ḤANĪF (حنيف), pl. Ḥunafāʾ. Lit. “One who is inclined.” (1) Anyone sincere in his inclination to Islām. (2) One orthodox in the faith. (3) One who is of the religion of Abraham. (See Majmaʿu ʾl-Biḥār, in loco.)
The word occurs ten times in the Qurʾān.
I.—Six times for the religion of Abraham:—
[Sūrah ii. 129]: “They say, ‘Be ye Jews or Christians so shall ye be guided!’ Say: ‘Not so!’ but the faith of Abraham, the Ḥanīf, he was not of the idolaters.”
[Sūrah iii. 60]: “Abraham was not a Jew nor yet a Christian, but he was a Ḥanīf resigned, and not of the idolaters.”
[Idem, 89]: “Follow the faith of Abraham, a Ḥanīf, who was not of the idolaters.”
[Sūrah vi. 162]: “The faith of Abraham, the Ḥanīf, he was not of the idolaters.”
[Sūrah xvi. 121]: “Verily Abraham was an Imām, a Ḥanīf, and was not of the idolaters.”
[Sūrah vi. 79]: (Abraham said) “I have turned my face to Him who originated the heaven and the earth as a Ḥanīf, and I am not of the idolaters.”
II.—Four times for one sound in the faith:—