An Insight into the Concept of 'Kafir' in the Qur'an
By: Farhad Shafti
July 2014
There has been quite a number of writings and debates on the meaning of the word Kafir in the Qur'an. The crux of the issue is whether we can call every non-Muslim a Kafir or not. The problem is, this is not just about a title. The title 'Kafir' normally brings images of hell fire and God's wrath to the mind, as this is how it has been illustrated in the Qur'an.
In this article, motivated by a recent question I received, I will try to explain my understanding of the concept of Kafir in the Qur'an. This is based on what I learned from my great teachers and my own deliberation and research into the subject.
To start with, I would like to point out that the question of the word Kafir in the Qur’an is not the main question. It is in fact a branch of a more fundamental question. The main question is: who are those with whom God is angry and has promised hell fire to them. The real question is therefore the criteria of God's judgement in the hereafter.
My answer, based on numerous verses of the Qur’an (to count a few from many: 2:109, 2:256, 4:115, 8:6, 47:25, 47:32, 2:22, 2:42, 3:71, 61:5, 2:146, 6:20) is that these are those who have arrogantly rejected the truth.
People who arrogantly reject the truth do so in one of the two ways:
- They listen to the message, realise its truth, yet due to arrogance decide to reject it
- They listen to the message but due to their arrogance it is like they do not listen at all, they do not even get close to truly try to understand what the message is and therefore they find it apparently not convincing.
Both the above are due to arrogance. In the words of the Qur'an arrogance is what made Satan disobey God (2:34) and it is also what sends a human being to hell. According to the Qur'an, hell in fact is the home for arrogant (39:60).
Therefore what makes God angry with people is not that they do not accept the message of His prophets, but that they reject their message out of arrogance. This is also evident from the promise of the Almighty that no one will be wronged and misjudged in the hereafter (39:69).
With the above principle in mind, (where the blame is not on ‘not following the truth’ but is on ‘not following the truth due to arrogance’), we can then look at the word Kafir in the Qur’an to see what it means.
A quick browse through the Qur’an reveals that (with the exception of Kufr towards Satan in verse 2:256) Kafir and hell fire are like the two sides of a same coin. Nowhere in the Qur’an God refers to Kuffar (plural of Kafir) lightly and with any sympathy for being honestly unaware of the truth. The language of the Qur'an towards Kuffar is the language of serious criticism, anger and warning.
The conclusion from the above is that since Kafir and hell fire are closely associated with each other, Kafir and 'arrogance' too are associated. From here comes the definition of Kafir, that will be a person who rejects the truth out of arrogance.
This is also very much inline with the literal meaning of the word Kufr, that means, covering and hiding something (i.e. the truth).
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According to my count, the word Kafir (noun) and its other noun derivatives have been repeated in the Qur’an 170 times. If you look at the verses in which the noun forms of Kafir have been appeared you will see that almost all of them are referring to people who have been among the direct addressees of the prophets (pbut). These are the same who have been criticised for their arrogance that stops them from seeing the truth or from accepting the truth once they realise it. These are the same who have been promised the hell fire.
