Dīn (دين, also anglicized as Deen) is an Arabic word commonly associated with Islam, but also used in Arab Christian worship. The term is sometimes translated as "religion", but as used in the Qur'an, it refers both to the path along which righteous Muslims travel in order to comply with divine law, or Shari'a, and to the divine judgment or recompense to which all humanity must inevitably face without intercessors before God^[1]. Thus, although secular Muslims^[who?] would say that their practical interpretation of Dīn conforms to "religion" in the restricted sense of something that can be carried out in separation from other areas of life, both mainstream and reformist Muslim writers take the word to mean an all-encompassing way of life carried out under the auspices of God's divine purpose as expressed in the Qur'an and hadith. As one notably progressive Muslim writer puts it, far from being a discrete aspect of life carried out in the mosque, "Islam is Dīn, a complete way of life"^[2]

Etymology[link]

How the term Dīn came to be used in Islamic Arabia is uncertain, but its use in modern Persian may derive etymologically from the Zoroastrian concept, Daena, which represents "insight" and "revelation", and from this "conscience" and "religion". Here, Daena is the Eternal Law, which was revealed to humanity through the Mathra-Spenta ("Holy Words")^[3]. Alternatively, the Hebrew term "דין", transliterated as "dīn", means either "law" or "judgement"^[4]. In the Kabbalah of Judaism, the term can, alongside "Gevurah", refer to "power", and to "judgement"^[5].

Dīn as Used in Islam[link]

It has been said that the word Dīn appears in as many as 79 verses in the Qur'an^[6], 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 as "religion"^[7]. However, in the Qur'an itself, the act of submission to God is always referred to as Dīn, rather than as Muzdhab, which is the Arabic word for "religion"^{[citation needed]}.

Some Qur'anic scholars have translated Dīn in places as "faith"^[8] Others suggest that the term "has been used in various forms and meanings, e.g., 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"^[9].

The well-known Islamic scholar, Fazlur Rahman Malik, suggested that Dīn is best considered as "the way-to-be-followed". In this interpretation, Dīn is the exact correlate of Shari'a: "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"^[10]. 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"^[11].

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^[12] 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":

• 1:4 مَٰلِكِ يَوْمِ ٱلدِّينِ

transliterated as "Maliki yawmi alddeeni", and (usually) translated as "Master of the Day of Judgment".

Dīn as Used in Judaism[link]

In Judaism, the word Dīn (Hebrew: דִּין) appears in the Tanakh (the Hebrew Bible), which occurs 24 times. It is often used to denote the meaning of –to judge, and other occurrences which refers to the meanings of –execute judgement and –to vindicate. The intransitive usage of the verb loosely means –to be obedient, submissive. The transitive verb usage denotes requite, compensate, rule, govern, obedience, abasement, recompense, requiter, governor

• Psalms 7:8 יְהוָה֮ יָדִ֪ין עַ֫מִּ֥ים שָׁפְטֵ֥נִי יְהוָ֑ה כְּצִדְקִ֖י וּכְתֻמִּ֣י עָלָֽי
  

The LORD judges the peoples; Vindicate me, O LORD, according to my righteousness and my integrity that is in me.

References and Notes[link]

See also[link]

• List of Islamic terms in Arabic
• Sharia
• Kabbalah
• Daena

External links[link]

• Definition of Deen

This article relies on references to primary sources or sources affiliated with the subject, rather than references from independent authors and third-party publications. Please add citations from reliable sources. (May 2009)

Syed Zaiduzzaman Hamid, better known as Zaid Hamid, is a Pakistani security consultant and political commentator.^[1][2] His byline in newspaper articles has been Zaid Zaman.^[2]

Early life and education[link]

Zaid was born in Karachi, in 1964. His father, Col. Zaman Hamid (Retd), served in the Pakistan Army. Zaid spent his early life in Karachi. He received a Bachelor of Engineering (BE) degree in Computer Systems Engineering from NED University, Karachi in 1980's.^[3]

Political views[link]

Through his TV programmes, Hamid has claimed that a nexus between India's RAW, the CIA and is responsible for the destabilization of Pakistan. He also claims that the November 2008 Mumbai attacks, were part of a plan hatched by "Hindu Zionists"", and that it was an attempt by the Indians to stage an attack just like the Americans executed the September 11 attacks.^[1][2][4][3]

Criticism[link]

A number of noted Pakistani journalists, writers and Islamic scholars^[5] have criticized Hamid and have described his views on politics and security as conspiracy theories.^[6][7][8][9]

References[link]

External links[link]

• BrassTacks website
• Syed Zaid Zaman Hamid