Truth, Reality, Law, Fairness, Judge, Judgment, Wisdom
There are two separate word families here. They sound very similar, but their Arabic roots are different:
- Hak, hakikat, hukuk, hakkaniyet: come from the root H-Q-Q (ح ق ق).
- Hakîm, hâkim, hüküm, hikmet: come from the root H-K-M (ح ك م).
Yet these two families complement each other in meaning:
Hak is what is true and right. A hakîm is someone who knows that truth and puts it in its proper place. A hâkim is someone who should pass judgment according to what is right.
1. The Basic Meanings of the Word Hak
“Hak” does not have just one meaning. It carries several interconnected meanings:
| Meaning | Example |
|---|---|
| Reality | Death is a reality. |
| Truth | What the person says is true. |
| A share belonging to someone | A worker has a right to their wages. |
| A responsibility that must be fulfilled | Parents have rights. |
| What accords with justice | Justice has been served. |
| The opposite of falsehood | Truth has come, and falsehood has vanished. |
| A name of Allah | Allah is Al-Haqq. |
In the Qur’an, “haqq” is generally used as the opposite of falsehood, with the meanings of real, established, true, just, and certain to occur. Al-Haqq is also one of Allah’s names. TDV Encyclopedia of Islam
2. Words Derived from the Root of Hak
Hakikat — Reality
It means what something truly is.
- Appearances may be one thing, reality another.
- A person may appear wealthy but be in debt.
- A family may appear happy, while no one in the home speaks to one another.
- A business may appear profitable but may have grown by violating people’s rights.
So appearance and reality are not the same thing.
Hakiki — Genuine
It means real, not fake.
- A genuine friend
- Genuine love
- Genuine faith
- Genuine earnings
What is genuine does not merely look good at the beginning; its soundness also becomes apparent over time.
Haklı — In the Right
It means someone who thinks or acts in accordance with what is right. The Turkish Language Association also defines “haklı” as “in accordance with what is right, correct, appropriate.” TDK Contemporary Turkish Dictionary
But being right and defending what is right well are not the same thing.
People may be in the right yet use the wrong language. They may insult their spouse, humiliate their sibling, or hurt their child.
So we must make this distinction:
Being right does not give us the right to oppress.
It is possible to become the one in the wrong while initially being right.
Haksız — Unjust
It means not in accordance with what is right, diminishing what belongs to another, or acting contrary to the truth.
Injustice is not only taking someone’s property:
- Accusing someone without listening to them is unjust.
- Underpaying an employee for their work is unjust.
- Misusing an employer’s property or time is unjust.
- Dividing an inheritance unfairly is unjust.
- Disregarding a child’s individuality is unjust.
- Abusing your spouse’s trust is unjust.
Hakkaniyet — Fairness
It means respecting rights and giving everyone what they deserve.
Fairness and equality are not always the same thing.
For example, giving two children the same shoe size may look like equality. But if their feet are different sizes, this is not fairness.
Giving everyone the same amount of work may look like equality. Yet if one person’s capacity and responsibilities differ from another’s, the result may be unjust.
Equality means giving everyone the same thing; fairness means giving everyone what they need and are entitled to.
Hukuk — Law
“Hukuk” is the plural of “haqq” in Arabic. In other words, it roughly means rights.
Law is the body of rules that protects people’s rights.
But not everything legal is necessarily fair. A law made by people may be incomplete or wrong. Therefore, law must not lose its standard of rights and fairness.
Hak Etmek — To Deserve
It means earning an outcome through one’s work or behavior.
- A worker deserves their wages.
- Someone who makes an effort deserves a return.
- Someone who acts trustworthily deserves to be trusted.
- Someone who oppresses also deserves the consequences of their wrongdoing.
Here, entitlement is not only to a positive return. People may deserve the consequences of both their good and their bad deeds.
Hakkını Vermek — To Give Something Its Due
It means giving a person, a task, or a being the value they deserve.
- Giving a worker their due
- Doing justice to the material
- Doing a job properly
- Giving parents their due
- Doing justice to education
Doing a job properly means doing it with knowledge, effort, and honesty, rather than carelessly.
