Discover the meaning of the term Al-ḥq (حق) in Islamic vocabulary.
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Updated on 11 April 2026 at 1:05 AM
📖 4 min readOne of His names, may He be exalted; and 'the true thing' (al-shay' al-haqq), that is, what is established in reality; it is also used of truthfulness and correctness; one says 'a true and correct statement.'
In language: the established that may not be denied; in the terminology of the masters of ma'ani: the judgment conforming to reality; it is applied to statements, creeds, religions and doctrines in respect of their containing that judgment; its counterpart is the false (batil).
In language: the third matter, such that it is not permissible to deny it; in the terminology of the masters of ma'ani: the judgment conforming to reality, applied to statements, creeds, religions and doctrines in respect of their containing that judgment, and its counterpart is the false; as for truthfulness, it has spread among statements
'Haqqa al-amr': he fulfilled its due. 'Haqqa-hu huquqan': it proved sound and established; and it proved true. In the noble Quran: 'to warn whoever is alive and justify the word against the disbelievers' (Ya-Sin, 70). One says: 'it is your due (haqq) to do so-and-so': it is obligatory. : Of the young she-camel, 'haqqa haqqan' and 'haqqat': she entered her fourth year. : Of the matter: he made certain of it. : He verified his statement.
Of camels: that which entered its fourth year and may be ridden and laden; (plural) hiqaq and ahqa'; (plural of plurals) hiqaq. Among the Hanafis, Shafi'is, Hanbalis, Zahiris, Ja'faris and Ibadis: what completed its third and entered its fourth; and in a saying among the Ibadis: what entered its third.
'Alhaqa fulanan': he caught up with him. : 'Alhaqa fulanan bi-kadha': he followed him in it and made him attach to it. In the glorious Book: 'And those who believed and whose descendants followed them in faith, We will join with them their descendants' (al-Tur, 21). Ibn 'Abbas said: Allah raises the believer's progeny in his degree even though they fall short of him in works, to delight his eye. Al-istilhaq: the claiming; among the Malikis: a man's claim to be the father of this person.
In language: the established that may not be denied.
It is the established that may not be denied; certainty; the opposite of falsehood; the lot and share; wealth and property; the decreed matter, its plural being huquq; and al-Haqq is one of the names of Allah, the Most High: the Existent in reality, whose existence and divinity are verified.
﴿۞ إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ لَا يَسْتَحْىِۦٓ أَن يَضْرِبَ مَثَلًۭا مَّا بَعُوضَةًۭ فَمَا فَوْقَهَا ۚ فَأَمَّا ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوا۟ فَيَعْلَمُونَ أَنَّهُ ٱلْحَقُّ مِن رَّبِّهِمْ ۖ وَأَمَّا ٱلَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا۟ فَيَقُولُونَ مَاذَآ أَرَادَ ٱللَّهُ بِهَـٰذَا مَثَلًۭا ۘ يُضِلُّ بِهِۦ كَثِيرًۭا وَيَهْدِى بِهِۦ كَثِيرًۭا ۚ وَمَا يُضِلُّ بِهِۦٓ إِلَّا ٱلْفَـٰسِقِينَ﴾
« Indeed, Allah is not timid to present an example - that of a mosquito or what is smaller than it. And those who have believed know that it is the truth from their Lord. But as for those who disbelieve, they say, "What did Allah intend by this as an example?" He misleads many thereby and guides many thereby. And He misleads not except the defiantly disobedient, »
