Understanding `Kufr`

[Baashi]

Understanding `Kufr`

 

4/30/2006 - Religious Social - Article Ref: IC0604-2982

Number of comments: 3

Opinion Summary: Agree:3 Disagree:0 Neutral:0

By: Hesham Hassaballa

IslamiCity* -

 

 

In the Name of God

the Most Compassionate, the Most Merciful

 

 

During an extensive conversation about the relationship of a Muslim with non-Muslims, the issue of who exactly is a kafir , or one who "denies the truth" (frequently translated as "infidel"), came up. Yet, when I delved deeper into the meaning of the words kufr and kafir in the Qur'an, I learned that these words have a much deeper, more profound meaning. And it has nothing to do with "being infidels."

 

The late Muhammad Asad (God's Mercy be upon him) eloquently defined the meaning of kufr and kafir in the Qur'an:

 

This meaning is easily grasped when we bear in mind that the root verb of the participial noun kafir (and of the infinitive noun kufr) is kafara, "he (or "it") covered (a thing)": thus, in Quran 57:20 the tiller of the soil is called (without any pejorative implication) kafir, "one who covers", i.e., the sown seed with earth, just as the night is spoken of as having "covered" (kafara) the earth with darkness. In their abstract sense, both the verb and the nouns derived from it have a connotation of "concealing" something that exists or "denying" something that is true. Hence, in the usage of the Quran - with the exception of the one instance (Quran 57:20) where this participial noun signifies a "tiller of the soil" - a kafir is one who denies (or "refuses to acknowledge") the truth" in the widest, spiritual sense of this latter term: that is, irrespective of whether it relates to a cognition of the supreme truth - namely, the existence of God - or to a doctrine or ordinance enunciated in the divine writ, or to a self-evident moral proposition, or to an acknowledgment of, and therefore gratitude for, favors received.

 

In the last part of Asad's statement lies my rediscovery of the meaning of kufr. A kafir can refuse to acknowledge the favors given to him or her, i.e., be ungrateful. In fact, the opposite of the word shukr, or "gratitude," in Arabic is none other than kufr. The Qur'an explicitly uses the word kufr to mean "ingratitude":

 

And [remember the time] when your Sustainer made [this promise] known: "If you are grateful [to Me], I shall most certainly give you more and more; but if you are ungrateful, verily, My chastisement will be severe indeed!" (Quran 14:7)

 

The literal Arabic text denoting "but if you are ungrateful" reads: wa la'in kafartum. Thus, the Qur'an uses both renderings of the word kufr, namely, denial of truth and ingratitude. Yet, when I think of it more deeply, kufr is truly ingratitude and nothing else. I remember hearing at a spiritual conference that all aspects of worship are nothing more than acts of shukr or "gratitude" to God. Thus, the kuffar are all those who are ungrateful to God.

 

Yet, for what are we to be grateful to God? For His love for us. But, how do we know that God love us? There is no statement in the Qur'an that says flat out "God loves you." There does not need to be such a statement. The paradigm of the relationship between God and humanity in the Qur'an is one of love, because the Qur'an is full of references to God's Soothing Mercy. Yet, there is a deeper, more profound manifestation of God's love.

 

God's love is manifested by our living and breathing on this earth. We were nothing before God gave us life, before God brought us into existence. If it were not for God, we would not be here. We would not have existed. With each breath we take, with each step we take, with each action and movement on earth, we live out the love of God in bringing us into existence. What did we do to deserve His bringing us to life? What could we possibly offer the Lord to recompense His infinite grace?

 

Moreover, once He gives us this precious gift of life, His favors do not stop there. As a physician, I have been blessed with the opportunity to witness the awesome spectacle of the human machinery at work. It is so finely tuned, so meticulously controlled that it is a miracle we don't drop dead at any moment. What's more, if someone is afflicted with disease, the symptoms manifest themselves long after the disease process has started because of the redundancy built in the system. For instance, people with lung disease typically develop symptoms after more than 50% of lung function has already been lost. It is amazing how the human body runs, with several very complex systems working seamlessly together to allow us to go about our daily business without difficulty. All of this is nothing but a manifestation of God's love for us.

 

With this understanding in mind, this verse in surah Al Baqarah makes so much more sense:

 

How could you deny the truth of God when you were dead and He gave you life? After which He will cause you to die, then He will bring you back to life, then to Him shall you return (Quran 2:28)

 

The literal Arabic term is takfirun billah. Thus, the verse could be translated to mean: "How could you be ungrateful to God after the fact that you were dead and He gave you life?" How can we be anything but grateful to God for the most precious gift of all: our life?

