Hanifism

[Blake]

I've been studying about pre-Islamic arabs and I've been finding some sparse (and som contrdictory) information about a religion called "Hanifism" which was monotheistc and taught virtues.

I've been wondering if this was what was left of the religion Ismael taught his children perhaps? It seemed to have taught circumcision (which is where Arabs got it, since circumcision is not commanded in the Koran)...

If anyone has information on the Hanifs I would be glad to hear it.

[Rick]

I don't know if you've already read these or not. There are numerous references to hanif, hunafa, and hanifism. The links at the bottom you might find to be the most help. There are a few hours of reading here, most is quite enlightening. I now have a little different take on Islam than I had from previous study. Hope this helps.

Hanif is an Islamic term that refers to people who during the time of Jahiliya rejected the idolatry in their society.

The literal translation of hanif is "monotheist", referring to any person who was not poly- or pantheistic before the advent of Islam. As postulated by Muhammad in the Qur'an, a hanif (from the Arabic hunafa) was a person who followed a non-pagan Arabic religion said to be the precursor of both Islam and Judaism. (i.e. Abraham and Isaac were hanifs.)

Now Mohammed had to do with another religion besides Judaism and Christianity - the religion of the Arabs, or in the language of those from whom he had hitherto taken his information on religious matters, the hunafa'. That also must be the degeneration of a pristine pure revelation. Further, Abraham through Ishmael was the progenitor of the Arabs. He therefore must have been the founder of the religion of the hunafa'. He was the hanif, par excellence, but as Mohammed is always careful to add, in order to prevent misconceptions, he was not one of the Polytheists. The hanif religion as he founded it, was, like all other revealed religions, a pure monotheism; and as Abraham was earlier in time than both Judaism and Christianity, his religion was purer than either of them had ever been. It was nearer the origin of things. It was "the religion upon which Allah created the people" (XXX, 29) RICHARD BELL. Muslim World, Volume XXIX, 1949, pp. 120-125.

Hanif, capitalized, is a common Arabic proper name used for its more literary and poetic definition, which is "true believer".

The Hunafa

The Makkans claimed descent from Abraham through Isma`il and tradition stated that their temple, the Ka`bah, had been built by Abraham for the worship of the One God. It was still called the House of Allah, but the chief objects of worship here were a number of idols, which were called “daughters” of Allah and intercessors. The few who felt disgust at this idolatry, which had prevailed for centuries, longed for the religion of Abraham and tried to find out what had been its teaching. Such seekers of the truth were known as Hunafa (sing. Hanif), a word originally meaning “those who turn away” (from the existing idol-worship), but coming in the end to have the sense of “upright” or “by nature upright,” because such persons held the way of truth to be right conduct. These Hunafa did not form a community. They were the non-conformists of their day, each seeking truth by the light of his inner consciousness. Muhammad son of Abdullah became one of these.

answering-islam.org.uk/Books/Bell/hanifs.htm

answering-islam.org.uk/Gilchrist/Jam/chap4.html

hanif

A pre-Islamic (Arabian) monotheist whose beliefs are thought to have descended from the time of the hanif Abraham, independently of Judaism, Christianity or Qur'anic Islam.

www.ark-of-salvation.org/islam_muhammad.htm

www.jerusalemites.org/jerusalem/islam/52.htm

www.brihaspati.net/chapter_1-5.htm

www.geocities.com/felice5238/page104.html

www.antiqillum.com/texts/bg/Qadosh/qadosh032.htm

askelm.com/doctrine/d030501.htm

[R' Y'hoshua Moshe]

If Muhammad's writings represents the teachings of the the Hunafa, they could not have been from the G'd of Avaraham, Yisaac, and Yaakov.

Shalom,

Reuel

[Rick]

Agreed, It appears to me that
Muhamed "took a little o' this and a little o' that" and put it together and then claimed it was the "Truth" and everything else was a corruption of truth.

[Chizuk Emunah]

Muhamed "took a little o' this and a little o' that" and put it together and then claimed it was the "Truth" and everything else was a corruption of truth.

I got the same impression.