Arabic-L:LING:hanif response

[Dilworth B. Parkinson]

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Arabic-L: Thu 12 Jul 2000
Moderator: Dilworth Parkinson <dilworth_parkinson at byu.edu>
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1) Subject: hanif response

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1)
Date: 12 Jul  2000
From: Muhammad Taufiq Prabowo <mtaufiqp at telkom.net>
Subject: hanif response

[M. is posting a reply he received to his original query with a further
comment by him.]

Dear Muhammad:

       If the word is /hanif/ which occured in aya 135, AlBaqara, it was
mentioned with reference to prophet Ibraham, who was /haniifa/ which means
that he left other untrue religions to the right one.
Best wishes

Heba

MTP response to Heba:
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Dear Heba,

First of all, thanks for your response. Yes, I search for the meaning of
/haniif/ which is mentioned in 135th verse of al-Baqara, but not in Arabic.
I search for its meaning in al-Aaramiya (Aramaic), in al-Aashuriya (Syriac),
or in al-Habashiya (Ethiopic), because there is not any dictionary of those
languages in my country.
Such as you told one of interpretations (tafsiir) of the word /haniif/ is to
leave other untrue religions to the right one. There is other interpretation
that it means straight (istiqaama) (ash- Shaukaany’s Fathu al-Qadiir) But
those interpretations, I think, are given compulsively. Why? The Arabic
lexical meaning of /haniif/ is a man who his legs bend inward. Radicals
/h-n-f/ and the sifa /ahnaf/ not /haniif/ (Mustafa’s al-Mu’jam al-Wasiit).
For a human quality, it is a bad one. And in the Koran the word /haniif/ is
used for a honorable meaning (character of the religion of Abraham –millata
Ibraahiima haniifa– or character of Abraham himself –haniifa muslima–). So,
I suppose that the word is a loanword. If in those other languages the
lexical meaning of /haniif/ is in correlation with a honorable one, my
supposition has its reason.
Best wishes from Indonesia,

Muhammad T.P.

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End of Arabic-L: 12 Jul  2000