Al-Kafr should not be confused with Kafir, Idlib.
| Official Name: | Al-Kafr |
| Native Name: | الكفر |
| Settlement Type: | Village |
| Pushpin Map: | Syria |
| Pushpin Label Position: | bottom |
| Pushpin Mapsize: | 250 |
| Pushpin Map Caption: | Location in Syria |
| Coordinates: | 32.6333°N 36.6417°W |
| Subdivision Type: | Country |
| Subdivision Type1: | Governorate |
| Subdivision Name1: | as-Suwayda |
| Subdivision Type2: | District |
| Subdivision Name2: | as-Suwayda |
| Subdivision Type3: | Subdistrict |
| Subdivision Name3: | as-Suwayda |
| Unit Pref: | Metric |
| Elevation M: | 1360 |
| Population Total: | 7458 |
| Population As Of: | 2004 census |
| Timezone: | EET |
| Utc Offset: | +2 |
| Timezone Dst: | EEST |
| Utc Offset Dst: | +3 |
Al-Kafr (Arabic: الكفر, also spelled al-Kefr) is a village in as-Suwayda Governorate in southern Syria. It is located 8 km to the southeast of as-Suwayda. It is known for its forest and good wine, and it was the site of a number of battles during the 19th and 20th centuries. According to the Syria Central Bureau of Statistics, al-Kafr had a population of 7,458 in the 2004 census.[1]
Modern-day al-Kafr was settled by Druze coming from other areas in central Ottoman Syria between 1857 and 1860, at a time when the Druze sheikh Ismail al-Atrash was becoming the preeminent force of the Jabal al-Druze area over his Druze rivals in the Hamdan clan.[2] Druze settlement in al-Kafr and other villages, like Najran, on the southern borders of the Lajat plain, the Druze were able to encircle the Sulut Bedouin tribe that had dominated the area previously.[3] Al-Kafr was one of two villages (the other being Qanawat) that put up armed resistance to the 30-battalion-strong force assembled by the Ottoman governor Sami Pasha al-Faruqi to suppress the Hauran Druze Rebellion, led by Zuqan al-Atrash, against the government. The Druze sheikhs ultimately surrendered to the government.[4]
During French Mandatory rule, on 22 July 1925, al-Kafr became the site of the Battle of al-Kafr, in which the forces of Sultan al-Atrash routed a French army column sent to defeat Sultan's men at Salkhad. The battle essentially precipitated the countrywide Great Syrian Revolt against French rule.[5]