I was recently talking with a client who said that he has a friend who was trying to re-connect with Islam this Ramadan and thought, “What better place to start, than the Quran?”
Granted, this person will have to read a watered down English translation and not the original, inimitably beautiful Arabic, but still, it should be all good, right?
The problem with Quran translations is that even one word misplaced can completely change the experience of the reader and their connection with Allah.
And there are a lot of bad English translations of the Quran out there. And, in recent decades, there have been some really good ones. But even the good ones translate some words in ways that can be very misleading to a native English speaker and someone who ‘thinks’ like a Westerner.
And one of the worst examples of this, which I personally believe has lead to a lot of confusion and rejection of Islam, completely innocently, is the word:
“KAFIR.”
The most common way of translating this word into English is “disbeliever.”
You might assume this is correct and never question it, because that’s the way it’s often translated. But, the Arabic word kafir is much deeper, richer and more nuanced than “disbeliever,” and this translation is, in my humble, but accurate opinion, completely misleading.
The main reason I don’t like this translation is because if you are not a Muslim and you read the Quran for the first time, you’ll naturally assume it is talking about YOU when it says “disbeliever” – as if it simply means “non-Muslim.”
This is very off-putting, because it then appears that the Quran is calling you an evil person who is definitely going to Hell and deserves it… just for being born into a different part of the world, through no fault of your own.
In other words, it looks to the innocent reader as though God is unjust, which is the complete opposite of reality.
Rest assured, this translation, or the meaning that comes to mind from it, is absolutely incorrect and a total misunderstanding… although I appreciate the efforts of the translators and I can see where they were coming from.
And, with all due respect to the translators, the mistake here is in the translation itself – especially when it appears for the first time a few sentences into the Quran, with no explanation or footnote clarifying its true meaning.
Imagine reading, for the first time, a few sentences into the Quran:
“As for those who disbelieve, it’s the same whether you warn them or not – they will not believe. God has sealed their hearts and their ears, and their eyes are covered. They will have great torment.”
Wait… What? Isn’t that a bit harsh? What did I do to deserve that?
That would be (and was!) my first reaction when I first read the Quran in English about 30 years ago.
My challenge to you, is to discover what the word ‘kafir’ really means by reading what follows – then return to the verse above and see if it makes more sense with one of the other meanings.
What Does “Kafir” Really Mean?
When the Quran uses the term kafir, it is not talking about somebody who is innocently seeking the truth but hasn’t come across the logical proofs for Islam yet.
It’s talking about the most evil people ever – figures like the Pharaoh, who killed the firstborn child of every Jewish family, or Abu Lahab, the one who persecuted people who followed the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) and declared their belief in one God.
Interestingly, in the Quran, Satan himself is called a kafir – which is ironic, because he absolutely knows God exists and is not an atheist or a ‘dis-believer’.
The linguistic meaning of kafir is actually “one who is ungrateful.” It is the exact opposite of “Shakir” – one who is grateful.
In Laleh Bakhtiar’s translation, The Sublime Quran, she maintains this more nuanced translation throughout, and it is very enlightening. If every time you see the word ‘kafir’, you think of a person who is ungrateful to the point where their heart is so diseased that they are driven to evil actions that harm people, you will be much closer to the truth.
This translation is also beneficial for all believers, because it drills home the importance of gratitude and gets us to focus on being more appreciative of God’s blessings.
OTHER MEANINGS
Another meaning of the root word ‘kafara’ is ‘to cover’. Literally, to hide, conceal, or cover up the truth. The idea is that the ‘kafir’ recognises the truth, but then due to arrogance or other internal spiritual diseases, rejects it, hides it or hides from it, because the truth doesn’t appear to be in their favour.
Some linguists have even attempted to draw a connection between the Arabic word ‘Kafir’ and the English word ‘cover’. However, you never see it translated as ‘those who cover up truth’, probably because that’s too clunky given how frequently it appears in the Quran.
The other hall mark of ‘kufr’ (the verbal noun from which ‘kafir’ is derived) is that the person has such a depth of spiritual disease, that they’re led into harmful actions.
In the Quranic paradigm, there isn’t such a thing as a ‘good’ kafir. Just as there’s no such thing as a believer who doesn’t do good actions.
That’s why the Quran makes it clear that ‘kafirs’ definitely go to Hell and true believers who do good, definitely go to Heaven. It doesn’t seem to be talking about your average Joe Bloggs non-Muslim mate… it appears to be more about the Epstein class of baby-killing satan-worshipers.
After much reflection, with all this background, I’ve come to settle on the simplest translation of ‘kufr’ as simply being ‘evil’, which would make ‘kafir’ translate as ‘evil one’.
This is instantly understandable by everyone, upon the first reading.
This is not a perfect translation either – especially when historical situations are given in the Quran where it’s referring to people who were opposing the Prophet & trying to kill him and his followers (but then again, that still sounds pretty evil to me!). It also misses out on the nuance of ingratitude, arrogance and recognising then concealing the truth… but again, these traits are all clearly spiritual diseases that fall on the ‘evil’ side of the good-versus-evil equation.
So, for me, ‘evil’ it is.
Hope this clears it up for someone who’s struggling to connect with the Quran.
On a brighter note, if you want to go in the opposite direction of ‘kufr’ and become the most spiritually aware version of yourself, you’ll probably have a blast being part of “The Spiritual Switch Coaching Program”
More details on that here:
