كَافِر disbeliever in Arabic
كَافِر is how you say “disbeliever” in Arabic.
Root ك ف ر k-f-r. noun (active participle). kāfir.
Arabic
English
The audio uses AI voices.
Meaning of disbeliever in Arabic
- disbeliever, unbeliever one who rejects or denies belief in God; opposite of a believer
- one who denies or is ungrateful for a favor extends the verb's sense of concealing or disacknowledging a benefit
Example sentence
اشْتَدَّ الْجِهَادُ وَصَعُبَ الأَمْرُ بِخِلافِ جِهَادِ الْكُفَّارِ
The struggle becomes intense and the matter becomes difficult, unlike the struggle against the disbelievers.
الْكُفَّارِ the disbelievers
al- = 'the'; kuffar means 'disbelievers' (plural) — the 'of…' word: 'against the disbelievers'.
The English is machine-translated.

Practise this word in the app
One tap gives you the meaning, a grammar note and audio.
Add the words you don’t know. Practise them with spaced repetition.
Free. No ads. No subscription.
An account is needed in the app.
How it is used
The root's core sense is physical covering or concealment (covering sown seed, clouds covering the sky); كَافِر extends this to one who "covers over" or denies the truth of God, and by the same logic, one who denies or fails to acknowledge a favor. It is the standard Qur'anic term for a disbeliever, contrasted with a believer (muʾmin).
Words from the same root
More example sentences
الكافر لا يقوم له وزنٌ لأن أعماله لا ترتبط بأصل الحقّ؛
The disbeliever has no weight because his deeds are not connected to the source of truth;
الْكَافِرُ The disbeliever
'the disbeliever', fronted subject, nominative; an active participle (the one who covers over the truth).
أَتَرَى لم يسمع الروافض الكفّار
Do you think the disbelieving rejectors haven't heard?
الْكُفَّارُ the disbelievers
A broken plural 'the disbelievers', a further description of 'the rejectors', nominative to agree — 'the disbelieving rejectors'. It brands them as unbelievers.
ودجالا أفاكا كافرا عند أعدائه،
And a deceitful, lying disbeliever in the view of his enemies.
كَافِرًا a disbeliever
A further coordinated accusative descriptor, a disbeliever, an active participle naming one who rejects faith, indefinite accusative. It completes the trio of harsh labels, all accusative predicates of how he was reckoned.
وأجمعوا على أن من جحد منه حرفا مما أجمع عليه أو زاد حرفا لم يقرأ به أحد وهو عالم بذلك فهو كافر
And they unanimously agree that whoever denies any letter upon which there is consensus or adds a letter not recited by anyone, while being aware, is a disbeliever.
كَافِرٌ a disbeliever
The predicate noun of the result clause, 'a disbeliever', in the nominative as what the offender becomes. Indefinite, it states a category rather than a specific person. It delivers the verdict that the whole conditional was building toward.
فهو كافر بإجماع المسلمين
he is a disbeliever according to the consensus of Muslims.
كَافِرٌ a disbeliever
The predicate noun of the verdict, 'a disbeliever', in the nominative as what the offender is judged to be. Indefinite, it states a category rather than a named person. It delivers the ruling the whole passage built toward.
وكذلك إذا جحد التوراة والانجيل أو كتب الله المنزلة أو كفر بها أو سبها أو استخف بها فهو كافر
Likewise, if one denies the Torah, the Gospel, or the revealed books of Allah, or disbelieves in them, or insults them, or disparages them, he is a disbeliever.
كَافِرٌ a disbeliever
The predicate noun of the verdict, 'a disbeliever', in the nominative as what the offender is judged to be. Indefinite, it states a category, not a named person. It closes the parallel ruling that 'and likewise' set up.
Common questions
- How do you say "disbeliever" in Arabic?
- كَافِر (kāfir).
- What does the root of كافر literally mean?
- The root ك ف ر (kafara) means "to cover or conceal"; a disbeliever is literally one who covers over or denies the truth.
Related words
Definitions summarised from Lane's Arabic-English Lexicon (E. W. Lane, 1863–1893).