Dīn (, also anglicized as Deen) is an Arabic word with three general senses: judgment, custom, and religion. It is used by both

Muslims Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...

and Arab Christians. In Islamic terminology, the word refers to the way of life Muslims must adopt to comply with divine law, encompassing beliefs, character and deeds. The term appears in the Quran 98 times with different connotations, including in the phrase ''yawm al-din'' (), generally translated to " Day of Judgment" or the famous verse "La ikraha fid din" which translates to "Let there be no compulsion in religion" ( Abdullah Yusuf Ali translation).

Etymology

According to Arthur Jeffery ''dīn "related to religion"'' and ''dīn "judgement, debt etc..."'' are two separate words of different origin, he derives the ''dīn'' related to religion from the

Middle Persian Middle Persian, also known by its endonym Pārsīk or Pārsīg ( Inscriptional Pahlavi script: , Manichaean script: , Avestan script: ) in its later form, is a Western Middle Iranian language which became the literary language of the Sasania ...

''den'', itself derived from the Zoroastrian

Avestan Avestan ( ) is the liturgical language of Zoroastrianism. It belongs to the Iranian languages, Iranian branch of the Indo-European languages, Indo-European language family and was First language, originally spoken during the Avestan period, Old ...

notion '' daena''. some scholars, such as Nöldeke, Vollers, Mushegh Asatrian and Johnny Cheung are in agreement with this etymology. Others like Gaudefroy-Demombynes and Gardet, have found this derivation unconvincing. Nonetheless, Al Khafaji and Tha'ahbi have included the ''dīn'' that is related to religion in their list of foreign words, due to its lack of verbal root. But the ultimate origin of the word comes from the Akkadian Semitic language d-y-n root Semitic 1. The Arabic ''dīn "judgement, debt, etc.."'' has Semitic cognates, including the

Hebrew Hebrew (; ''ʿÎbrit'') is a Northwest Semitic languages, Northwest Semitic language within the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family. A regional dialect of the Canaanite languages, it was natively spoken by the Israelites and ...

''dīn'' (),

Aramaic Aramaic (; ) is a Northwest Semitic language that originated in the ancient region of Syria and quickly spread to Mesopotamia, the southern Levant, Sinai, southeastern Anatolia, and Eastern Arabia, where it has been continually written a ...

''dīnā'' (), Amharic ''dañä'' (ዳኘ) and

Ugaritic Ugaritic () is an extinct Northwest Semitic languages, Northwest Semitic language known through the Ugaritic texts discovered by French archaeology, archaeologists in 1928 at Ugarit, including several major literary texts, notably the Baal cycl ...

''dyn'' (𐎄𐎊𐎐). The Arabic sense of judgment is likely analogous to the Hebraeo-Aramaic cognate root. The Hebrew term " דין", transliterated as "dīn", means either "law" or "judgement". In the

Kabbalah Kabbalah or Qabalah ( ; , ; ) is an esoteric method, discipline and school of thought in Jewish mysticism. It forms the foundation of Mysticism, mystical religious interpretations within Judaism. A traditional Kabbalist is called a Mekubbal ...

Judaism Judaism () is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic, Monotheism, monotheistic, ethnic religion that comprises the collective spiritual, cultural, and legal traditions of the Jews, Jewish people. Religious Jews regard Judaism as their means of o ...

, the term can, alongside "Gevurah" (cognate to the feminine form of Arabic adjective "''Jabārah'' جَبَّارَة"), refer to "power" and "judgement". In ancient Israel, the term featured heavily in administrative and legal proceedings i.e. Beth Din, literally "the house of judgement," the ancient building block of the Jewish legal system. The Arabic sense "custom, usage" has been derived by classical and modern lexicologists from the Arabic verbal forms ''dāna'' (دانى, "be indebted") and ''dāna li-'' (-دانى لِ, "submit to"). Louis Gardet sees the Hebraic and Arabic senses as related through the notions of retribution, debt, obligation, custom, and direction, prompting him to translate ''yawm al-din'' as "the day when God gives a direction to each human being". This view is not supported by the majority of scholars, who translate ''yawm al-din'' as "the day of judgement".

Quranic studies Quranic studies is the academic study of the Quran, the central religious text of Islam. Like in biblical studies, the field uses and applies a diverse set of Academic discipline, disciplines and methods, such as philology, textual criticism, lex ...

scholar Mohsen Goudarzi has argued that in the Quran the word ''dīn'' means "

worship Worship is an act of religious devotion usually directed towards a deity or God. For many, worship is not about an emotion, it is more about a recognition of a God. An act of worship may be performed individually, in an informal or formal group, ...

", the '' islām'' means "

monotheism Monotheism is the belief that one God is the only, or at least the dominant deity.F. L. Cross, Cross, F.L.; Livingstone, E.A., eds. (1974). "Monotheism". The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church (2 ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press. A ...

" and the ''muslim'' means "monotheist". Until the 8th century, the term ''muslim'' was more inclusive, including anyone who was considered to be submitting to God (e.g. Christians and Jews), and the term ''mu'min'' was instead used to refer to believers in Islam as a distinct religion.

Use in Islam

It has been said that the word ''Dīn'' appears in as many as 79 verses in the Qur'an, but because there is no exact English translation of the term, its precise definition has been the subject of some misunderstanding and disagreement. For instance, the term is often translated in parts of the

Qur'an The Quran, also romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a revelation directly from God ('' Allāh''). It is organized in 114 chapters (, ) which consist of individual verses ('). Besides ...

as "religion". Some Qur'anic scholars have translated ''Dīn'' in places as "faith". Others suggest that the term "has been used in various forms and meanings, e.g., system, power, supremacy, ascendancy, sovereignty or lordship, dominion, law, constitution, mastery, government, realm, decision, definite outcome, reward and punishment. On the other hand, this word is also used in the sense of obedience, submission and allegiance". In addition to the two broad usages referred to so far, of sovereignty on the one hand and submission on the other, others have noted"Let Us Be Muslims, Abu Ala Maududi U.K.I.M. Dawah Center, 1960 that the term ''Dīn'' is also widely used in translations of the Qur'an in a third sense. Most famously in its opening chapter, al-Fātiḥah, the term is translated in almost all English translations as "judgment": The well-known Islamic scholar, Fazlur Rahman Malik, suggested that Dīn is best considered as "the way-to-be-followed". In that interpretation, Dīn is the exact correlate of

Shari'a Sharia, Sharī'ah, Shari'a, or Shariah () is a body of religious law that forms a part of the Islamic tradition based on Islamic holy books, scriptures of Islam, particularly the Quran, Qur'an and hadith. In Islamic terminology ''sharīʿah'' ...

: "whereas Shari'a is the ordaining of the Way and its proper subject is God, Dīn is the following of that Way, and its subject is man".Rahman F, ''Islam'', p. 100, University of Chicago Press, 1979 Thus, "if we abstract from the Divine and the human points of reference, Shari'a and Dīn would be identical as far as the 'Way' and its content are concerned". In many hadith, the din has been described as a midway lifestyle:

References

External links

Definition of Deen
{{DEFAULTSORT:Din Arabic words and phrases Islamic terminology

Etymology

Use in Islam

See also

References

External links