KAFIR AND KUFR — Who Are Kafirs?

KAFIR AND KUFR Who are Kafirs? M ANY people who do not have much knowledge of Islam have at least heard of the words kafir and kufr. The generally-held view is that those who are not Muslims are kafirs. This notion is a continuing barrier to national unity and global peace. The literal meaning of kufr is ‘denial’, and so a kafir is a ‘denier’ or ‘one who denies’. The word kafir has never been used in the Quran to mean either an unbeliever or an infidel. It is important to note that the word kafir denotes an individual, rather than a certain race or community. It is in no way an appellation for a group. The word kafir has never been used in the Quran to mean either an unbeliever or an infidel. According to Islam, the fact is that those who are not Muslims are simply non-Muslims. We must look at them as such, rather than classify them as kafirs. The right way, according to Islam, is to call each community or group by the name it has adopted for itself. For instance, people from America should be called 'Americans', rather than Kafirs, and America should be called ‘America’, and not the ‘land of Kufr’ or Dar-ul Kufr. There are a number of examples in the Quran of references to communities or groups in which the names they themselves had adopted were used. Not once was the word kafir used for them. In the Makkan period, certain verses of the Quran were revealed which mention non-Muslims living outside Arabia. For instance, at the beginning of Chapter 30, the Quran mentions the Byzantines, who had then been conquered by the Persians. The Byzantines were at that time Christians, but the verses do not say 'the Byzantine kafirs who have been defeated'. Similarly, Chapter 105 of the Quran mentions the nonMuslim ruler of Yemen, Abraha, and his army, who came mounted on elephants to attack the Kabah in Makkah. It does not refer to them as 'kafirs', but, rather, as the 'People of the elephants'. The Prophet Muhammad received prophethood in 610 C.E. In the early stages of his prophet-hood, all people other than him and a few others were non-Muslims. Whenever he addressed these non-Muslims to convey his message he never said, 'O kafirs', but, rather, ‘O man,’ or