I now review a few (out of many) verses of the Qur’an in support of the above:
- The first instance of the use of a derivative of Kafara in the Qur’an clearly shows that the attitude of Kufr makes a person so arrogant that he will become indifference when seeing the truth:
إِنَّ الَّذينَ كَفَرُوا سَواءٌ عَلَيْهِمْ أَ أَنْذَرْتَهُمْ أَمْ لَمْ تُنْذِرْهُمْ لا يُؤْمِنُون
Surely those who rejected (the truth), it being alike to them whether you warn them, or do not warn them, will not believe. (2:6)
- Verse 2:34 reveals the connection between arrogance and Kafir:
وَ إِذْ قُلْنا لِلْمَلائِكَةِ اسْجُدُوا لِآدَمَ فَسَجَدُوا إِلاَّ إِبْليسَ أَبى وَ اسْتَكْبَرَ وَ كانَ مِنَ الْكافِرين
And when We said to the angels: prostrate Adam, they all prostrated except Iblis who refused and showed arrogance and he was one of the rejecters (Kaferin) (2:34)
- Verse 2:89 reveals the connection between Kufr and Knowing the truth yet rejecting it:
لَمَّا جاءَهُمْ كِتابٌ مِنْ عِنْدِ اللَّهِ مُصَدِّقٌ لِما مَعَهُمْ وَ كانُوا مِنْ قَبْلُ يَسْتَفْتِحُونَ عَلَى الَّذينَ كَفَرُوا فَلَمَّا جاءَهُمْ ما عَرَفُوا كَفَرُوا بِهِ فَلَعْنَةُ اللَّهِ عَلَى الْكافِرين
And when a Book from God came to them in confirmation of the predictions they had with them and before this they had been praying for victory against those who had rejected (their religion). Then when that came to them which they recognized, they rejected (Kafaru) it. (2:89)
It is interesting that even when the Qur’an uses the word Kufr in its positive meaning (that is Kufr of a believer towards Satan), it does not mean rejecting Satan due to not being aware of him, or due to not being sure about his evil, rather, it implies rejecting Satan, knowing his evil nature (as far as human being concerns):
لا إِكْراهَ فِي الدِّينِ قَدْ تَبَيَّنَ الرُّشْدُ مِنَ الْغَيِّ فَمَنْ يَكْفُرْ بِالطَّاغُوتِ وَ يُؤْمِنْ بِاللَّهِ فقد استَمْسَكَ بِالْعُرْوَةِ الْوُثْقى لاَ انْفِصامَ لَها وَ اللَّهُ سَميعٌ عَليمٌ
There is no compulsion in religion Truly the right way has become clearly distinct from error, Therefore, whoever rejects the Shaitan an believes in God, he indeed has laid hold on the firmest handle, which shall not break off And God is Hearing, Knowing. (2:256)
In other words, a Kafir to God and a Kafir to Satan, both know exactly what it is they are rejecting. The first rejects God out of arrogance while the second rejects Satan out of piety.
I would like to point out that I did not spend much time trying to find verses of the Qur’an that could prove my point about the meaning of Kafir. Quite contrary, I spent much time trying to choose which out of many available verses on this subject to include in this article.
It is important to understand two points:
- It is only at the time of a messenger of God that due to completion of reasoning for the direct addressees (itmam al-hujjah) they rejection of the message of truth can be due to their arrogance and thus they will become kafir. At other eras and locations this (clarification of the truth) hardly takes place.
- Even at the time of a messenger of God it is only through revelation that the messenger and his followers will come to understand that those who have rejected him are now proper kafirs and deserve God's punishment. The story of Yunus (pbuh) in the Qur'an is the best evidence to this. When Yunus decided on his own accord that his addressees were kafirs and deserved punishment it was him who was punished and not his nation (10:98; 68:48-50; 121:87, 88; 37:139-147). When even a messenger of God is not qualified to consider a person kafir on his own, then the situation and extent of authority for an ordinary person is very clear. At our time, considering a person to be kafir is both irrelevant and transgression.
**********
My overall conclusion from the above is as follows:
If we want to be inline with the Qur’an in using the word Kafir, then we cannot call all the non-Muslims Kafir. We are only allowed to call those people Kafir who reject the truth out of arrogance. Since we do not know about the inner intentions and feelings of individuals, we are never in a position to make such judgement and to use the word Kafir for people at our time. The people that we definitely can call Kafir are those that the Qur’an addressed as Kafir. These were people who rejected the message of the messengers who were directly sent to them out of arrogance.
One may argue that one is using the word 'Kafir' simply in the meaning of anyone who is not a Muslim. However by doing so we are creating a dangerous confusion by using a Qur’anic word in a different meaning. In fact we would using a Qur’anic word in a meaning that would be completely devoid from its core concept. We therefore need to refrain from this, no matter what the intended meaning is.
