A TAWHIDIC CONCEPT IN THE QUR'AN: HANIF

The dictionary meaning of حنيف is "to turn towards", "to incline towards", "believing in one God", "away from all kinds of polytheism", and "turning away from misguidance and turning towards the truth".  The word hanīf, together with its derivatives, occurs in a total of 12 places in the Qur'ān. This concept mostly characterizes Prophet Abraham and expresses that the belief in tawhid was his sole belief. In the Qur'ān, where the belief in tawhid is emphasized or mentioned, it is seen that the subject is strengthened and reinforced with the word hanīf.  In the meaning of hanîf, what should not be believed is in the foreground rather than what should be believed. Hanîf is mentioned in the Qur'an as an attitude towards all beliefs other than the belief in tawhid. Within the scope of this attitude, the rejection of all kinds of shirk and superstitious beliefs and the necessity of accepting only one God as a deity are revealed. In the Qur'an, the term hanīf, which expresses that one should not incline to any belief other than a belief based on tawhid in general, appears before us as a doctrine that can be characterized as the belief and way of life of Prophet Abraham in particular. It will be important to examine the concept of hanīf, which is related to the subject of tawhid, one of the most fundamental issues in the Qur'ān, and to reveal the meaning or meanings it expresses. For this reason, we will try to examine the meanings of the concept of hanīf in general in the places where it is mentioned in the Qur'ān and the role it plays in revealing the belief in tawhid in particular.

Keywords

Tafsir, Hanīf, Prophet Abraham, Tawhid, Shirk