Kafir
|
|
see kaffir lime for the condiment, kaffir for the derogatory Afrikaans term for native Africans.
Kafir (or kāfir; plural Kuffar, kuffār) is an Arabic word meaning "denier" or "concealer." In a religious context it means a non-Muslim, and it is often used to mean "unbeliever" or "infidel". The noun kufr means "not believing in God" or "blasphemy, atheism." In Fiqh, the term amounts to the equivalent of Christian excommunication. The verb, "to declare someone a kafir" is takfir. For example, the novelist Salman Rushdie was declared a kafir in the Fatwa of Ayatollah Khomeini.
The correct use of the word kafir in Islamic theology does not include either Christians, Samaritans, Jews, and all "Sabians" who are covered by the term Ahl-al-Kitab, or "People of the Book," because they are considered recipients of divine revelation from Allah. Some Militant Islamists, however, often do not make the distinction in their rhetoric and do often use it to include these religious communities, or any enemy.