US defence secretary sparks uproar with ‘Kaafir’ (infidel) tattoo on arm

A tattoo on the right arm of US Defence Secretary Pete Hegstha has sparked a new controversy, on which ‘Kaafir’ is written in Arabic.

The US defence secretary recently visited Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickum in Hawaii, after which he posted a photo on his X account showing a tattoo on his right arm that read ‘Kaafir’ in Arabic.

The image of this tattoo of Pete Hegstha sparked a new debate and controversy and the defence secretary is being accused of promoting Islamophobia.

The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), a representative group of American Muslims, also responded by calling the tattoo a sign of ‘anti-Muslim’.

The council said that writing the tattoo of the Arabic word ‘kaafir’, which primarily refers to a person who deliberately hides or denies basic divine truths, on his body is a sign of both anti-Muslim and personal insecurity.

Social media users also reacted strongly to the photo of this tattoo made on the US defence secretary’s arm.

One Palestinian user, Nerdin Kaswani, wrote, “Hegsath has a kaafir tattoo, a crusader slogan and it is not just a personal choice, but it is a clear sign of Islamophobia by the person overseeing the American wars.”