''Taḥannuth'' (Arabic: التَحَنُّث) was a religious practice undertaken in pre- and early Islamic Arabia, in which the participant spent time in isolation, turning away from paganism.
Etymology
According to Bleeker, the term ''taḥannuth'' can be interpreted in several ways. Traditionally, ''taḥannuth'' means spending time in seclusion, as practiced by the
Quraysh, the chief tribe of Mecca in the 6th and 7th century, and the Islamic prophet
Muhammad
Muhammad (8 June 632 CE) was an Arab religious and political leader and the founder of Islam. Muhammad in Islam, According to Islam, he was a prophet who was divinely inspired to preach and confirm the tawhid, monotheistic teachings of A ...
, who each year spend time in isolation at mount Hira', where he also received his revelations. According to Ibn Hisham and al-Tabari, ''taḥannuth'' may be interpreted as ''tabarrur'', "the holding of pious exercises." ''Taḥannuth'' is also read as 'taḥannuf'', that is, ''al-hanifyya'', the religion of the ''
hanif''. Al-Bukhari interprets ''taḥannuth'' as ''ta'abbud'', "worshipping." According to Bleeker, ''taḥannuth'' may also be traced to
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 ...
''
tehinnot'', private prayers. A third possibility is that it is derived from ''
hinth'', sin, meaning "purifying from sin, avoidance of sin," the sin of paganism, akin to the Hebrew-Aramaic root ''h-n-ph'', to be a pagan. In that case, ''taḥannuth'' would mean "turning away from paganism."
See also
*
Hanif
References
Sources
*
{{refend
External links
''Tahannuth'' WikiShia
* Sally Mallam
''The Community of Believers''
Islamic terminology