Kafir (Infidel): Difference between revisions

Traditionally, a non-Muslim is called a ''Kafir''.<ref name="Willis 2018">{{cite book |editor-last=Willis |editor-first=John Ralph |year=2018 |origyear=1979 |title=Studies in West African Islamic History, Volume 1: The Cultivators of Islam |chapter=Glossary |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rD0sBgAAQBAJ&pg=PA197 |location=[[London]] and [[New York City|New York]] |publisher=[[Routledge]] |edition=1st |pages=197 |isbn=9781138238534 |quote=''Kufr'': Unbelief; non-Muslim belief (''Kāfir'' = a non-Muslim, one who has received no Dispensation or Book; ''Kuffār'' plural of ''Kāfir'').}}</ref><ref name="Gerlach 2006">{{cite book | Hrsg=Gerlach J. | titel=Zwischen Pop und Dschihad: muslimische Jugendliche in Deutschland | Verlag=Ch. Links | Datum=2006 | isbn=978-3-86153-404-4 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jdZH6jyBYuIC | language=de | access-date=2022-06-21 | Seiten=197}}</ref><ref name="Der Islam 2022">{{cite web | title=Das Urteil darüber, dass der Nichtmuslim (Kafir) den Mushaf berührt - Frage und Antwort | website=Der Islam | url=https://islamqa.info/ge/answers/100228/das-urteil-daruber-dass-der-nichtmuslim-kafir-den-mushaf-beruhrt | language=de | access-date=2022-06-21}}</ref><ref name="Islam Fatwa">{{cite web | title=Pflichten des Muslims gegenüber dem Kafir (Nichtmuslim) | website=Islam Fatwa | url=https://islamfatwa.de/soziale-angelegenheiten/150-muslime-in-nicht-muslimischen-laendern/1369-pflichten-des-muslims-gegenueber-dem-kafir-nichtmuslim | language=de | access-date=2022-06-21}}</ref>

The root of the word "kafir" means "to conceal", and thus the word "kafir" implies or derives from the meaning of "one who conceals" and entails insincerity and even active deception on the part of the person being labeled a "kafir". That orthodox Islamic doctrine (following upon the Qur'an) categorically describes [[non-Muslims]] as ''kuffar'' can prove problematic in an an interfaith context, as it suggests that all disbelievers are deliberately deceiving themselves and others by not embracing Islam which they, in fact, know to be true.  

The other meaning implied in the root of the word "kafir" is "to be ungrateful", thus allowing the word "kafir" to be alternatively translated as "ingrate". This is likewise problematic in interfaith contexts as it entails the suggestion that all disbelievers are somehow or the other ungrateful beings, in special distinction from Muslims, who are not so ungrateful. There is some disagreement on the extent to which the Quran applies the term kuffar towards the people of the book (see Abrahamic section below).

The Muslims must remain united in opposition to the disbelievers, and maintain faith, while refusing to take the disbelievers as close allies. If the disbelievers acquiesce but then return "to enmity", they must be slayed, unless they have a treaty with the Muslims or seek refuge amongst them. Finally, if the disbelievers "incline to peace", so too should the Muslims.

The [[Quran]] instructs its listeners to [[Slavery_in_Islamic_Law|take captives]] from the disbelievers after killing and subduing them when they meet in battle, releasing or ransoming them when the war is over ({{Quran|47|4}}; see also {{Quran|8|67}} and {{Quran|33|50}} which gave the prophet specifically a right to take captives and women for himself from the spoils of war). Jurists in a later period, employing the doctrine of [[Naskh_(Abrogation)|abrogation]], determined that all disbelievers from what they defined as [[Dar al-Harb and Dar al-Islam (the Abodes of War and Peace)|Dar al Harb]] could potentially be captured as slaves.<ref>{{Citation|url=https://archive.org/details/islamabolitionof0000clar|title=Islam and the Abolition of Slavery|page=25–28|publisher=Oxford University Press|ISBN=978-0-19-522151-0|author=William Gervase Clarence-Smith|year=2006}}</ref> A surah from the final stages of Muhammad's career commanded that the mushrikeen with whom the believers no longer had a treaty be killed unless they accept Islam or seek protection, and that Jews and Christians were required to pay the [[jizyah]]. Verses {{Quran-range|9|5|6}} and / or {{Quran|9|29}} of this surah became known as the "sword verse", or ''ayat as-sayf'', in Arabic, and were considered by many scholars in the classical period to support expansive warfare and to abrogate a large number of earlier verses which were more explicitly defensive in nature.<ref>{{cite web |title=Islam |url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/Islam |work=Encyclopedia Britannica |location=New York |date=17 August 2021|access-date=12 January 2022}}</ref>