 

This understanding is easily extrapolated to the other kuffar in the Qur'an. For instance, the Qur'an says: "Indeed, those who say, 'Behold, God is the Christ, son of Mary' deny the truth..." (Quran 5:17), with the Arabic text reading: laqad kafara alatheena qalu... Yet, this can easily be understood to mean: "Indeed, those who say 'Behold God is the Christ, son of Mary' are ungrateful [to God for this claim]." The word kafara here does not fit with the word "disbelieve," because Christians do not disbelieve in God.

 

On the contrary, they wholehearted believe in and worship the God of Abraham. To this, however, they add the claim that God is Triune and Jesus Christ is divine. Given the fact that God has given so much to humanity, for human beings to claim that Christ is God is being ungrateful for God's favors - in the Qur'anic worldview - because God is too transcendent to beget offspring like human beings.

 

The same is true for the pagans at the time of the Prophet . Did they "disbelieve" in God? Were they atheists? Absolutely not. The Qur'an plainly states this:

 

Is it not to God alone that all sincere faith is due? And yet, they who take for their protectors aught beside Him [are wont to say], "We worship them for no other reason than that they bring us nearer to God." Behold, God will judge between them [on ResurÆrection Day] with regard to all wherein they differ [from the truth]: for, verily, God does not grace with His guidance anyone who is bent on lying [to himself and is] stubbornly ingrate! (39:3)

 

Yet, to ascribe divinity to anything besides God - in the Qur'anic worldview - is to be utterly ungrateful to all the favors God bestows on the person who claims thus. In fact, the Arabic word for "stubbornly ingrate" at the end of Quran 39:3 is kaffar, which is derived from kufr and kafara.

 

This passage of the Qur'an even further bolsters the view that kufr is essentially ingratitude:

 

And so, when they embark on a ship [and find themselves in danger], they call unto God, [at that moment] sincere in their faith in Him alone; but as soon as He has brought them safe ashore, they [begin to] ascribe to imaginary powers a share in His divinity: and thus they show utter ingratitude for all that We have vouchsafed them, and go on [thoughtlessly] enjoying their worldly life. (Quran 29:65-66)

 

Again, the word for "ingratitude" is liyakfuru, derived from the root word kafara. Any other iteration of the word kufr does not work.

 

This is truly amazing. For so many years of my life, I had always thought a kafir was an "unbeliever." I realize now how primitive and naive such a belief truly is. The Qur'an is such a profound book, with so many layers of understanding that are waiting to be discovered. The more I delve into the Qur'an, the more I want to keep swimming in its words and meanings. And the more I understand why God asks the question, " Will they not, then, ponder over this Qur'an? - or are there locks upon their hearts?" (Quran 47:24).

 

Hesham A. Hassaballa is a physician and writer based in Chicago. www.drhassaballa.com

He is also Co-Author of the book, The Beliefnet Guide to Islam

 

 

Islamicity

[Nur]

Great and Timely topic Bashi bro.

 

I just skimmed thru, I congratulate you for a well selected article that we can all share our thoughts on it.

 

 

Nur

[Nur]

Bashi bro.

 

Kufr as the author has eloquently described is indeed a form of ingratitude, is like someone who lives in your house, eating your food, getting medical help from you, when in trouble asks for help, and once you help them, they say no thanks, nor reciprocate the goodwill by helping others in distress as a token of the help they received.

 

Allah SWT says in Surah Al Zumar:

 

7. If you commit KUFR, then verily, Allah is not in need of you, He likes not KUFR for His slaves. And if you are GRATEFUL (by being believers), He is pleased therewith for you. No bearer of burdens shall bear the burden of another. Then to your Lord is your return, so He will inform you what you used to do. Verily, He is the All-Knower of that which is in (men's) breasts.

 

8. And when some hurt touches man, he cries to his Lord (Allah Alone), turning to Him in repentance, but when He bestows a favor upon him from Himself, he forgets that for which he cried for before, and he sets up rivals to Allah, in order to mislead others from His Path. Say: "Take pleasure in your KUFR for a while: surely, you are (one) of the dwellers of the Fire!"

 

 

As we have seen, Kufr is a state of denial of receiving any help from Allah, denial of His creation, ownership of planet earth and the Universe in general, thus making man sort of an equal partner to Allah, while man knows all too well that his beginning and end are/were out of his control.

 

Nur

[Baashi]

Sage Nur,

 

In order to illustrate the concept of being a follower of Islam, for the sake of simplicity, one can use the analogy of membership of professional society.

 

You see one losses membership if one doesn't pay one's dues and/or one doesn't adhere to the membership rules. That's what being a Muslim comes down to. You either believe in Islamic creed per verbatum or you don't.