July 2014
There has been quite a number of writings and debates on the meaning of the word Kafir in the Qur'an. The crux of the issue is whether we can call every non-Muslim a Kafir or not. The problem is, this is not just about a title. The title 'Kafir' normally brings images of hell fire and God's wrath to the mind, as this is how it has been illustrated in the Qur'an.
In this article, motivated by a recent question I received, I will try to explain my understanding of the concept of Kafir in the Qur'an. This is based on what I learned from my great teachers and my own deliberation and research into the subject.
To start with, I would like to point out that the question of the word Kafir in the Qur’an is not the main question. It is in fact a branch of a more fundamental question. The main question is: who are those with whom God is angry and has promised hell fire to them. The real question is therefore the criteria of God's judgement in the hereafter.
My answer, based on numerous verses of the Qur’an (to count a few from many: 2:109, 2:256, 4:115, 8:6, 47:25, 47:32, 2:22, 2:42, 3:71, 61:5, 2:146, 6:20) is that these are those who have arrogantly rejected the truth.
People who arrogantly reject the truth do so in one of the two ways:
- They listen to the message, realise its truth, yet due to arrogance decide to reject it
- They listen to the message but due to their arrogance it is like they do not listen at all, they do not even get close to truly try to understand what the message is and therefore they find it apparently not convincing.
Both the above are due to arrogance. In the words of the Qur'an arrogance is what made Satan disobey God (2:34) and it is also what sends a human being to hell. According to the Qur'an, hell in fact is the home for arrogant (39:60).
Therefore what makes God angry with people is not that they do not accept the message of His prophets, but that they reject their message out of arrogance. This is also evident from the promise of the Almighty that no one will be wronged and misjudged in the hereafter (39:69).
With the above principle in mind, (where the blame is not on ‘not following the truth’ but is on ‘not following the truth due to arrogance’), we can then look at the word Kafir in the Qur’an to see what it means.
A quick browse through the Qur’an reveals that (with the exception of Kufr towards Satan in verse 2:256) Kafir and hell fire are like the two sides of a same coin. Nowhere in the Qur’an God refers to Kuffar (plural of Kafir) lightly and with any sympathy for being honestly unaware of the truth. The language of the Qur'an towards Kuffar is the language of serious criticism, anger and warning.
The conclusion from the above is that since Kafir and hell fire are closely associated with each other, Kafir and 'arrogance' too are associated. From here comes the definition of Kafir, that will be a person who rejects the truth out of arrogance.
This is also very much inline with the literal meaning of the word Kufr, that means, covering and hiding something (i.e. the truth).
**********
According to my count, the word Kafir (noun) and its other noun derivatives have been repeated in the Qur’an 170 times. If you look at the verses in which the noun forms of Kafir have been appeared you will see that almost all of them are referring to people who have been among the direct addressees of the prophets (pbut). These are the same who have been criticised for their arrogance that stops them from seeing the truth or from accepting the truth once they realise it. These are the same who have been promised the hell fire.
