The Term “Kufr

kafir ruler of Yemen”; rather, he is identified by the term Ashab al-Fil (The People of the Elephant). While the terms kufr and kafir were used for those in ancient Makkah who actively rejected the message, this did not lead the early Muslims to label all nonMuslims as “kafirs” thereafter. For example, after the Migration (Hijrah), when the Prophet  and his companions arrived in Madinah, both Muslims and non-Muslims were living there. However, they did not address the local people with the title of kafir. In the first address the Prophet  delivered upon reaching Yathrib, he addressed the people as: “O people (Ayyuhan-nas), protect yourselves from the Fire, even if it be by giving a piece of a date in charity.” (Seerah Ibn Hisham, Vol. 1, p. 501) In the same way, there were many non-Muslim tribes in the areas around Madinah and in the surrounding regions. Yet they, too, were not called Arab disbelievers or disbelieving tribes. Instead, they were addressed by their well-known names, such as the people of Thaqif, the people of Najran, and the people of Bahrain. History shows that in the early period, when Muslims left Arabia and entered the lands of Asia and Africa, people belonging to different religions lived there. They did not resort to calling these non-Muslims