Kāfir in the Qur’ān: Meanings and implications for coexistence between Muslims and non-Muslims

Kāfir in the Qur’ān generally translates as “unbeliever” and brings along many thorny problems between Muslims and non- Muslims who live together in the same country. The word is oftentimes used by fanatic groups as a pretext for their violent practices against non-Muslims Applying a double context theory is the method to be used in this research, i.e.: Reading the Qur’ānic text within its historical context during the revelation and thereafter to re-read it within our contemporary context. In the meantime, we shall take the holistic purposes of Qur’ān and its ratio legis into consideration. The purpose of this dissertation is to unveil, describe and analyse the various meanings of the word kāfir in the Qur’ān and to contextualise these in a modern historical context from which we may derive new theological, epistemological and social insights.