Interfaith, not infidel
By Iftekhar Hai

IN my 15 years as an interfaith peace activist, I have been asked one question over and over again: Who are the “kafirs” — “infidels” — condemned in the Quran? Are they Christians, Jews, Hindus, Buddhists, Sikhs, atheists?”

The first few times I heard this question, I was floored. I hesitated. I stumbled, stammered and staggered, “Oh, they are not Christians or Jews. The Quran refers to them as ‘People of the Book.’” One kind Episcopalian audience did not pressure me for a deeper answer, and I breathed a sigh of relief, happy to walk off that “Understanding Islam” lecture — though a lot more confused.

Unacceptable answer

In order to be declared a Muslim, one must say, “There is one God, and Mohammed is His messenger.” I was always told by Islamic religious scholars that anyone who does not accept Mohammed is a kafir. But I could not accept that answer — I knew something was wrong.

All over the Quran, it says anyone who believes in God is a believer, and that people can take any messenger as an example to live their life. In my childhood, Father D’Souza of St. Joseph’s High School in Bombay, India, had told me that Christians believe in God and emulate Jesus in their life. Yet for years, I could not find a single imam or Islamic religious scholar to sign on to a statement that, “It is not necessary for any believer in God to take Prophet Mohammed as His last messenger to be a believer.”
Seeking compromise

I embarked on a decade-long research trip, asking Islamic scholars all over the world how one defines a kafir, in hopes of building bridges of understanding among religions.
We have concluded that the word “kafir” is derived from the Arabic root words kaf, fay and ray — “kufr” which means to cover, conceal or hide with the intention of misleading or misinforming. Just as sophisticated, premeditated perjury can become treason; a kafir can be considered someone who has committed treason against an overwhelmingly explained, omnipotent God.

The intentional deceit must be proven beyond doubt in order for someone to be classified as an infidel. Therefore, people who never had the opportunity to learn about God, and therefore remain ignorant, cannot rightfully be called kafirs.

Furthermore, Christians, Jews, Hindus, Buddhists, Sikhs and other religious followers say, “I believe in God.” So, it is not for any Muslim, scholar, imam or mullah to say that anyone who does not also take Prophet Mohammed as Messenger of God is a kafir. That decision rests only with God, the ultimate judge.

It is blasphemous to collectively accuse people of other faiths of being non-believers, infidels or kafirs. The largest Muslim organization on our continent, the Islamic Society of North America, has now taken that stand in writing.

These reforms are coming from Islamic scholars born or naturalized in the U.S. It is only a matter of time before they spread throughout the world.

Originally published in the San Mateo County Times on January 12, 2005 at http://www.insidebayarea.com/sanmateocountytimes/faith/ci_3395002  reprinted in TAM with permission
copyright 2006 San Mateo County Times
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The author also sent a few of the comments he has received on this article:

Your article published yesterday in the six San Francisco newspapers, and pasted below in this email, succinctly says what Professor Khalid Abou el Fadl has beautifully expanded into a 300-page book, The Great Theft.  My next writing task is to summarize this book, in sha’a Allah, in a twenty-page article for Nasir Shamsi’s _www.al-huda.org_ (http://www.al-huda.org) and to condense this into a talk at the next UMAA convention at the end of May.

As you know, the past fifteen years I have made a policy of staying away from organized Muslim gatherings because they tend to be stifling in their exclusiveness, so I am happy to hear from your article that ISNA under its increasingly superb leadership is breaking out of the puritanical mold that has led to so much extremism around the world, perhaps especially in the White House.

I have always thought that respect for the dignity of the human person depends more than anything else on awareness of God, acceptance of the unique purpose of every person’s life, and recognition that there are many different paths to understand this.  My experience was that only the Qur’an of all the world’s sacred scriptures clearly teaches the wisdom, even though many Christians rise above the doctrine of “salvation only in the Church,” and many Muslims (like the great majority?) sink below the wisdom of the clear Qur’anic teaching on the legitimacy of pluralism in recognizing and submitting to the universality of absolute truth and justice.  The Qur’an is quite specific that only through commitment to a particular path can one reach the awareness of what is universal, and that we will all experience what is the ultimate truth only after we die to this one. 

Dr. Robert D. Crane
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One of CESJ’s core values is that “Nothing should stand between God and the human person.”

I believe that this basic premise is reinforced by your “explosive” article (Interfaith, Not Infidel. You reflect the essence of all religions—respect for the dignity and free will of every human being. That deepens my respect for you and look forward to collaborating with you and Bob to deliver Peace through Justice to America and through America to the world. I’m also delighted to hear that your respect for all religions will be the official position of the Islamic Society of North America. Do you think the leaders and members of ISNA would support the platform of the American Revolutionary Party? (See http://www.americanrevolutionaryparty.us/partyplatform.htm)

Norm Kurland

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Though I agree with you that not all non-Muslims can be called kafirs as some of the Muslims do, I disagree with your interpretation that all atheists (non-believers) can be called kafirs. You correctly mentioned that word kufr means to cover up. My interpretation is that one who recognizes the truth but tries to hide it for his/her arrogance or some vested interests may qualify to be a kafir. An atheist whose conscious tells him that there is God but he refuses to accept it is not the same as that who tries in his all sincerity and still gets the answer from inside that there is no God.  People are born with differences in their intellectual capabilities. What if some one is born with defective intellect? Is God going to punish him simply because of his retarded or defective intellect?

You wrote: “These reforms (new interpretations) are coming from Islamic scholars born or naturalized in the U.S. It is only a matter of time before they spread throughout the world.”

It is good that you added “new interpretation” for reform. Because Islam does not need any reform. By our belief Islam is perfect but some of Muslim practices may not be.
To say that reforms would come only from the U.S. is insult to the scholars in the Muslim world and to all the Muslims at large. It means that Islamic world is so degenerated that it needs to be charged with Western reforms.  These are my personal interpretations and I do not claim to be in possession of an absolute truth. I recognize your right to disagree with me.

Shafi Refai, President of United Muslims of America, CA

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“Thanks for your courageous article.”

I grew up in a church that believed that anyone who did not profess Jesus Christ to be their personal Savior was an infidel, destined for eternal punishment in hell. This belief derived mostly from a preoccupation with verses of the Bible that had an exclusive flavor to the point that the many inclusive passages of the Bible were simply overlooked or ignored. Interestingly, the inclusive passages almost entirely deal with situations where servants of God are asked about the destiny of devout people living outside the understood household of faith. Most of the exclusive passages, on the other hand, are statements that are made to people who already are in the household of faith. From the standpoint of context, it would seem that greater credence be given to a more inclusive view when talking about people of other faiths.

My church has grown over the years to understand that it’s theology is more generous than we once thought. We Christians with a Wesleyan heritage believe in something called “prevailing grace,” which is the presence of God’s Spirit in a person before they come to faith in God. This work of God in people who may have never heard of Jesus Christ or who are devoutly following God through other religions besides Christianity gives us a sense of optimism when we think about their eternal destiny.

So, “when Gentiles, who do not posses the law, do instinctively what the law requires, these, though not having the law, are a law to themselves. They show that what the law requires is written in their hearts” (Romans 2:14-15). And with the apostle Peter, “I truly understand that God shows no partiality, but in every nation anyone who fears God and does what is right is acceptable to him” (Acts 10:34-35).

Rev. Stephen Brown

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