The US secretary of defense, Pete Hegseth, has grabbed the spotlight for the wrong reason! Hegseth has a tattoo written in the Arabic word “kafir,” meaning “infidel” or “non-believer.” The tattoo was spotted in recent photos posted on social media including one from July 2024. The word “kafir” is used in Islam to represent someone who rejects or denies the faith, and its appearance on Hegseth’s body has raised concerns.
The tattoo has sparked backlash online and raised concerns about diversity and equality, especially since the US military includes thousands of Muslim service members. People claim that the tattoo is not just a personal sign of belief but a way of signaling Islamophobia.
As per The Guardian, the saying reflects anti-muslim vibes, especially for someone like Pete Hegseth, who oversees US military operations. In addition, Nerdeen Kiswani, a pro-Palestinian activist, said that the word has been weaponized by far-right Islamophobes and used to vilify Muslims, emphasizing that Hegseth’s beliefs could influence military policy and interventions targeting Muslim-majority countries.
“This isn’t just a personal choice; it’s a clear symbol of Islamophobia from the man overseeing US wars,” said Kiswami in her post on X (formerly Twitter). Nihad Awad, Executive Director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), also criticized the tattoo, suggesting that it represented both hostility towards Muslims and other such targeted communities.
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This incident isn’t the first time Pete Hegseth has raised eyebrows for his controversial Arabic tattoo; he also has other tattoos associated with “crusader aesthetics,” including “Deus Vult” (Latin for “God wills it”), a battle cry from the Crusades, and a Jerusalem cross.
The defense secretary allegedly faces accusations of being a heavy drinker, infidelity, sexual abuse, and misconduct. However, he has denied all the claims and revealed that faith has made him a changed man.
In 2023, Hegseth and his family moved from New Jersey to Tennessee, where they joined a church and school community connected to Christian Reconstructionism. This Sect of Christianity advocates for a theocratic society governed by biblical law.
Kicked off the day alongside the warriors of SDVT-1 at @JointBasePHH. These SEALs are the tip of the spear, masters of stealth, endurance, and lethality. America’s enemies fear them—our allies trust them. Proud to spend time with America’s best. pic.twitter.com/a7nenKpCuY
— Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth (@SecDef) March 25, 2025
On the other hand, as per the Bridge Initiative, Islamophobia is the extreme fear, hatred, and hostility towards people who follow the Muslim religion and limit their rights. These include social and political discrimination and the promotion of hate speech and crimes against them.
While many people think Islamophobia means sharing the practice of the Muslim religion altogether, in reality, it is Islamophobic for criticism of Islam to be generated for the only objective of advocating social and political measures that discriminate against and violate the rights of Muslims.
As per some reports, there has been a substantial rise in the cases of Islamophobia in the US, which stemmed from the 9/11 terrorist attack in 2001. Moreover, the October 7, 2023 Hamas attack. Between October 7 and November 4, the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) recorded 1,283 requests for help and reports of bias. In contrast, during an average 29-day period in 2022, only 406 complaints were recorded.
“American Muslims are facing the largest wave of Islamophobic bias we’ve documented since the 2015 announcement of then-candidate Donald Trump’s Muslim Ban,” said Corey Saylor, CAIR’s Research and Advocacy Director. Despite George W. Bush’s trying to ease tension after the 9/11 attack, Women wearing hijabs (headscarves) became easy targets since they could be publicly identified as Muslims.
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Although Muslims make up only about 1.3% of the US population (roughly 4.45 million individuals), they represent a growing community, particularly in New York State, home to the nation’s largest Muslim population. With the current chaos in the political scene in America, Muslims are in the most danger. They could be the victims of not only messy deportation policies but all other kinds of injustice.