I now review a few (out of many) verses of the Qur’an in support of the above:
- The first instance of the use of a derivative of Kafara in the Qur’an clearly shows that the attitude of Kufr makes a person so arrogant that he will become indifference when seeing the truth:
إِنَّ الَّذينَ كَفَرُوا سَواءٌ عَلَيْهِمْ أَ أَنْذَرْتَهُمْ أَمْ لَمْ تُنْذِرْهُمْ لا يُؤْمِنُون
Surely those who rejected (the truth), it being alike to them whether you warn them, or do not warn them, will not believe. (2:6)
- Verse 2:34 reveals the connection between arrogance and Kafir:
وَ إِذْ قُلْنا لِلْمَلائِكَةِ اسْجُدُوا لِآدَمَ فَسَجَدُوا إِلاَّ إِبْليسَ أَبى وَ اسْتَكْبَرَ وَ كانَ مِنَ الْكافِرين
And when We said to the angels: prostrate Adam, they all prostrated except Iblis who refused and showed arrogance and he was one of the rejecters (Kaferin) (2:34)
- Verse 2:89 reveals the connection between Kufr and Knowing the truth yet rejecting it:
لَمَّا جاءَهُمْ كِتابٌ مِنْ عِنْدِ اللَّهِ مُصَدِّقٌ لِما مَعَهُمْ وَ كانُوا مِنْ قَبْلُ يَسْتَفْتِحُونَ عَلَى الَّذينَ كَفَرُوا فَلَمَّا جاءَهُمْ ما عَرَفُوا كَفَرُوا بِهِ فَلَعْنَةُ اللَّهِ عَلَى الْكافِرين
And when a Book from God came to them in confirmation of the predictions they had with them and before this they had been praying for victory against those who had rejected (their religion). Then when that came to them which they recognized, they rejected (Kafaru) it. (2:89)
It is interesting that even when the Qur’an uses the word Kufr in its positive meaning (that is Kufr of a believer towards Satan), it does not mean rejecting Satan due to not being aware of him, or due to not being sure about his evil, rather, it implies rejecting Satan, knowing his evil nature (as far as human being concerns):
لا إِكْراهَ فِي الدِّينِ قَدْ تَبَيَّنَ الرُّشْدُ مِنَ الْغَيِّ فَمَنْ يَكْفُرْ بِالطَّاغُوتِ وَ يُؤْمِنْ بِاللَّهِ فقد استَمْسَكَ بِالْعُرْوَةِ الْوُثْقى لاَ انْفِصامَ لَها وَ اللَّهُ سَميعٌ عَليمٌ
There is no compulsion in religion Truly the right way has become clearly distinct from error, Therefore, whoever rejects the Shaitan an believes in God, he indeed has laid hold on the firmest handle, which shall not break off And God is Hearing, Knowing. (2:256)
In other words, a Kafir to God and a Kafir to Satan, both know exactly what it is they are rejecting. The first rejects God out of arrogance while the second rejects Satan out of piety.
I would like to point out that I did not spend much time trying to find verses of the Qur’an that could prove my point about the meaning of Kafir. Quite contrary, I spent much time trying to choose which out of many available verses on this subject to include in this article.
It is important to understand two points:
- It is only at the time of a messenger of God that due to completion of reasoning for the direct addressees (itmam al-hujjah) they rejection of the message of truth can be due to their arrogance and thus they will become kafir. At other eras and locations this (clarification of the truth) hardly takes place.
- Even at the time of a messenger of God it is only through revelation that the messenger and his followers will come to understand that those who have rejected him are now proper kafirs and deserve God's punishment. The story of Yunus (pbuh) in the Qur'an is the best evidence to this. When Yunus decided on his own accord that his addressees were kafirs and deserved punishment it was him who was punished and not his nation (10:98; 68:48-50; 121:87, 88; 37:139-147). When even a messenger of God is not qualified to consider a person kafir on his own, then the situation and extent of authority for an ordinary person is very clear. At our time, considering a person to be kafir is both irrelevant and transgression.
**********
My overall conclusion from the above is as follows:
If we want to be inline with the Qur’an in using the word Kafir, then we cannot call all the non-Muslims Kafir. We are only allowed to call those people Kafir who reject the truth out of arrogance. Since we do not know about the inner intentions and feelings of individuals, we are never in a position to make such judgement and to use the word Kafir for people at our time. The people that we definitely can call Kafir are those that the Qur’an addressed as Kafir. These were people who rejected the message of the messengers who were directly sent to them out of arrogance.
One may argue that one is using the word 'Kafir' simply in the meaning of anyone who is not a Muslim. However by doing so we are creating a dangerous confusion by using a Qur’anic word in a different meaning. In fact we would using a Qur’anic word in a meaning that would be completely devoid from its core concept. We therefore need to refrain from this, no matter what the intended meaning is.
