39:32-Note of Sam-"al kāfirūn"(2:19)
39:32-Note of Sam-"al kāfirūn"(2:19) ।।। Arabic: al kāfirūn. Typically rendered the unbelievers. See note to 2:19 and Notepad II.iii-sam. . Qur’anic definition: al kāfirūn. Typically rendered the unbelievers, the rejecters, or the infidels. Verses 2:8-20 focus upon a single term — al kāfirūn — and, according to my analysis, define it. To claim al kāfirūn as the unbelievers, the rejecters, or the infidels as per the Traditionalist’s contention may be right in a highly specialised sense, but that sense is now long lost. The Qur’anic definition restores and revives the term fully. Of the terms defined in the first pages of al baqarah it is al kāfirūn which is treated most comprehensively; perhaps because it is precisely this category of person which is most pernicious and destructive. Verses 2:8-20, then, comprehensively fix the correct definition of al kāfirūn which may be summarised (based on the Qur’anic treatment) as follows: they claim to believe in God when they are not am...