. 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, ...
, ''kafir'' begins to also signify the group of people to be fought by the ''mu'minīn'' (believers).
Types of unbelievers
People of the Book
The status of the ''Ahl al-Kitab
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 ...
'' (People of the Book), particularly Jews and Christians, with respect to the Islamic notions of unbelief is disputed.
Charles Adams writes that the Quran reproaches the People of the Book with ''kufr'' 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 'kafara''who say: God is the third of three"), among other verses, has been traditionally understood in Islam as 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 ''kafirun'' l. of ''kafir''
Carl Linnaeus (; 23 May 1707 – 10 January 1778), also known after his Nobility#Ennoblement, ennoblement in 1761 as Carl von Linné#Blunt, Blunt (2004), p. 171. (), was a Swedish botanist, zoologist, taxonomist, and physician who formalise ...
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 ...
, ''ahl al-kitab'' are "usually regarded more leniently than other ''kuffar'' l. of ''kafir''
Carl Linnaeus (; 23 May 1707 – 10 January 1778), also known after his Nobility#Ennoblement, ennoblement in 1761 as Carl von Linné#Blunt, Blunt (2004), p. 171. (), was a Swedish botanist, zoologist, taxonomist, and physician who formalise ...
and "in theory" a Muslim commits a punishable offense if he says 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 ''dhimmī
' ( 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 ...
'', while those visiting Muslim lands received a different status known as ''musta'min
Mustaʾmīn or Musta'man ( ar, مستأمن) is a historical Islamic term for a non-Muslim foreigner temporarily residing in Muslim lands with and ''aman'' or guarantee of short-term safe-conduct ('' aman mu'aqqat'') affording the protected status ...
''.
''Mushrikun''
''Mushrikun
''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. Associati ...
'' (pl. of ''mushrik'') are those who practice '' shirk'', which literally means "association" and refers to accepting other gods and divinities alongside the god of the Muslims – Allah (as God's "associates"). The term is often translated as polytheism.[ 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 ''shirk'' 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 Mu'tazila
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 ''shirk'', accusing them of attributing to man creative powers comparable to those of God in both originating and executing his own actions.[ Mu'tazila theologians, in turn, charged the Sunnis with ''shirk'' on the grounds that under their doctrine a voluntary human act would result 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 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 ...
(aka 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 Wahhābīs was/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 nineteenth century.
Sinners
Whether a Muslim could commit a sin great enough to become a ''kafir'' was disputed by jurists in the early centuries of Islam. The most tolerant view (that of the ''Murji'ah
Murji'ah ( ar, المرجئة, English: "Those Who Postpone"), also known as Murji'as or Murji'ites, were an early Islamic sect. Murji'ah held the opinion that God alone has the right to judge whether or not a Muslim has become an apostate. Conseq ...
'') was that even those who had committed a major sin (''kabira'') 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 his sins was considered a ''kafir''. In between these two positions, the ''Mu'tazila'' believed that there was a status between believer and unbeliever called "rejected" or ''fasiq
Fasiq ( ''fāsiq'') is an Arabic term referring to someone who violates Islamic law. As a fasiq is considered unreliable, his testimony is not accepted in Islamic courts. The terms ''fasiq'' and ''fisq'' are sometime rendered as "impious", "ve ...
''.[
]
''Takfir''
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 kafir" (a practice 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 ...
'') 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 ''kuffar'', following the hadith that declared, "If a Muslim charges a fellow Muslim with ''kufr'', he is himself a ''kafir'' if the accusation should prove untrue".[
Nevertheless, in Islamic theological polemics ''kafir'' 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 ''kafirs''; ''fatwa
A fatwā ( ; ar, فتوى; plural ''fatāwā'' ) is a legal ruling on a point of Islamic law (''sharia'') given by a qualified '' Faqih'' (Islamic jurist) in response to a question posed by a private individual, judge or government. A jurist i ...
s'' (edicts by Islamic religious leaders) are issued ordering Muslims to kill them, and some such people have been killed also.
''Murtad''
Another group that are "distinguished from the mass of kafirun"[ are the '']murtad
Apostasy in Islam ( ar, ردة, or , ) is commonly defined as the abandonment of Islam by a Muslim, in thought, word, or through deed. An apostate from Islam is referred to by using the Arabic and Islamic term ''murtād'' (). It includes no ...
'', 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.]
''Muʿāhid'' / ''Dhimmī''
''Dhimmī
' ( 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 ...
'' 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 ...
. ''Dhimmī'' were exempt from certain duties assigned specifically to Muslims if they paid the poll tax (''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 ...
'') 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 (the 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 ''Dhimmī'' (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 ''jizyah'' while pagans, depending on the different rulings of the four ''madhhab
A ( ar, مذهب ', , "way to act". pl. مَذَاهِب , ) is a school of thought within ''fiqh'' (Islamic jurisprudence).
The major Sunni Mathhab are Hanafi, Maliki, Shafi'i and Hanbali.
They emerged in the ninth and tenth centuries CE an ...
