Three Kinds of Kufr

One of the recurring themes, then, is the dominance of Allah, and many examples are given to show the weakness and helplessness of man. Allah (swt) speaks of a man's vulnerability in sleep, in verse 60 for instance: that he might simply die in his sleep. The answering questions run thus: they will ask you who owns all that is in the heavens and the earth; or you may ask them who owns all that is in the heavens and the earth.

Consider the matter. Many of the mushrikīn — there are three kinds of kufr. The first is the kufr of ignorance: a man simply does not know. Hence he says, "I do not believe it, because I have no knowledge of it in any case." The second is where a man knows, deep within, and yet does not believe, having a stronger attachment to something else: my parents' religion, or my culture, matters more. People meet with this in various ways in their lives. They know a thing to be true, yet are unwilling to say so, having other weights upon the mind which they cannot be troubled with, or have no time for, or cannot face for fear. Hence there is kufr al-jahl, kufr al-ʿinād and kufr al-juḥūd. The third is where a man knows with certainty and yet obstinately refuses. So one rejects out of ignorance; or one rejects by mere denial, having no wish to think upon it; and the third is that one knows, and rejects out of obstinacy. There are, then, different degrees.

Many of these people — and there were different degrees among the people of Makkah also. Among them were some in whose hearts Islam already lay; they knew it to be true. So ʿAmr ibn al-ʿĀṣ said that when he heard Jaʿfar's recitation in Abyssinia, the seed of Islam entered his heart. Yet he was a delegate of the people of Makkah; he was set against the Muslims; he did not believe then. It took some years for that seed to germinate, and at length he became a Muslim.

Allah (swt) therefore says a great many things which they know inherently — which they know to be true. Many inherent facts, which are of real help; and, mā shāʾ Allāh, the uslūb of the Qur'an here is wonderful. It is a powerful sūrah. If a man has a friend who is thinking upon these things, let him read this to him; let him learn it himself, that he may speak to him in those same terms. It is a wonderful sūrah for daʿwah.

The survey moves quickly until it comes to a principal account, that of Ibrāhīm (peace be upon him). Ibrāhīm (peace be upon him) features very strongly there, and his faith in particular: how he came to discover faith; his journey; and the whole matter of his father — that if a man must give up his father for the sake of true faith, there is the example of it in Ibrāhīm (peace be upon him). A number of other prophets are then mentioned. This is a rapid survey; as has been said, it is a sūrah that must be read for oneself.