The Plural of Kafir: Understanding the Difference Between Kafirun, Kuffar, and More

The question of which plural form of Kafir (كافِر) to use in Arabic might seem straightforward, but it actually involves nuanced distinctions and can even carry political undertones.

This article details the various plural forms of “Kafir”, the Arabic word for “unbeliever,” including Kafirun (كافِرُون), Kuffar (كُفّار), and others, while also exploring related intensifying forms and their specific meanings.

Let’s see what options we have.

We will start with two common plural forms:

Kuffar or Kafirun – a matter of taste

Many Islamic preachers in the West prefer Kuffar (كُفّار) over Kafirun/Kaafiroun (كافِرُون) in their speeches because the doubling of the consonant f, especially when combined with foreign languages – English or Ger­man – gives the word a special accentuation.

So, let’s take a look at the various plural forms of Kafir, the Arabic word for unbeliever.

The DNA of the word kafir

Let’s put the word under the microscope:

• A Kafir (كافِر) is a male person who denies or does not acknowledge the favors or benefits of Allah.
• Kafira (كافِرة) is the feminine form.
• Both forms are the active participle of the verb kafara (كَفَرَ).

Three possibilities to form the plural of Kafir

These are the three options:

1. Masculine plural: Kafirun (كافِرُون) or Kuffar (كُفّار)
2. Feminine plural: Kawafir (كَوافِرُ) or Kafirat (كافِرات)
3. Masculine OR feminine plural (same form!): Kafara (كَفَرة)

According to some scholars, the first two plural forms describe a disbeliever or someone who denies Allah – whereas the last form (3) is used in the sense of being ungrateful to Allah.

There are forms which look almost the same and have only one dif­ferent vowel – but have a slightly different, mostly intensifying mean­ing.

Not every “unbeliever” is just an “unbeliever”

Arabic knows more possibilities than just the active participle (اِسْم فاعِل) to express this. In Arabic grammar, the following two forms are called an exaggerated form (صِيغة مُبالَغة).

The form كَفُور

A  Kafur (كَفُور) is an intensive epithet which expresses very ungrate­ful or un­thankful to Allah. It is found, for example, in a verse of sura 11 Hūd (سُورة هُود) – verse 11:9

(Alternative translation: And if We give man a taste of mercy from Us and then We withdraw it from him, indeed, he is despairing and ungrateful.)

Note that Kafar (كَفُور), as mentioned before, can be feminine or masculine because they have the same form in both genders. Its plural form is Kufur (كُفُرٌ) for both masculine and femin­ine.

The form كَفّار

The word Kaffar (كَفّار) – not Kuffār, notice the vowel a (فَتْحة) at the beginning – has a more intensive signification than Kafur (كَفُور) and expresses habitu­ally ungrateful.

It is used in Sura 14 ’Ibrāhīm (سُورة إِبْراهِيم) – verse 14:34.

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