Is kaffir a racist slur?

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Sometime back we discussed the question ‘Is Paki a racist slur’ after Prince Harry was reported as using the term. . . . http://www.islamicboard.com/world-affairs/134276976-paki-racist-slur.html.

Notwithstanding the fact that Paki literally means person from Pakistan as Brit means person from Briton, the consensus was that it was a racist slur because it had been adopted by racists as a derogatory term.

Applying that logic, does it not follow that it is wrong to use the word kaffir (of kufr) as opposed to non-believer. It is undeniable that those pushing hatred and intolerance use that word as a racist slur. Personally, I feel offended when it is directed against me and my country and I form a view of the person using that term rather than non-believer. Or is it one rule for some and another rule for others?
 
Didnt know unbelievers were of a particular race..... could you point it out for me ?
 
racist? no

disrespectful? , not realy , but I think it depends on the tone you say it.
 
Kafir = Non muslim. As zakir naik said. And kufr is not a race as antikaratekid said so it can't be considered racism.

If one does not want to be called a kafir (non muslim) then the solution is simple.
 
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Thinker said:
Sometime back we discussed the question ‘Is Paki a racist slur’ after Prince Harry was reported as using the term. . . . http://www.islamicboard.com/world-affairs/134276976-paki-racist-slur.html.

Notwithstanding the fact that Paki literally means person from Pakistan as Brit means person from Briton, the consensus was that it was a racist slur because it had been adopted by racists as a derogatory term.

Applying that logic, does it not follow that it is wrong to use the word kaffir (of kufr) as opposed to non-believer. It is undeniable that those pushing hatred and intolerance use that word as a racist slur. Personally, I feel offended when it is directed against me and my country and I form a view of the person using that term rather than non-believer. Or is it one rule for some and another rule for others?
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'Unbelievers' are not a race in and of themselves.

Some people do spit venom with the word 'Kafir', so yes, depending on how the speaker is using it, it can (and is, from some speakers) a slur. Not a racist one though. Still as rude, and offensive, the way certain people use it.
 
Perhaps we should use the term non believer while conversing in english to avoid confusion, there is no word for muslim other than muslim, but kaffir is taken to mean unbeliever etc.
To note, kaffir in arabic originally could mean farmer or night, the root is kafr, which means to cover. for farmer, it is taken from the act of burying the seeds, the metaphor for non believer being he hides/buries his faith in God and so on and so forth.
In Egypt and other arab countries some places and towns start with the name kafr, such as kafr ash-shaikh. This had nothing to do with the inhabitants beliefs though, rather a town 'covers' it's people.

most groups have words used to define/attack 'others', so it's not a big deal either way, note that most people don't use it to insult, it is used more as a description, although it does imply a lesser status.
 
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Salaam

Kuffar isnt a racist a slur - its what it is - non believer nothing to do with race - its your own choice to be a kaffir.
 
Like everyone said, "kaffirs" don't belong to a certain race, so it isn't a racial slur.

The actual word in arabic isn't derogatory at all, it simply refers to someone who is not muslim. However, like lots of words, it has gained many negative connotations over the years. I agree with everyone else, it depends on the way it is said. One can usually tell whether a certain word was meant as an insult, or not, be it "kaffir", or a different word.
 
Do you get upset when Jews refer to you as a "goy" or "gentile" I think it should only matter if you adhere to a faith and being cast out by its members as such, if you naturally don't care to subscribe to religion I don't see how it could possibly upset you. Contrast that with calling a black person the N word or a Hispanic person the S word.. a slur is meant to be disparaging, whereas being called a kaffir or goy is simply a state of being like 'agnostic' or 'atheist'

peace
 
alcurad said:
Perhaps we should use the term non believer while conversing in english to avoid confusion, there is no word for muslim other than muslim, but kaffir is taken to mean unbeliever etc.
To note, kaffir in arabic originally could mean farmer or night, the root is kafr, which means to cover. for farmer, it is taken from the act of burying the seeds, the metaphor for non believer being he hides/buries his faith in God and so on and so forth.
In Egypt and other arab countries some places and towns start with the name kafr, such as kafr ash-shaikh. This had nothing to do with the inhabitants beliefs though, rather a town 'covers' it's people.

most groups have words used to define/attack 'others', so it's not a big deal either way, note that most people don't use it to insult, it is used more as a description, although it does imply a lesser status.
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mm
we could use words like mol7id or 3ilmani but I imagine that would create even more confusion :smile:

:w:
 
kaffir is an arabic word mean non believer.

the opposite of the arabic word Mu'min (believer)

so it has nothing to do with racism
 
Greetings,

If we consider the word 'unbeliever' - it might not always be accurate to use because even an atheist has a belief. If 'unbeliever' implies that the person does not hold any belief, or at least not one worth being considered as the true belief, wouldn't this make it offensive?

Moreover, I think terms like "Islamist", "Islamic terrorist", "Fundamentalist", "Islamic Extremist", "Radical" - and all the rest of these meaningless words which seem to have only yesterday been conjured up - are much more offensive than what we are currently discussing.
 
Whats the exact meaning of the word kaffir, just an unbeliever or something else?
Personally I don't find it offensive, though it all these arabic terms in an Eglish discussion sometimes annoy me.
 
OK I accept the ‘racist’ slip up which I unthinkingly included because of the analogy with the ‘Paki’ question. The word racist came into use at a point in time when someone (correctly) identified it as something that should be avoided to the point of making it illegal. Whilst unbelievers are not a race, there are lots of non-racial groups who have been identified as groups to which certain descriptive words are unacceptable. An example is ‘spastic’ which came to be used as a form of insult and which is offensive to spastics, to the extent that (in the UK) spastics are no longer called spastics. So if we can get past the defence mechanism, I would suggest that the term kuffar, when directed at non-Muslims, is used in an offensive sense even if that is only because it suggests that the kuffar are in some way inferior exactly the reason ‘Paki’ is unacceptable.
 
^too much political correctness does that to you sometimes,,
by banning such words, the 'offensiveness' increases, words which were not so commonly thought of as insults are now considered by most of society as such, and new terms are coined anyway. this is a very ineffective way not to mention one that enforces bigotry by accepting the worse usage of otherwise normal slang words.
n----r is one of the most used words in hip hop/rap for example, yet those who listen to these songs don't complain,,
 
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alcurad said:
^too much political correctness does that to you sometimes,,
by banning such words, the 'offensiveness' increases, words which were not so commonly thought of as insults are now considered by most of society as such, and new terms are coined anyway. this is a very ineffective way not to mention one that enforces bigotry by accepting the worse usage of otherwise normal slang words.
n----r is one of the most used words in hip hop/rap for example, yet those who listen to these songs don't complain,,
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It doesn't mean what it used to mean.
 
If u dont like being called a Kafir then become a Muslim! Its pretty simple. If you are not a Muslim then you ARE a Kafir and thats what you believe is the right thing.
Atheists and Agnostics chose to disbelieve. So why would u care if you are called a Kafir(Non-Believer).
 
Shakoor15 said:
If u dont like being called a Kafir then become a Muslim! Its pretty simple. If you are not a Muslim then you ARE a Kafir and thats what you believe is the right thing.
Atheists and Agnostics chose to disbelieve. So why would u care if you are called a Kafir(Non-Believer).
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Kaffir is often used as an offensive term to degenerate other people. It shouldnt be surpricing that people "care" and respond to insults.
 
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