Basically, kafir means a denier. The word kafir has never been used in the Quran to mean either an unbeliever or an infidel. In fact, this term was applied solely to contemporaries of the Prophet, in particular, to people from the tribe of the Quraysh (chapter 109). The Prophet peacefully conveyed to them the divine message over a long period of time, but they refused to accept the truth of his words. The use of the word kafir for anyone other than the contemporaries of the Prophet is not, therefore, permissible.. The most important thing to be grasped on this subject is that the word kafir denotes an individual rather than a certain race or community. It is in no way a an appellation for a group. However, the generally held view is that those who are not Muslims are kafirs. This is an entirely baseless supposition. The word kafir is not synonymous with non-Muslim. According to Islam, the truth is that those who are not Muslims are simply human beings (insaan). We must look at them from that angle, rather than necessarily classify them as kafirs or non-Muslims. The right way, according to Islam, is to call each community or group by the name it has adopted for itself. For instance, America will be called America rather than the country of the Kafirs and so on.