Editing Hanif (section)

==Etymology==
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 name="Lane, 1893">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 different meaning “to deceive, to turn pagan, to lead into paganism”. The Syriac word refers to pagans and deceivers.<ref name="Lane, 1893"/><ref>{{Cite web |title=The Comprehensive Aramaic Lexicon |url=https://cal.huc.edu/oneentry.php?lemma=xnp%20V&cits=all |access-date=2023-12-06 |website=cal.huc.edu}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=The Comprehensive Aramaic Lexicon |url=https://cal.huc.edu/oneentry.php?lemma=xnp+N&cits=all |access-date=2023-12-06 |website=cal.huc.edu}}</ref><ref>J. Payne Smith (Mrs. Margoliouth), ''A Compendious Syriac Dictionary'' (Oxford: The Clarendon Press, 1903) p. 149 [from sedra.bethmardutho.org, tagged by Aron M. Tillema, accessed on Dec. 06, 2023].</ref> The Arabic 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> The unique association of ḥanīf with Abraham underscores his foundational role in the development of monotheistic faith and his exemplary status in the Islamic tradition.

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 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180602131703/http://www.oxfordislamicstudies.com/article/opr/t125/e800 |url-status=dead |archive-date=June 2, 2018 |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}}