Kāfir (; ) is an Islamic term of Arabic origin used by Muslims to refer to non-Muslims who deny the God in Islam, reject his authority, and do not accept the message of Islam as truth.
Kafir is often translated as 'infidel', 'truth denier', 'rejector', 'disbeliever', The term is used in different ways in the Quran, with the most fundamental sense being ungrateful towards God. Kufr means 'disbelief', 'unbelief', 'non-belief', A person who denies the existence of a creator might be called a dahri.
One type of kafir is a mushrik (), another group of religious wrongdoer mentioned frequently in the Quran and other Islamic works. Several concepts of vice are seen to revolve around the concept of kufr in the Quran. particularly by members of Islamist movements. The act of declaring another self-professed Muslim a kafir is known as takfir, a practice that has been condemned but also employed in theological and political polemics over the centuries. Dhimmis were exempt from certain duties specifically assigned to Muslims if they paid the jizya poll tax, but otherwise equal under the laws of property, contract, and obligation according to some scholars,
Etymology
The word is the active participle of the verb , from root K-F-R. Since farmers cover the seeds with soil while planting, the word implies a person who hides or covers.
The noun for 'disbelief', 'blasphemy', 'impiety' rather than the person who disbelieves, is .
In the Quran
The distinction between those who believe in Islam and those who do not is made in the Quran. , and its plural , is used directly 134 times in Quran, its verbal noun is used 37 times, and the verbal cognates of are used about 250 times.
By extension of the basic meaning of the root, 'to cover', the term is used in the Quran in the senses of ignore/fail to acknowledge and to spurn/be ungrateful. Within the Quranic context, the term implies an active offense and often bears the connotation of "ungratefulness". In Surah 26:19, the Pharaoh accuses Moses of being a kafir for being ungrateful to what he has done to him when Moses was a child. Likewise, Iblis (Satan) does not deny the existence of God, but is called a for rejecting God. According to Al-Damiri (1341–1405) it is neither denying God, nor the act of disobedience alone, but Iblis' attitude (claiming that God's command is unjust), which makes him a . The most fundamental sense of in the Quran is 'ingratitude', the willful refusal to acknowledge or appreciate the benefits that God bestows on humankind, including clear signs and revealed scriptures.
Khaled Abou El Fadl argues that Quran 2:62 supports religious pluralism, implying that some non-Muslims are not kafirs: "Those who believe, Jews, Christians, Sabians—whoever believes in God and the Last Day and do good, will have their reward with their Lord and they will not fear, nor grieve."
Types of unbelievers
People of the Book
Charles Adams writes that the Quran reproaches the People of the Book with for rejecting Muhammad's message when they should have been the first to accept it as possessors of earlier revelations, and singles out Christians for disregarding the evidence of God's unity. though modern scholarship has suggested alternative interpretations.