Peace Be Unto Those Who Follow Right Guidance.

The Qur'an (9:33) states:



The same sign/indicator (ayat) appears in (61:9):




and a very similar sign/indicator (ayat) appears in (48:28):



What I find particularlyinteresting about these signs/indicators (ayaat) is that they all contain the phrase deen-il-haqq as well as the word ad-deen. According to basic rules of Arabic grammar, the construct phrase (idaafa), of which the phrase deen-il-haqq is an example, is used to represent the association of one noun with another. It very frequently shows the possession of one thing by another, wherein the first word in the construct phrase, in this case deen, is possessed (mudaf) by the second word, in this case al-haqq, which is the possessor (mudaf-ilayh).

By contrast, the construction ad-deen il-haqq, which does not appear in these signs/indicators (ayaat), consists of a noun (asma) followed by an adjective (siffat).

According to Farid Esack, author of Qur'an, Liberation and Pluralism: An Islamic Perspective of Interreligious SolidarityAgainst Oppression (Oxford: Oneworld, 1997), "the way to serve truth (deen al-haqq) ... is significantly different from 'the true deen' (al-deen-al-haqq)" (p.133), citing the view of Jane Smith, author of A Historical and Semantic Study of the Term 'Islam' as seen in a Sequence of Qur'an Commentaries (1975) in this regard:
Although I consider this argument to have some merit, it is important to appreciate that according to the rules of Arabic grammar, the first word (that is, the mudaf/possessed) in a construct phrase must agree with the indefiniteness or definiteness of the second word (that is, the mudaf-ilayh/possessor). This means that in the phrase deen il-haqq (or deen al-haqq), the word deen, even if rendered as "obedience, submission, service" must be understood as having a definite sense, i.e. THE "obedience, submission, service".

However, I would argue that the word deen is better rendered as "power-relation" and/or "life-transaction" since this more readily encapsulates the manifold semantic dimensions of this word. (In support of this view, I refer interested readers to Chapter 4: Deen in Syed Abul-'Ala Maududi's Four Basic Qur'anic Terms and Chapter III: Islam - The Concept of Religion and The Foundation of Ethics and Morality in Syed Naquib Al-Attas' Islam and Secularism.)

On this basis, I think that the phrase deen il-haqq (or deen al-haqq) is better rendered as:


It is also important to determine what is meant by The Truth/Real (al-haqq). According to Lane's lexicon, the following are included among the meanings of the word haqq in Arabic: "just, proper, right, correct, or true; authentic, genuine, sound, valid, substantial, or real; established, or confirmed as truth or fact: and necessary, requisite or unavoidable: and binding, obligatory, incumbent or due." However, we should turn to (13:17) to see how the meaning of this word is clarified through the use of metaphor (mathal):



From this sign/indicator (ayat), it would seem to follow that among the characteristics of The Truth/True/Real (al-haqq) is (1) that it persists ("it remains in the earth") and (2) that it is of benefit to people. On this basis, one might refine the rendering of the phrase deen il-haqq (or deen al-haqq) as follows:

The power-relation (and/or life-transaction) belonging to that which is of lasting benefit to the people

Crucially, among that which is of lasting benefit (manf'a) to the people (naas) is justice in the sense of giving people their due/rights (huqooq) as per (4:135) and (5:8).

Peace