Ajay Kumar at 18:55, 28 September 2023

2023-09-28T18:55:48Z

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{{short description|Someone who maintained the religious tenets of the patriarch Abraham}}
{{About|pre-Islamic tenets of Abrahmic teachings|Islamic school of jurisprudence|Hanafi|other uses}}
{{italic title}}
{{more footnotes|date=May 2012}}
In [[Islam]], a '''{{transliteration|ar|ḥanīf}}''' ({{lang-ar|[[wikt:حنيف|حنيف]]|ḥanīf}}; plural: {{lang|ar|حنفاء}}, {{transliteration|ar|DIN|ḥunafā'}}), meaning "renunciate", is someone who maintains the pure [[monotheism]] of the [[patriarch]] [[Abraham in Islam|Abraham]]. More specifically, in Islamic thought, renunciates were the people who, during the pre-Islamic period or {{transliteration|ar|[[Jahiliyyah]]}}, were seen to have renounced [[Shirk (Islam)|idolatry]] and retained some or all of the tenets of the [[Abrahamic religions|religion of Abraham]] ({{lang|ar|إبراهيم}}, {{transliteration|ar|Ibrāhīm}}), which was submission to [[God in Islam|God]] in its purest form.{{sfn|Köchler|1982|p=29}} The word is found twelve times in the [[Quran]] (ten times in its singular form and twice in the plural form) and Islamic tradition tells of a number of individuals who were {{transliteration|ar|ḥanīfs}}.<ref name="Bell-1949-120">{{cite journal |last1=Bell |first1=Richard |title=Muslim World, Volume XXIX, 1949, pp. 120-125. |journal=Muslim World |date=1949 |volume=XXIX |page=120-125}}</ref> According to Muslim tradition, [[Muhammad]] himself was a {{transliteration|ar|ḥanīf}} and a descendant of [[Ishmael]], son of [[Abraham]].<ref>See:
* Louis Jacobs (1995), p. 272
* Turner (2005), p. 16</ref>

==Etymology and history of the term==
The term {{transliteration|ar|ḥanīf}} comes from the Arabic [[triliteral|root]] {{transliteration|ar|DIN|[[ḥet|ḥ]]-[[nūn|n]]-[[fāʼ|f]]}} meaning "to incline, to decline"<ref>Lane, 1893</ref> or "to turn or bend sideways"<ref name="Wehr-210">{{cite book |last1=Wehr |first1=Hans |title=Dictionary of Modern Written Arabic |page=210 |url=https://archive.org/details/HansWehrEnglishArabicDctionarySearchableFormat/page/n223 |access-date=28 October 2019}}</ref> from the [[Syriac language|Syriac]] root of the same meaning.<ref>Lane, 1893</ref> It is defined as "true believer, orthodox; one who scorns the false creeds surrounding him/her and profess the true religion" by The Arabic-English ''Dictionary of Modern Written Arabic''.<ref name="Wehr-210"/>

According to [[Francis Edward Peters]], in verse {{cite quran|3|67|style=nosup|expand=no}} of the [[Quran]] it has been translated as "upright person" and outside the Quran as "to incline towards a right state or tendency".{{sfn|Peters|1994|pp=122–124}} According to [[W. Montgomery Watt]], it appears to have been used earlier by [[Jews]] and [[Christians]] in reference to "[[paganism|pagans]]" and applied to followers of an old [[Hellenistic religion|Hellenized]] [[ancient Canaanite religion|Syrian]] and [[Religion in pre-Islamic Arabia|Arabian]] religion and used to taunt early Muslims.{{sfn|Watt|1974|pp=117–119}}

[[Michael Cook (historian)|Michael Cook]] states "its exact sense is obscure" but the Quran "uses it in contexts suggestive of a pristine monotheism, which it tends to contrast with (latter-day) Judaism and Christianity". In the Quran {{transliteration|ar|ḥanīf}} is associated "strongly with Abraham, but never with [[Moses]] or [[Jesus]]".<ref name="Cook-1983-39">{{cite book |last1=Cook |first1=Michael |title=Muhammad |date=1983 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=0192876058 |page=39}}</ref>

Oxford Islamic Studies online defines {{transliteration|ar|ḥanīf}} as "one who is utterly upright in all of his or her affairs, as exemplified by the model of Abraham"; and that prior to the arrival of Islam "the term was used [...] to designate pious people who accepted monotheism but did not join the Jewish or Christian communities."<ref name="Hanif-OISO">{{cite web |title=Hanif |url=http://www.oxfordislamicstudies.com/article/opr/t125/e800 |website=Oxford Islamic Studies Online |access-date=28 October 2019}}</ref>