 

Yes the author got it right. Kufr, in the final anaylsis, amounts to ingratitude.

[Nur]

Baashi bro writes:

 

Yes the author got it right. Kufr, in the final anaylsis, amounts to ingratitude.

 

 

Indeed! Kufr is the epitome of ingratitude.

 

 

Nur

[Raamsade]

Originally posted by Nur:

Kufr

is the epitome of ingratitude.

 

 

Nur

Ingratitude towards who?

[Nur]

Raamsade asks:

 

Ingratitude towards who?

 

 

Toward The One And Only, who gave you life, sight, hearing, intelligence and created you for the definite purpose of surrendering to His will by following his natural laws, and revealed commandments in the scriptures, of the Torah, Gospel and the Quraan.

 

 

Nur

[Raamsade]

Originally posted by Nur:

Raamsade asks:

 

Ingratitude towards who?

 

 

Toward

The One And Only

, who gave you life, sight, hearing, intelligence and created you for the definite purpose of surrendering to His will by following his natural laws, and revealed commandments in the scriptures, of the Torah, Gospel and the Quraan.

 

 

Nur

But that would make God needy and human-like. A God that needs his "creation" to show gratitude is not a self-sufficient and perfect God. The Quran says God is perfect and self-sufficient. So which is it: the God that takes slight at human ingratitude or the perfect and self-sufficient God?

[Abu-Salman]

Originally posted by Raamsade:

quote:Originally posted by Nur:

Raamsade asks:

 

Ingratitude towards who?

 

 

Toward

The One And Only

, who gave you life, sight, hearing, intelligence and created you for the definite purpose of surrendering to His will by following his natural laws, and revealed commandments in the scriptures, of the Torah, Gospel and the Quraan.

 

 

Nur

But that would make God needy and human-like. A God that needs his "creation" to show gratitude is not a self-sufficient and perfect God. The Quran says God is perfect and self-sufficient. So which is it: the God that takes slight at human ingratitude or the perfect and self-sufficient God?

As usual, we see only what we chose to see, revealing our own pre-conceived assumptions in the process.

 

However convoluted the "logic" (or ,maybe more accurately the self-justification) which leads to the contrary may be, the real purpose of exclusive worship is hardly to fulfill a "need".

In that latter scenario, and stating the obvious, the creation would have been optimised in that sense.

 

Actually, the need for worship, or focalising one's devotion & hopes is inherent to human nature, should you study history in its breadth, regardless of the actual form this may have taken, whether it be towards abstract, inanimate or living pseudo deity (including our soul's whims).

 

What is asked and tested here, or our own raison d-etre, is therefore how dutiful we are to our core responsability on which everything else rest.

 

Yet, although you specifically chose to focus on the Qur'aan, this core requirement was the reason behind all revelations, including those from which no or scant data has survived...

[Nur]

Raamsade saaxib

 

 

You write:

 

But that would make God needy and human-like. A God that needs his "creation" to show gratitude is not a self-sufficient and perfect God. The Quran says God is perfect and self-sufficient. So which is it: the God that takes slight at human ingratitude or the perfect and self-sufficient God?

 

 

Saaxib, Allah says in the Holy Quraan ( Surah Abraham, Verse 8).

 

And Musa (Moses) said: "If you disbelieve, you and all on earth together, then verily! Allah is Rich (Free of all wants), Owner of all Praise."

 

Saaxib, Allah is perfect and has no need from his creatures, but its the creatures who need to connect with their creator in the form of obedience and following His natural and revealed laws.

 

As an illustration, in our secular world, as an individual, you need to conform to the common laws that guarantee peace in a community. These laws can be laws that prohibit drinking while driving ( Except for Camel Milk, which is encouraged by eNuri) or inhaling drugs, or stealing others properties, or lying to a jury and to the whole world for greed purposes, and so on.

 

As you can see saaxib, we benefit from our surrender to Allah, He has no need, no son, no gratitude, no worship, and you Raamsade and your ilk, ( and you are a many) are a living proof that your Kufr and denial is not taking away anything from Allah's self sufficiency and Absolute Sovereignty over His creatures, but you are in dire need to call it quits and bow down in surrender saaxib and you know it. The sooner, the better, and this is a caring advice from your Paesano.

 

 

Nur

[Raamsade]

Originally posted by Abu-Salman:

As usual, we see only what we chose to see, revealing our own pre-conceived assumptions in the process.

No preconceived assumptions here, just calling out the blatant contradiction.