'', 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. 53][Winter, 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 (''jizya''), the ''dhimmī'' 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 he went within the realms of Islam. Failure to produce an up-to-date ''jizya'' receipt on the request of a Muslim could result in death or forced conversion to Islam of the ''dhimmī'' in question.
Types of disbelief
Various types of unbelief recognized by legal scholars include:
*''kufr bi-l-qawl'' (verbally expressed unbelief)
*''kufr bi-l-fi'l'' (unbelief expressed through action)
*''kufr bi-l-i'tiqad'' (unbelief of convictions)
*''kufr akbar'' (major unbelief)
*''kufr asghar'' (minor unbelief)
*''takfir 'amm ''(general charge of unbelief, i.e. charged against a community like ahmadiyya
*''takfir al-mu'ayyan'' (charge of unbelief against a particular individual)
*''takfir al-'awamm'' (charge of unbelief against "rank and file Muslims" for example following taqlid.
*''takfir al-mutlaq'' (category covers general statements such as 'whoever says X or does Y is guilty of unbelief')
* ''kufr asli'' (original unbelief of non-Muslims, those born to non-Muslim family)
*''kufr tari'' (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, ...
[
# '' Al-Qadar'', 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 ...
, "''kufr'' 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):
# ''Kufr-at-Takdhib'': disbelief in divine truth or the denial of any of the articles of Faith (quran 39:32)[
# ''Kufr-al-iba wat-takabbur ma'at-Tasdiq'': refusing to submit to God's Commandments after conviction of their truth (quran 2:34)][
# ''Kufr-ash-Shakk waz-Zann'': doubting or lacking conviction in the six articles of Faith. (quran 18:35–38)][
# ''Kufr-al-I'raadh'': turning away from the truth knowingly or deviating from the obvious signs which God has revealed. (quran 46:3)][
# '' Kufr-an-Nifaaq'': hypocritical disbelief (quran 63:2–3)]
Minor disbelief or ''Kufran-Ni'mah '' indicates "ungratefulness of God's Blessings or Favours".[
According to another source, a paraphrase of the ]Tafsir
Tafsir ( ar, تفسير, tafsīr ) refers to exegesis, usually of the Quran. An author of a ''tafsir'' is a ' ( ar, مُفسّر; plural: ar, مفسّرون, mufassirūn). A Quranic ''tafsir'' attempts to provide elucidation, explanation, in ...
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 ''Al-Kufr al-Akbar'' (major unbelief), some are the same as those described by Al-Hilali (''Kufr-al-I'rad'', ''Kufr-an-Nifaaq'') and some different.
# ''Kufrul-'Inaad'': Disbelief out of stubbornness. This applies to someone who knows the Truth and admits to knowing the Truth, and knowing it with his tongue, but refuses to accept it and refrains from making a declaration. God says: Throw into Hell every stubborn disbeliever.
# ''Kufrul-Inkaar'': Disbelief out of denial. This applies to someone who denies with both heart and tongue. God says: They recognize the favors of God, yet they deny them. Most of them are disbelievers.
# ''Kufrul-Juhood'': Disbelief out of rejection. This applies to someone who acknowledges the truth in his heart, but rejects it with his tongue. This type of kufr 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 Salah
(, plural , romanized: or Old Arabic ͡sˤaˈloːh, ( or Old Arabic ͡sˤaˈloːtʰin construct state) ), also known as ( fa, نماز) and also spelled , are prayers performed by Muslims. Facing the , the direction of the Kaaba wit ...
and Zakat
Zakat ( ar, زكاة; , "that which purifies", also Zakat al-mal , "zakat on wealth", or Zakah) is a form of almsgiving, often collected by the Muslim Ummah. It is considered in Islam as a religious obligation, and by Quranic ranking, is ne ...
. God says: They denied them (our signs) even though their hearts believed in them, out of spite and arrogance.
# '' Kufrul-Nifaaq'': Disbelief out of hypocrisy. This applies to someone who pretends to be a believer but conceals his disbelief. Such a person is called a munafiq
In Islam, the ''munafiqun'' ('hypocrites', ar, منافقون, singular ''munāfiq'') or false Muslims or false believers are a group decried in the Quran as outward Muslims who were inwardly concealing disbelief (“ kufr”) and actively ...
or hypocrite. God says: Verily the hypocrites will be in the lowest depths of Hell. You will find no one to help them.
# ''Kufrul-Kurh'': Disbelief out of detesting any of God's commands. God says: Perdition
Perdition may refer to:
* Hell in Christianity
Music
* '' Perdition City'', an album by Norwegian band Ulver
* '' The Perdition EP'', an album by Norwegian band Enslavement of Beauty
* "Perdition", a song from the album ''In Consequence'' by Gree ...
(destruction) has been consigned to those who disbelieve and He will render their actions void. This is because they are averse to that which God has revealed so He has made their actions fruitless.
