Who are the Hanifs?

The name Hanifs is derived from the root word hanafa. In the Arabic language dictionaries we find the following definition:

hanafa, to deviate. This verb means to turn from the straight path to the unguided path or to go astray. Therefore, since hanafa could mean turning away from the straight path to an unguided path, the Arabic root does not always yield a positive connotation. Comparative linguistics reveals that the singular form of this word has a Syriac root. In the Syrian language, this word has a decidedly negative connotation, as shown in the following definitions:

hinfā: pagan, infidel, idol worshipper

hinfūtū: paganism, infidelity and idolatry

ahnuf: to become an infidel

Therefore, the Christians in Syria would have considered the Hanifs to mean idol worshippers or misguided people. Historical annals record that the Hanifīya movement existed with a small number of followers and originated before Islām. They were known to worship the one God and to reject idol worship. Researchers have suggested varying theories concerning them:

1. They were a group of Arabs who were neither Jews nor Christians but followed an ancient local religion.

2. The beliefs of the Hanifs are a mixture of paganism, Judaism, and Christianity.

Therefore, this Hanifīya movement could not be considered pagan or Jewish or Christian but a new movement in the earliest phase of formation.

3. Some of the Orientalists considered the Hanifs a sect of Christianity (Nazarenes), who settled in the Arabian Peninsula and were influenced by various beliefs from the different religions that existed there at that time. Louise Shikho adopts this theory.

4. Another theory suggests they were a Judeo-Christian movement that originated in Palestine whose followers then moved to Hijāz. The Christians of Syria had used the label Hanifs concerning a Christian sect “from the Israelites…meaning “the deviated ones from the nation” or “perverts” [as translated from] the Syriac language. So the members of the sect adopted this title and called themselves Hanifs in Hijāz.” All of these opinions agree that the term Hanīf used to describe Abraham in this verse refers to the Hanīfīya movement that was active in the Arabian Peninsula. It was monotheistic and its roots can be traced back to a sect from Syria that deviated from traditional Christianity. This information means that it started after the time of Jesus.

Therefore, how could Abraham have been a Hanīf when he preceded the Hanifīya movement by at least two thousand years?

Notes: Hanīf in the Qur’ān

The Qur’ān mentions the Hanīf in conjunction with Abraham. (The biblical account of the life of Abraham can be found in the Old Testament, Genesis 11.27-24.10; 25.) The word Hanīf is mentioned ten times in the Qur’ān: Q 2.135; Q 3.67, Q 3.95; Q 4.125; Q 6.79, Q 6.161; Q 10.105; Q 16.120, Q 16.123; Q 30.30. The word Hanifs is mentioned twice: Q 22.31 and Q 98.5.