 

This thread offered an understanding of the word Kufr. In the original post, the etymology of the word Kufr was analyzed and a context for its use was provided. The analysis reached the conclusion that Kufr describes one who turned his back on his Creator or showed ingratitude. But there is a glaring problem with this conclusion.

 

God of Islam (along with Christianity and Judiasm and perhaps other religions as well) is said to be perfect in every sense of the word and in need of nothing including gratitude. A perfect God can not, by dint of pure logic, need a display of gratitude from his creation. That is what being Perfect entails. Either God is not perfect in which case He requires a show of gratitude from his creation or He is perfect and in no need of gratitude. It's either one or the other. But you can't have both at the same time.

 

This much is obvious to any rational person. It's just that those bound by religious dogma can not accept the obvious truth. This is the terrible price religious dogma exacts on the faithful.

 

 

Originally posted by Abu-Salman:

Yet, although you specifically chose to focus on the Qur'aan, this core requirement was the reason behind all revelations,

including those from which no or scant data has survived...

What revelations are you referring to in the last part? If no data survived, how do you know they even existed?

[Raamsade]

Originally posted by Nur:

Saaxib, Allah is perfect and has no need from his creatures, but its the creatures who need to connect with their creator in the form of obedience and following His natural and revealed laws.

This rationalization is a clear abdication of reasoning and complete submission to religious dogma. In other words, it is total concession of the debate to me since you have provided no substantive response to what I've written. All we get above is a mangled rationalization of why God is perfect but is also needy.

 

This rationalization is so feeble that it only survived for a about a paragraph because by the third paragraph you write: "you Raamsade and your ilk, ( and you are a many) are a living proof that your Kufr and denial... but you are in dire need to call it quits and bow down in surrender saaxib and you know it. The sooner, the better, and this is a caring advice from your Paesano"

 

... So God is now needy and requires my surrender?

 

As the above quotation shows, there is a consequences for not worshiping God. Not only does God need gratitude from us but if we don't worship him and show Him gratitude we risk burning in hell for eternity.

 

As I wrote to Abu-Salman, the attributes of God (perfections, self-sufficiency etc) and what is asserted He demands of his creation can not be rationally reconciled. And no amount of mental yoga will change that.

[Nur]

Raamsade

 

Your write:

 

"This rationalization is a clear abdication of reasoning and complete submission to religious dogma"

 

You should read your words again and again saaxib, you are very much describing your reasoning. Reminding you for the last time, I wrote that Allah does not need His creatures, and that His creatures need Him. But you chose to understand that this statement means that Allah needs to be worshiped, how absurd a comprehension saaxib?

 

Let me ask you a simple question. Unless you are beginning to doubt your own Atheism, If you believe that you have created yourself and that there is no purpose in life, and that the universe began as a freak accident, then, why does it matter to you what God is and what not?

 

Frankly, if I was in your shoes, I wouldn't have bothered that kind of question before I resolve the more basic issue of the possibility of existence of a God who created you and the Universe which you have dodged in our last discussion.

 

 

Nur

[Abu-Salman]

Just like one needs to master common primitives before attempting the integration of several variables, we first have to ponder on and consider the force behind creation.

 

That extensive contemplation and analysis of the creation in all its diversity is precisely the invitation offered in the Qur'aan; only after establishing for yourself the necessary existence of a creator, could we therefore come to terms with his attributes and qualities.

 

It happens that I currently possess Arabic literature specifically explicating the parts of the Qur'aan that may seems ambiguous or contradictory for those of us not yet proficient and would happily part with it along other surplus, should you PM some details in all confidentiality...

[xiinfaniin]

Originally posted by Raamsade:

 

This thread offered an understanding of the word Kufr. In the original post, the etymology of the word Kufr was analyzed and a context for its use was provided. The analysis reached the conclusion that Kufr describes one who turned his back on his Creator or showed ingratitude. But there is a glaring problem with this conclusion.

 

God of Islam (along with Christianity and Judiasm and perhaps other religions as well) is said to be perfect in every sense of the word and in need of nothing including gratitude. A perfect God can not, by dint of pure logic, need a display of gratitude from his creation. That is what being Perfect entails. Either God is not perfect in which case He requires a show of gratitude from his creation or He is perfect and in no need of gratitude. It's either one or the other. But you can't have both at the same time.

 

This much is obvious to any rational person. It's just that those bound by religious dogma can not accept the obvious truth. This is the terrible price religious dogma exacts on the faithful.

Raamka, requiring gratitude does not necessarily suggest that God is in need of one’s appreciation. That requirement is simply a mere test case. From Islamic theology life in its entirety is test given for you. A bigger theological question would be why test at all. Perhaps it’s to see who is wise with his choices---a test after all is to gouge one’s ability to select few options from many.