Kaffir

Kafir

Kaafir (or Kafir; plural Kuffar or Kuffaar) is an Arabic word meaning denier or concealer. In a religious context it is often used to mean infidel, unbeliever, i.e., a non-Muslim. Strictly speaking, the correct use of the word kafir in Islamic theology does not include either Christians or Jews, for example, who are covered by the term Ahl-e-Kitab, or "People of the Book", because they are considered recipients of divine revelation from Allah. Militant modern Muslims, however, often do not make the distinction in their rhetoric and do often use it to include these religious communities.

In some cultural settings Kafir, like all derogratory terms, becomes a function of pride in one's culture. The ancient Hindus, for example, considered all who did not follow Vedic religion as mleechas, which is similar in derogatory connotations as a Kafir.

Kuffaar is also used less loosely by more militant Muslims to represent the enemy of Muslims who are... "doomed to Hell eternally".

Kaffir

The word Kaffir (or Keffir, usually pronouced with the longer "f" consonant), was also used by White Afrikaaner settlers in South Africa as a highly derogatory term for native Africans. It is a counterpart of the North American word nigger. The source of this usage is disputed. It may derive from a Dutch term for 'beetle', possibly merged with the Muslim word, as applied by Arabs to non-Muslim Africans in the south of the continent. However it has also been suggested that it comes from the Hebrew word for village, "kafar" or "kefar".

Because both the Muslim and White African usages are pejorative, the term Kaffir is often considered to be a culturist, and racist term.

In South Africa, while the term is still seen as too wounding and offensive for appropriation by black South Africans - in the way that "nigger" has come to be used as a casual term of endearment in black hip-hop culture - "Kaffir" was used in 1995 as the title of a hit song by the Johannesburg Kwaito artist, Arthur Mafokate.

The lyrics included a plea to white South Africans to drop the term from their vocabulary for good: "I don't come from the devil, don't call me a kaffir, you won't like it if I call you baboon".

The word is also used to stinging effect in the title of "Kaffir Boy", the autobiography of Mark Mathabane, who grew up in the black township of Alexandra, travelled to America on a tennis scholarship, and became a successful author in his adoptive homeland.

In the culinary arts, Kaffir is also a variety of lime, the Kaffir lime leaves typically used in Thai cooking.

Kafir (beverage)

Kafir ( Kafyr, Kefir ) is a fermented dairy beverage similar to yogurt, but more liquid in consistency. It is made by fermenting milk using Kafir grains, which are live microbial colonies consisting of lactic acid bacteria, streptococci, and yeasts in a polysaccaride matrix. It was traditionally made in leather bags by nomads from the Caucasus Mountains. de:Kufr fr:Kufr