Kafir
in Koran
Total words in Koran 152,006
Total about Kafirs: 97,583
Percentage: 64.0%
Kafir, Mecca = 66,285 Koran Mecca = 97,184 68.2%
Kafir, Medina = 31,287 Koran Medina = 54,822 57.0%
Textual Units
There is a technical problem in measuring the Koranic text. The usual unit in the Koran is the
verse. There is a distinct problem with only using verses to quantify the Koran. A verse is
usually a sentence. We would never attempt to discuss any other ideology by picking a sentence.
We need to study ideas and concepts, not disconnected sentences.
Since the longer Koran chapters (Suras) are a collection of topics, most Korans divide the
chapter into logical idea/topic units or subjects. The most obvious idea unit is the story.
However, there is a unique idea unit in the Koran.
Any reading of the Koran shows that its major topic is the unbeliever, the
kafir. There is a pattern
to these kafir references. There are usually five elements: the exact identification of the kafir,
why they are wrong, the kafir’s
punishment, why Mohammed is right and Allah weighs in to
praise Mohammed. These five elements are defined as the Koranic Argument and are a major
idea or concept unit. Indeed, most all of the stories are Koranic Arguments. (See appendix for
further details.)
Some categories
are obvious, such as retold tales from the Jews. But, the less obvious category is
Koranic persuasion
. The Koran is filled with violent threats against those who do not believe
Mohammed and who did not believe the prophets of Allah in the past. If you highlight the
violent references to the unbelievers, you will find that there are five elements that accompany
the violence:
•
A description of the threat or violence
•
Who
is threatened
•
What they did to deserve the violence
•
How they are wrong
•
Words from Allah
to support his messenger, Mohammed
This entire structure is called “Koranic persuasion” and is repeated again and again. The
repetition is part of the persuasion, just as repetition is necessary to all persuasion campaigns,
e.g
. ads and political campaigns.
The Koran of Mecca is an exact record of what took place in the intellectual and political sphere.
Koranic persuasion is a recording of actual events of debate and persuasion.
In many cases, there
are actual quotes of Mohammed’s opponents. The Koran contains an intimate and exact view of
Arabian history.
The sura (chapter) and Koranic persuasion are two of the natural organizational elements of the
Koran. The element of the verse is useful but it does not allow analysis of ideas and thought.
Koranic persuasion allows easy textual analysis of thought, ideas and theme. As a measure of the
importance
of Koranic persuasion, consider:
Private
teaching
1
Public
Teaching
Meccan–
Argument
Medina
Number of times Koranic
persuasion is used
2
40
65
70
36
Percentage of text devoted
to the Koranic
persuasion
category
70.5%
63.7%
67.2%
12.8%
This data mirrors the history of Mohammed’s life. In the Meccan religious phase, the violence
took the form of threats of punishment that were to occur after death in Hell. Or the mentioned
violence was in ancient history,
i.e. the Pharaoh being destroyed because he would not listen to
Allah’s prophet, Moses. In Mecca the Koranic violence referred to the far future or the distant
past. However, in Medina, there is less talk about Hell, and much more physical violence against
political enemies. The action of jihad replaces the rhetoric of the threat.
Approximately two thirds of the Koran of Mecca is devoted to the Koranic persuasion of
“listen to Mohammed, the prophet of
the only god, Allah, or you will suffer eternal torture in
Hell.” When Mohammed achieved political power, the religious threats became political
reality. The Koranic persuasion of religion in Mecca became the political practice in Medina.
So there are three major idea/concept units used in this study: the verse, the story and the
Koranic Argument. If the story is about how Allah destroyed the city because the city would not
accept the prophet of Allah, then for measurement purposes, the entire story (idea unit) is
counted as being about the kafir.
Mecca
1:1 In the Name of Allah, the Compassionate, the Merciful.
1:2 Praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds. The Compassionate, the Merciful. King of the
Judgment Day.
1:5 Only You do we worship, and to You alone do we ask for help. Keep us on the straight
and narrow path. The path of those that You favor; not the path of those who anger You [the
Jews] nor the path of those who go astray [the Christians].
2
70:22 Not the devout, who pray constantly and whose wealth has a fixed portion set
aside for beggars and the destitute, and those who believe in the Judgment Day, and
those who fear their Lord’s punishment—because no one is safe from their Lord’s
punishment—and who control their sexual desires (except with their wives or slave-girls,
[only kafirs can be enslaved] with them there is no blame; but whoever indulges their lust
beyond this are transgressors), and who keep their trusts and promises, and who tell the
truth, and who are attentive to their prayers. These will live with honors in Gardens.
51:24 Have you heard the story of Abraham’s honored guests? They went to him and said,
“Peace!” And he replied, “Peace, strangers.” And he went among his household and brought
out a fatted calf, and he set it before them and said, “Do you want to eat?” They did not, and
he became afraid of them. They said to him, “Do not be afraid,” and gave him the news that
he was going to father a wise son. Abraham’s wife came forward with a cry, striking her
face, and said, “But I am old and barren!”
51:30 They said, “Your Lord says it is true, and he is wise and knowing.”
51:31 Abraham said, “What errand are you on, messengers?” They replied, “We are sent to
a
wicked people, to shower them with stones of clay, sent by your Lord for their excesses.”
51:35 We went to evacuate the believers in the city, but We only found one Muslim family,
and We left signs warning those who fear the painful punishment. Moses was another sign.
We sent him to Pharaoh with manifest authority. But Pharaoh was confident of his might
and turned his back and said, “You are a magician, or insane.” So We seized him and his
army and cast them into the sea, and he had only himself to blame.
79: 15 Have you heard the story of Moses? How his Lord called to him in the sacred valley
of Tuwa, saying, “Go to Pharaoh. He has rebelled, and say, ‘Do you want to be purified?’
Then I will guide you to your Lord so that you may fear Him.”
79:20 And Moses showed Pharaoh a great miracle. But Pharaoh denied it and disobeyed.
Furthermore, he turned his back and rebelled against Allah. He gathered an army and made a
proclamation, saying, “I am your lord, the most high.” So Allah punished him and made an
example of him in this life and the hereafter. Surely this is a lesson for those who fear Allah.
80:11 No, this [the Koran] is a warning! Let him who is willing, keep this in mind. It is
written on honored pages, exalted and purified, by the hands of scribes, honorable and
righteous.
80:16 Cursed be man! What has made him reject Allah? From what thing did Allah create
him? He created him and molded him from a drop of sperm; then He made an easy path for
him from the womb then caused him to die and put him in his grave. Then when He pleases,
He will resurrect him. But man has not yet fulfilled Allah’s commands.
3