In Islamic tradition, a person who believed in one God and rejected idolatry before the revelation of Islam, or someone who practices monotheistic faith.
From Arabic ḥanīf, possibly derived from Hebrew or Aramaic roots meaning 'to turn away' or 'to deviate'; used in the Quran to describe Abraham and other pre-Islamic monotheists.
The Quran uses 'hanif' to reframe pre-Islamic Arab believers as proto-Muslims rather than pagans, showing how religious texts reshape historical narratives through careful terminology.
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