Others translate {{transliteration|ar|DIN|Hanīfiyyah}} as the law of Ibrahim; the verb {{transliteration|ar|DIN|taḥannafa}} as "to turn away from [idolatry]". Others maintain that the {{transliteration|ar|ḥanīf}} followed the "religion of Ibrahim, the {{transliteration|ar|hanif}}, the Muslim[.]"{{sfn|Watt|1974|pp=117–119}} It has been theorized by Watt that the [[verb]]al term ''Islam'', arising from the [[participle]] form of ''Muslim'' (meaning "surrendered to God"), may have only arisen as an identifying descriptor for the religion in the late [[Muhammad in Medina|Medinan period]].{{sfn|Watt|1974|pp=117–119}}

==List of {{transliteration|ar|ḥanīfs}}==
{{refimprove section|date=November 2011}}

According to the Encyclopædia Britannica, "some of Muḥammad's relatives, contemporaries, and early supporters were called {{transliteration|ar|hanifs}}"<ref name="EB-hanif"/> – examples including [[Waraka ibn Nawfal|Waraqah ibn Nawfal]], "a cousin of the Prophet’s first wife, [[Khadija bint Khuwaylid]],<ref name="EB-hanif"/> and Umayyah ibn Abī aṣ-Ṣalt, "an early 7th-century Arab poet".<ref name="EB-hanif"/>

According to the website "In the Name of Allah", the term {{transliteration|ar|ḥanīf}} is used "twelve times in the Quran", but Abraham/Ibrahim is "the only person to have been explicitly identified with the term." He is mentioned "in reference to" {{transliteration|ar|ḥanīf}} eight times in the Quran.<ref name="ItNoA">{{cite web |title=hanif |url=http://inthenameofallah.org/Hanif.html |website=In the Name of Allah |access-date=28 October 2019}}</ref>

Among those who, pre traditional Islamic belief,{{cn|date=October 2019}} are thought to be {{transliteration|ar|ḥanīf}} are:

*All the [[prophets and messengers in Islam|prophets and messengers]] after Abraham
*[[Najran|Old Najranites]]
*[[Seven Sleepers]]
*[[Sa'id bin Zayd]]
*[[Khaled bin Sinan]]
*[[Hashim ibn Abd Manaf]]

The four friends in [[Mecca]] from [[ibn Ishaq]]'s account:

*[[Zayd ibn Amr]]: rejected both Judaism and Christianity{{sfn|Peters|1994|pp=122–124}}
*[[Waraqah ibn Nawfal]]: was an [[Nestorianism|Nestorian priest]] and patrilineal third cousin to [[Muhammad]]. He died before Muhammad declared his Prophethood.{{sfn|Peters|1994|pp=122–124}}
*[[Uthman ibn al-Huwayrith]]: travelled to the [[Byzantine Empire]] and converted to Christianity{{sfn|Peters|1994|pp=122–124}}
*[[Ubayd-Allah ibn Jahsh]]: early Muslim convert who emigrated to the [[Kingdom of Aksum]] and then converted to Christianity.{{sfn|Peters|1994|pp=122–124}}

{{transliteration|ar|Ḥanīf}} opponents of Islam from Ibn Isḥāq's account:

*Abū 'Amar 'Abd Amr ibn Sayfī: a leader of the tribe of [[Banu Aws]] at [[Medina]] and builder of the "Mosque of the Schism" mentioned in the Quranic verse {{cite quran|9|107|style=ref|expand=no}} and later allied with the [[Quraysh]] then moved to [[Ta'if]] and onto [[ancient Syria|Syria]] after subsequent [[early Muslim conquests]].{{sfn|Peters|1994|pp=122–124}}
*Abu Qays ibn al-Aslaṭ{{sfn|Peters|1994|pp=122–124}}

==Historicity==
According to the Encyclopædia Britannica, "there is no evidence that a true {{transliteration|ar|hanif}} cult existed in pre-Islāmic Arabia".<ref name="EB-hanif">{{cite web |title=Hanif |url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/hanif |website=britannica.com |access-date=23 February 2020}}</ref>

