Abstract
This thesis is an analysis of how the derived forms from the Arabic root ‘ ك-ف-ر ’, translated as to disbelieve and disbelievers, is used in the Qur’ān. The purpose of this thesis is to determine what it means to disbelieve and to be a disbeliever, through analyzing verses of the Qur’ān and examining the verses through the use of tafsīr, hadith, the Asbāb al-Nuzūl, and other forms of prophetic Sunnah. This thesis defines what it means to believe, how the various verbal forms of ‘ ك-ف-ر ’ are used to understand what it means to disbelieve, explore what characteristics are associated with disbelievers, and how the People of the Book, the Jews and Christians, fit into the concept of belief and disbelief.