Encyclopedia of Islam

kafir

 

(Arabic: unbeliever, disbeliever; 

infidel; ungrateful)

Religions often provide maps for differentiat-

ing insiders from outsiders. In the monotheistic 

confessional religions of Christianity and i

slam

important distinctions are made between people 

on the basis of what they believe and do not 

believe. Moreover, these distinctions have a bear-

ing on notions of salvation and a person’s fate in 

the 

aFterliFe

.

In Islam the word kafir and related words 

based on the Arabic root k-f-r are usually used to 

designate disbelievers or “infidels” (a Latin term 

originally used by medieval Christians), or those 

who fall outside the community of true people of 

faith (muminin and muslimin). This distinction is 

one of the essential ones used in the q

Uran

, where 

kafir or the plural kafirun/kafirin is used 134 

times (its verbal cognates occur about 250 times; 

the verbal noun kufr [unbelief, infidelity] occurs 

37 times). In many cases “disbeliever” is used 

polemically against the idolaters of Mecca who 

were opponents of m

Uhammad

 (d. 632) and the 

early Muslim community (

umma

). It is a word that 

polarizes groups of people (distinguishing “us” 

versus “them”), helps create unity in the com-

munity against outsiders, and mobilizes insiders 

to take action accordingly. The kinds of action 

such polarization induces are diverse, including 

promoting adherence to quranic commandments 

and prohibitions, avoiding unbelievers, and tak-

K  420  

kafir

---

ing defensive or offensive action (

Jihad

) against 

them as enemies.

One of the earliest quranic statements on this 

subject is found in the sura known as Al-Kafirun

(Q 109), which declares, “Say: O disbelievers! I 

do not worship what you worship, and you are 

not worshipping what I worship. . . . You have 

your religion (din) and I have my religion.” 

These verses, which are traditionally associated 

with Muhammad’s Meccan revelations, are often 

quoted in support of religious tolerance, but 

despite this interpretation, their effect is divi-

sive. With the development of the early Muslim 

community, the Quran elaborated in more detail 

the identities of the disbelievers. They included 

those who practiced 

idolatry

, did not accept the 

absolute oneness of God, denied that Muhammad 

was a prophet, ignored God’s commandments 

and “signs” (singular 

aya

), and rejected belief in 

a resurrection and final judgment. In some Medi-

nan verses of the Quran, believing Muslims were 

instructed to avoid association with disbelievers 

(for example, Q 3:28, 118), but other Medinan 

passages actually called upon them to “exert” 

themselves or fight against them (for example, Q 

2:190–193). Disbelievers were even declared to 

be the intimate friends of s

atan

 (Q 4:76). In the 

afterlife, moreover, disbelievers could expect to 

suffer severe punishment in the F

ire

 (for example, 

Q 8:50, 21:39).

The Quran referred to Jews and Christians 

as p

eople

 

oF

 

the

 b

ook

, or “those who have been 

given the book”; that is, members of religious 

communities who believed in God, his prophets, 

and the earlier scriptures of the t

orah

 and the 

g

ospel

. As a consequence of their proximity to 

Islam, Muslims were permitted to eat the meat of 

animals

 slaughtered by them, and Muslim men 

were permitted to marry their 

Women

. However, 

reflecting Muhammad’s contacts with Jews and 

Christians after the h

iJra

 in 622, as well as divi-

sions and opposition in m

edina

, the Medinan 

suras of the Quran began to query the People of 

the Book about why they did not believe God’s 

signs and why they concealed the truth when they 

should have known better (Q 3:70–71). Jews, as 

People of the Book, were condemned for their 

disbelief in God’s signs and killing of some of the 

prophets, including J

esUs

 (for example, Q 4:154–

157). Christians were accused of kufr (unbelief) 

because they believed in the Trinity and Jesus as 

the son of God, which the Quran considered to 

be idolatry (for example, Q 5:73, 171). Above all, 

Jews and Christians were faulted for not believing 

in the prophethood of Muhammad, even though 

they believed in other prophets. Although they 

were usually regarded in a different light from the 

Meccan idolaters, some verses equated the People 

of the Book with the polytheists and promised 

them an eternity in hell, except for those who 

believed and did good works (Q 98).

Other meanings for words based on the Arabic 

root  k-f-r are to reject the truth (for example, Q 

35:14) and to be ungrateful, especially to God for 

his blessings (for example, Q 16:55; 30:34). The 

ideas of rejection and ingratitude, therefore, were 

linked in quranic discourse to that of disbelief.

The word takfir, based on the same Arabic 

root, was introduced in the post-quranic period 

with the meaning “to accuse another of disbelief 

and infidelity.” This was first done by the k

ha

-

WariJ

, a sectarian group that accused any Muslim 

who committed a major sin of being a kafir. With 

the creation of Muslim empires comprised of large 

non-Muslim majorities, absolute condemnation of 

outsiders as disbelievers contradicted the priori-

ties of maintaining the social order under Muslim 

rule. People of the Book, therefore, were given 

certain protections under Islamic law. According 

to the sharia, they were dhimmis (protected peo-

ples). This occurred not only in the Middle East, 

but also in South Asia, where Hindus were also 

considered  dhimmis under the rule of the d

elhi

s

Ultanate

 and the m

Ughal

 

dynasty

. Accusations 

of infidelity were directed against non-Muslims 

living in lands that were not under Muslim con-

trol (dar al-harb) and against Muslims who in 

one way or another diverged from the normative