A Greek source from the fifth century CE, The Ecclesiastical History of Sozomen, speaks of how "Abraham had bequeathed a monotheist religion" to Arabs, that the Arabs descended "from Ishmael and Hagar" and followed Jewish practices such as not eating pork.<ref name=IROoI2000:112>[[#IROoI2000|Ibn Rawandi, "Origins of Islam", 2000]]: p.112</ref> No archaeological evidence has been found to support the idea that Abraham was a real person,<ref name="patriarchs">{{Cite book |last=Dever |first=William G. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6-VxwC5rQtwC&q=What+Did+the+Biblical+Writers+Know+and+When+Did+They+Know+It%3F%3A+What+... |title=What Did the Biblical Writers Know and When Did They Know It?: What Archeology Can Tell Us About the Reality of Ancient Israel |date=2001-05-10 |publisher=Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing |isbn=978-0-8028-2126-3 |language=en}}</ref> and most scholars do not consider the [[Book of Genesis]] to be an [[Historicity of the Bible|accurate history]].{{citation needed|date=May 2023}}

[[Sozomen]] was a historian of the Christian Church who is thought to have been a native of [[Gaza Strip#Prior to 1923|Gaza]]<ref name=PCMTatRoI1987:190-91>[[#PCMTatRoI1987|Crone, ''Meccan Trade and the Rise of Islam'', 1987]]: p.190-91</ref> whose native tongue was Arabic and who lived from about 400-450 CE. Thus according to Ibn Rawandi, he provides a "reliable source" that Arabs – at least in northwest Arabia – were familiar with the idea there were pre-Islamic "Abrahamic monotheists ({{transliteration|ar|hanifs}}) [...] whether this was true of Arabs throughout the [Arabian] peninsula it is impossible to say".<ref name=IROoI2000:112>[[#IROoI2000|Ibn Rawandi, "Origins of Islam", 2000]]: p.112</ref>

==See also==
*[[Banu Khuza'a]]
*[[Noahidism]], similar concept with Judaism
*[[Abrahamites]]
*[[Perennial Philosophy]]
*[[People of the Book]]
*[[Prisca theologia]], equivalent concept in esoteric Christianity
*[[Rahmanism]]
*[[Urmonotheismus]]

==Notes==
{{reflist}}

== References ==
* {{Cite book |last1=Ambros |first1=Arne A |last2=Procháczka |first2=Stephan |year=2004 |title=A Concise Dictionary of Koranic Arabic |publisher=Reichert }}
*{{cite book |last1=Crone |first1=Patricia | title=Meccan Trade and the Rise of Islam |year=1987 |publisher=Princeton University Press |url=http://www.almuslih.org/Library/Crone,%20P%20-%20Meccan%20Trade%20and%20the%20Rise%20of%20Islam.pdf | ref=PCMTatRoI1987}}
* {{Cite book |last=Hawting |first=G. R. |author-link=G. R. Hawting |year=1999 |title=The Idea of Idolatry and the Emergence of Islam: From Polemic to History |publisher=Cambridge University Press }}
*{{cite book |editor1-last=Ibn Warraq |title=The Quest for the Historical Muhammad |date=2000 |publisher=Prometheus |pages=89–124 |chapter=2. Origins of Islam: A Critical Look at the Sources |ref=IROoI2000}}
* {{Cite book |last=Kaltner |first=John |year=1999 |title=Ishmael Instructs Isaac: An Introduction to the Qu'ran for Bible Readers |publisher=Liturgical Press |isbn=0-8146-5882-2 }}
* {{Cite book |editor-last=Köchler |editor-first=Hans |editor-link=Hans Köchler |year=1982 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zMuipwd5MTEC |title=Concept of Monotheism in Islam & Christianity |publisher=International Progress Organization |isbn=3-7003-0339-4 }}
* {{Cite book |last=Peters |first=F. E. |author-link=Francis Edward Peters |year=1994 |title=Muhammad and the Origins of Islam |publisher=SUNY Press |isbn=0-7914-1875-8 |url=https://archive.org/details/muhammadorigins00pete }}
* {{Cite book |last=Watt |first=William Montgomery |author-link=William Montgomery Watt |year=1974 |title=Muhammad: prophet and statesman |publisher=Oxford University Press US |isbn=0-19-881078-4 |url=https://archive.org/details/muhammadprophets00watt }}

[[Category:Quranic words and phrases]]

Hanif - Revision history

Ajay Kumar at 18:55, 28 September 2023