# ''Kufrul-Istihzaha'': Disbelief due to mockery and derision. God says: Say: Was it at God, His signs and His apostle
An apostle (), in its literal sense, is an emissary, from Ancient Greek ἀπόστολος (''apóstolos''), literally "one who is sent off", from the verb ἀποστέλλειν (''apostéllein''), "to send off". The purpose of such sending ...
s that you were mocking? Make no excuses. You have disbelieved after you have believed.
# ''Kufrul-I'raadh'': Disbelief due to avoidance. This applies to those who turn away and avoid the truth. God says: And who is more unjust than he who is reminded of his Lord's signs but then turns away from them. Then he forgets what he has sent forward (for the Day of Judgement).
# ''Kufrul-Istibdaal'': Disbelief because of trying to substitute God's Laws with man-made laws. God says: Or have they partners with God who have instituted for them a religion that God has not allowed. God says: Say not concerning that which your tongues put forth falsely (that) is lawful and this is forbidden so as to invent a lie against God. Verily, those who invent a lie against God will never prosper.
Ignorance
In Islam, jahiliyyah
The Age of Ignorance ( ar, / , "ignorance") is an Islamic concept referring to the period of time and state of affairs in Arabia before the advent of Islam in 610 CE. It is often translated as the "Age of Ignorance". The term ''jahiliyyah'' ...
("ignorance") refers to the time of Arabia before Islam.
History of the usage of the term
Usage in the proper sense
When the Islamic empire expanded, the word "''kafir''" 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 ''kafir'' 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 ''kuffar'' against Ottoman Turks,[ and the Turks themselves used the term ''kuffar'' towards Persians during the Ottoman-Safavid wars.][ In modern Muslim popular imagination, the '']dajjal
Al-Masih ad-Dajjal (), otherwise referred to simply as the Dajjal, is an evil figure in Islamic eschatology similar to the Antichrist in Christianity, who will pretend to be the promised Messiah, appearing before the Day of Judgment accordin ...
'' (antichrist-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 Kafir for Hindu
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 ...
s, 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, Sikh
Sikhs ( or ; pa, ਸਿੱਖ, ' ) are people who adhere to Sikhism, Sikhism (Sikhi), a Monotheism, monotheistic religion that originated in the late 15th century in the Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent, based on the revelation of Gu ...
s 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 ''kafirs'', in medieval Indian Islamic literature, including court chronicles, Sufi texts and literary compositions" and fatwas 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 "kafir" were equally as complex, and over the last century, issues regarding "kafir" 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 kafir", 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 kafir' 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 based in Indonesia, issued a proclamation urging Muslims to refrain from using the word ''kafir'' to refer to non-Muslims, as the term is both offensive and perceived to be "theologically violent".
Muhammad's parents
A hadith in which Muhammad states that his father, Abdullah ibn Abd al-Muttalib
Abdullah may refer to:
* Abdullah (name), a list of people with the given name or surname
* Abdullah, Kargı, Turkey, a village
* ''Abdullah'' (film), a 1980 Bollywood film directed by Sanjay Khan
* '' Abdullah: The Final Witness'', a 2015 Pakis ...
, was 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 ...
, has become a source of disagreement among Islamic scholars
In Islam, the ''ulama'' (; ar, علماء ', singular ', "scholar", literally "the learned ones", also spelled ''ulema''; feminine: ''alimah'' ingularand ''aalimath'' lural are the guardians, transmitters, and interpreters of religious ...
about the status of Muhammad's parents. Over the centuries, Sunni scholars have dismissed this hadith despite its appearance in the authoritative ''Sahih Muslim
Sahih Muslim ( ar, صحيح مسلم, translit=Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim), group=note is a 9th-century ''hadith'' collection and a book of '' sunnah'' compiled by the Persian scholar Muslim ibn al-Ḥajjāj (815–875). It is one of the most valued bo ...
'' collection. It passed through a single chain of transmission for three generations, so that its authenticity was not considered certain enough to supersede a theological consensus which stated that people who died before a prophetic message reached them—as Muhammad's father had done—could not be held accountable for not embracing it. 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 Arabian
Saudis ( ar, سعوديون, Suʿūdiyyūn) are people identified with the country of Saudi Arabia. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. The Saudis are composed mainly of Arabs and primarily speak a regional dialect ...
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 ''kuffār'' ("disbelievers") who are in Hell.
Other uses
By the 15th century, Muslims in Africa were using the word Kaffir in reference to the non-Muslim African natives. Many of those ''kufari'' 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 ''Kafir''. In the early twentieth century, in his book ''The Essential Kafir'', Dudley Kidd writes that the word ''kafir'' had come to be used for all dark-skinned South African tribes. Thus, in many parts of South Africa, ''kafir'' 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 mix ...
'' 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 kafirs 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 kafirs 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 ''cafre Cafres or Kafs, are people born in Réunion of African origins. This includes people of Malagasy ancestry. Many also have admixture from other ethnic groups.
Use of the Term
Like the Sri Lanka Kaffirs, the name ''Cafres'' is derived from the Ar ...
'', derived from the Arabic word ''kafir'' 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