ing defensive or offensive action (Jihad) against
them as enemies.
One of the earliest quranic statements on this
subject is found in the sura known as Al-Kafirun
(Q 109), which declares, “Say: O disbelievers! I
do not worship what you worship, and you are
not worshipping what I worship.... You have
your religion (din) and I have my religion.”
These verses, which are traditionally associated
with Muhammad’s Meccan revelations, are often
quoted in support of religious tolerance, but
despite this interpretation, their effect is divi-
sive. With the development of the early Muslim
community, the Quran elaborated in more detail
the identities of the disbelievers. They included
those who practiced idolatry, did not accept the
absolute oneness of God, denied that Muhammad
was a prophet, ignored God’s commandments
and “signs” (singular aya), and rejected belief in
a resurrection and final judgment. In some Medi-
nan verses of the Quran, believing Muslims were
instructed to avoid association with disbelievers
(for example, Q 3:28, 118), but other Medinan
passages actually called upon them to “exert”
themselves or fight against them (for example, Q
2:190–193). Disbelievers were even declared to
be the intimate friends of sata n (Q 4:76). In the
afterlife, moreover, disbelievers could expect to
suffer severe punishment in the Fire (for example,
Q 8:50, 21:39).
The Quran referred to Jews and Christians
as people oF the book, or “those who have been
given the book”; that is, members of religious
communities who believed in God, his prophets,
and the earlier scriptures of the torah and the
gospel. As a consequence of their proximity to
Islam, Muslims were permitted to eat the meat of
animals slaughtered by them, and Muslim men
were permitted to marry their Women. However,
reflecting Muhammad’s contacts with Jews and
Christians after the hiJra in 622, as well as divi-
sions and opposition in medina, the Medinan
suras of the Quran began to query the People of
the Book about why they did not believe God’s
signs and why they concealed the truth when they
should have known better (Q 3:70–71). Jews, as
People of the Book, were condemned for their
disbelief in God’s signs and killing of some of the
prophets, including JesUs (for example, Q 4:154–
157). Christians were accused of kufr (unbelief)
because they believed in the Trinity and Jesus as
the son of God, which the Quran considered to
be idolatry (for example, Q 5:73, 171). Above all,
Jews and Christians were faulted for not believing
in the prophethood of Muhammad, even though
they believed in other prophets. Although they
were usually regarded in a different light from the
Meccan idolaters, some verses equated the People
of the Book with the polytheists and promised
them an eternity in hell, except for those who
believed and did good works (Q 98).
Other meanings for words based on the Arabic
root k-f-r are to reject the truth (for example, Q
35:14) and to be ungrateful, especially to God for
his blessings (for example, Q 16:55; 30:34). The
ideas of rejection and ingratitude, therefore, were
linked in quranic discourse to that of disbelief.
The word takfir, based on the same Arabic
root, was introduced in the post-quranic period
with the meaning “to accuse another of disbelief
and infidelity.” This was first done by the kha-
WariJ, a sectarian group that accused any Muslim
who committed a major sin of being a kafir. With
the creation of Muslim empires comprised of large
non-Muslim majorities, absolute condemnation of
outsiders as disbelievers contradicted the priori-
ties of maintaining the social order under Muslim
rule. People of the Book, therefore, were given
certain protections under Islamic law. According
to the sharia, they were dhimmis (protected peo-
ples). This occurred not only in the Middle East,
but also in South Asia, where Hindus were also
considered dhimmis under the rule of the delhi
sUltanate and the mUghal dynasty. Accusations
of infidelity were directed against non-Muslims
living in lands that were not under Muslim con-
trol (dar al-harb) and against Muslims who in
one way or another diverged from the normativekafir 421 J