termPage.definition
Twisting the words or meanings of the Qur'an or Sunnah away from their apparent intent. Two types: taḥrīf lafẓī (changing wording — as some Jews did to the Torah) and taḥrīf ma‘nawī (twisting meaning — as the Jahmiyyah and Ash‘arīs did to the verses of attributes).
termPage.pronunciation taḥ-RĪF
termPage.etymologyHeading
From the root ح-ر-ف (ḥ-r-f), meaning 'to swerve, to deviate.' Taḥrīf is to bend a meaning away from its straight path.
termPage.usageInQuran
'They distort words from their proper meanings.' (an-Nisā' 4:46)
termPage.scholarlyNotes
Ibn Taymiyyah documented how the deniers of attributes employed taḥrīf — e.g. interpreting Allah's 'Hand' as 'power' or His 'rising over the Throne' as 'conquering' — without textual or linguistic basis.
termPage.practicalApplication
When confronted with an attribute of Allah, affirm the apparent meaning befitting His majesty. Reject any reinterpretation that strips the word of its real sense.
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termPage.relatedTerms
termPage.moreFrom
An innovation in religion not from the Prophet ﷺ.
The intermediate realm between death and resurrection.
Hypocrisy — concealing disbelief while showing Islam.
The pious predecessors — first three generations.
Methodology — the path of understanding and applying Islam.
Worshipping Allah as if you see Him.