Surah البقرة : 26
﴿وَلَا تَلْبِسُوا۟ ٱلْحَقَّ بِٱلْبَـٰطِلِ وَتَكْتُمُوا۟ ٱلْحَقَّ وَأَنتُمْ تَعْلَمُونَ﴾
« And do not mix the truth with falsehood or conceal the truth while you know [it]. »
Surah البقرة : 42
﴿وَإِذْ قُلْتُمْ يَـٰمُوسَىٰ لَن نَّصْبِرَ عَلَىٰ طَعَامٍۢ وَٰحِدٍۢ فَٱدْعُ لَنَا رَبَّكَ يُخْرِجْ لَنَا مِمَّا تُنۢبِتُ ٱلْأَرْضُ مِنۢ بَقْلِهَا وَقِثَّآئِهَا وَفُومِهَا وَعَدَسِهَا وَبَصَلِهَا ۖ قَالَ أَتَسْتَبْدِلُونَ ٱلَّذِى هُوَ أَدْنَىٰ بِٱلَّذِى هُوَ خَيْرٌ ۚ ٱهْبِطُوا۟ مِصْرًۭا فَإِنَّ لَكُم مَّا سَأَلْتُمْ ۗ وَضُرِبَتْ عَلَيْهِمُ ٱلذِّلَّةُ وَٱلْمَسْكَنَةُ وَبَآءُو بِغَضَبٍۢ مِّنَ ٱللَّهِ ۗ ذَٰلِكَ بِأَنَّهُمْ كَانُوا۟ يَكْفُرُونَ بِـَٔايَـٰتِ ٱللَّهِ وَيَقْتُلُونَ ٱلنَّبِيِّـۧنَ بِغَيْرِ ٱلْحَقِّ ۗ ذَٰلِكَ بِمَا عَصَوا۟ وَّكَانُوا۟ يَعْتَدُونَ﴾
« And [recall] when you said, "O Moses, we can never endure one [kind of] food. So call upon your Lord to bring forth for us from the earth its green herbs and its cucumbers and its garlic and its lentils and its onions." [Moses] said, "Would you exchange what is better for what is less? Go into [any] settlement and indeed, you will have what you have asked." And they were covered with humiliation and poverty and returned with anger from Allah [upon them]. That was because they [repeatedly] disbelieved in the signs of Allah and killed the prophets without right. That was because they disobeyed and were [habitually] transgressing. »
Surah البقرة : 61
﴿قَالَ إِنَّهُۥ يَقُولُ إِنَّهَا بَقَرَةٌۭ لَّا ذَلُولٌۭ تُثِيرُ ٱلْأَرْضَ وَلَا تَسْقِى ٱلْحَرْثَ مُسَلَّمَةٌۭ لَّا شِيَةَ فِيهَا ۚ قَالُوا۟ ٱلْـَٔـٰنَ جِئْتَ بِٱلْحَقِّ ۚ فَذَبَحُوهَا وَمَا كَادُوا۟ يَفْعَلُونَ﴾
« He said, "He says, 'It is a cow neither trained to plow the earth nor to irrigate the field, one free from fault with no spot upon her.' " They said, "Now you have come with the truth." So they slaughtered her, but they could hardly do it. »
Surah البقرة : 71
﴿وَإِذَا قِيلَ لَهُمْ ءَامِنُوا۟ بِمَآ أَنزَلَ ٱللَّهُ قَالُوا۟ نُؤْمِنُ بِمَآ أُنزِلَ عَلَيْنَا وَيَكْفُرُونَ بِمَا وَرَآءَهُۥ وَهُوَ ٱلْحَقُّ مُصَدِّقًۭا لِّمَا مَعَهُمْ ۗ قُلْ فَلِمَ تَقْتُلُونَ أَنۢبِيَآءَ ٱللَّهِ مِن قَبْلُ إِن كُنتُم مُّؤْمِنِينَ﴾
« And when it is said to them, "Believe in what Allah has revealed," they say, "We believe [only] in what was revealed to us." And they disbelieve in what came after it, while it is the truth confirming that which is with them. Say, "Then why did you kill the prophets of Allah before, if you are [indeed] believers?" »
Surah البقرة : 91
﴿وَدَّ كَثِيرٌۭ مِّنْ أَهْلِ ٱلْكِتَـٰبِ لَوْ يَرُدُّونَكُم مِّنۢ بَعْدِ إِيمَـٰنِكُمْ كُفَّارًا حَسَدًۭا مِّنْ عِندِ أَنفُسِهِم مِّنۢ بَعْدِ مَا تَبَيَّنَ لَهُمُ ٱلْحَقُّ ۖ فَٱعْفُوا۟ وَٱصْفَحُوا۟ حَتَّىٰ يَأْتِىَ ٱللَّهُ بِأَمْرِهِۦٓ ۗ إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ عَلَىٰ كُلِّ شَىْءٍۢ قَدِيرٌۭ﴾
« Many of the People of the Scripture wish they could turn you back to disbelief after you have believed, out of envy from themselves [even] after the truth has become clear to them. So pardon and overlook until Allah delivers His command. Indeed, Allah is over all things competent. »
Surah البقرة : 109
This term appears in 239 verses of the Quran.