Ḥanīf : one who maintained the pure monothestic beliefs of the patriarch Ibrahim: Age of Ignorance

(Arabic: حنيف‎, Ḥanīf; plural: حنفاء, ḥunafā') refers to one who maintained the pure monothestic beliefs of the patriarch Ibrahim. More specifically, in Islamic thought, they are the people who, during the period known as the Pre-Islamic period or Age of Ignorance, were seen to have rejected idolatry and retained some or all of the tenets of the religion of Abraham (Arabic: Ibrāhīm) which was "submission to God" (Arabic: Allah) in its purest form.^[1]

Etymology and History of the term[edit]

The term is from the Arabic root ḥ-n-f meaning "to incline, to decline" (Lane 1893) from the Syriac root of the same meaning. The ḥanīfiyyah is the law of Ibrahim; the verb taḥannafa means "to turn away from [idolatry]", with a secondary and subsequent meaning of "to become circumcised". In the verse 3:67 of the Quran it has also been translated as "upright person" and outside the Quran as "to incline towards a right state or tendency".^[2] It appears to have been used earlier by Jews and Christians in reference to 'pagans' and applied to followers of an old Hellenized Syro-Arabian religion and used to taunt early Muslims.^[3]

Others maintained that they followed the "...religion of Ibrahim, the hanif, the Muslim..."^[3] It has been theorized by Watt that the verbal 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 Medinan period.^[3]

List of Ḥanīfs[edit]

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This is a minor list of those who submitted their whole selves to God in the way of Abraham:

• All the prophets of God after Abraham
• Hāshim ibn 'Abd al-Manāf
• 'Abd al-Muṭallib
• ‘Abdullah ibn ‘Abd al-Muṭallib
• Abū Tālib ibn 'Abd al-Muṭṭalib
• Hamza ibn ‘Abd al-Muttalib
• Alī ibn Abī Ṭālib
• Sa'īd ibn Zayd

The four friends in Mecca from Ibn Ishaq's account:

• Zayd ibn 'Amr ibn Nufayl: rejected both Judaism and Christianity^[2]
• Waraqah ibn Nawfal: converted to Christianity^[2]
• 'Uthmān ibn Ḥuwārith: travelled to the Byzantine Empire and converted to Christianity^[2]
• 'Ubaydullāh ibn Jaḥsh: early Muslim convert who emigrated to Abyssinia and then converted to Christianity.^[2]

Ḥanīf opponents of Islam from Ibn Isḥāq's account:

• Abū 'Amar 'Abd Amr ibn Sayfī: a leader of the tribe of Banū Aws at Medina and builder of the "Mosque of the Schism" mentioned in the Quranic verse 9:107 and later allied with the Quraysh then moved to Taif and onto Syria after subsequent Muslim conquests.^[2]
• Abu Qays ibn al-Aslaṭ^[2]

As a name[edit]

Ḥanīf, can also be a common Arabic proper name with the meaning, "true believer" or "righteous one". The name is used throughout the Muslim world including non-Arabic speaking cultures.

See also[edit]

• Banu Khuza'a
• virtuous pagan
• Urmonotheismus
• Rahmanism

Notes[edit]

1. Jump up^ Köchler 1982, p. 29.
2. ^ Jump up to:^{a b c d e f g} Peters 1994, pp. 122-124.
3. ^ Jump up to:^a b c Watt 1974, pp. 117-119.

References[edit]

• Ambros, Arne A; Procháczka, Stephan (2004). A Concise Dictionary of Koranic Arabic. Reichert.
• Hawting, G. R. (1999). The Idea of Idolatry and the Emergence of Islam: From Polemic to History. Cambridge University Press.
• Kaltner, John (1999). Ishmael Instructs Isaac: An Introduction to the Qu'ran for Bible Readers. Liturgical Press. ISBN 0-8146-5882-2.
• Köchler, Hans, ed. (1982). Concept of Monotheism in Islam & Christianity. International Progress Organization. ISBN 3-7003-0339-4.
• Peters, F. E. (1994). Muhammad and the Origins of Islam. SUNY Press. ISBN 0-7914-1875-8.
• Watt, William Montgomery (1974). Muhammad: prophet and statesman. Oxford University Press US. ISBN 0-19-881078-4.