Hakkını Yemek — To Deprive Someone of Their Due
It means taking away or reducing a person’s material or nonmaterial share.
- Underpaying them
- Ignoring their work
- Claiming someone else’s idea as your own
- Withholding their share of an inheritance
- Telling lies about them
- Holding someone back despite their qualifications
It is not only money that can be taken unjustly. People can also be deprived of their due in work, reputation, time, trust, and love.
Hakkı Geçmek — To Be Owed a Debt of Gratitude or an Obligation
It means that one person has contributed effort or kindness to another, or has a claim upon them.
We owe our mother a debt. Our teacher has contributed to our lives. We owe a debt of gratitude to the friend who stood by us in difficult times.
This is why we say, “Release me from any claim you have upon me.”
In other words:
“Do you waive any material or nonmaterial debt I still owe you?”
Hak Sahibi — A Rights Holder
It means someone with a legitimate share in or authority over something.
But holding a right does not mean exercising it without limits.
A father has rights regarding his child, but he cannot oppress them. An employer has the right to manage, but cannot violate an employee’s dignity. People own their property, but cannot use it to harm others.
Tahkik — Investigation and Verification
It means investigating and confirming whether something is true.
In today’s terms, we could call it “fact-checking.”
Investigating the source of a report rather than immediately spreading it is verification. Because unverified information presented as truth can turn into slander.
A judgment consistent with what is right cannot come from unverified information.
Tahakkuk — Realization
It means something coming to pass, emerging, and becoming established.
- The debt became due.
- The expected result materialized.
- What was said became reality.
So tahkik is investigating the truth, while tahakkuk is the truth becoming manifest.
Muhakkak — Certain
It means certain, beyond doubt, inevitable.
When we say, “This will certainly happen,” we express its certainty.
Müstahak — Deserving
It means a person who has deserved something.
We generally use the expression “They deserved it” negatively. But the essence of the word means “having earned, having become worthy of.”
İstihkak — Entitlement
It means the share or return a person deserves.
- A worker’s entitlement
- A contractor’s payment entitlement
- Payment for a service
İhkak-ı Hak — Restoration of a Right
It means restoring a violated right to its holder, or ensuring that a right is fulfilled.
However, people must not create a new injustice while seeking their own rights.
Defending a right is one thing; taking revenge is another.
Haqq Al-Yaqin — Certainty Through Direct Experience
It means knowing a truth not merely as information, but by living it and experiencing it personally.
Hearing that fire burns is one thing, seeing fire is another, and feeling its heat is another. Haqq al-yaqin expresses the highest degree of certainty. TDV Encyclopedia of Islam
3. Important Expressions Related to Hak
- The true path
- A truthful word
- The true religion
- Reality
- Genuine
- In the right
- Unjust
- Justly
- Fairness
- Law
- A rights holder
- To deserve
- To give someone their due
- To deprive someone of their due
- To seek one’s rights
- To defend one’s rights
- To acknowledge what is right
- To respect rights
- To violate a right
- A violation of rights
- To usurp a right
- To conceal the truth
- To speak the truth
- To be upon the truth
- To side with what is right
- To deviate from the truth
- To submit to the truth
- To call to the truth
- To mix truth with falsehood
- The rights of others
- The rights owed to Allah
- Parents’ rights
- Neighbors’ rights
- Relatives’ rights
- Orphans’ rights
- Workers’ rights
- The rights arising from one’s labor
- Inheritance rights
- Public rights
- Animal rights
- To mutually forgive and release claims
- To waive one’s claim against someone
- To be owed a debt of gratitude
- To appear before Al-Haqq
4. What Does “Worshipping Al-Haqq” Mean?
When we capitalize “Haqq” here, we mean Allah’s name Al-Haqq.
Allah is Al-Haqq:
- His existence is absolutely real.
- His word is true.
- His promise is true.
- His judgment is true.
- What He creates is not empty or meaningless.
Therefore, “serving Al-Haqq” means serving Allah.
However, we must be careful when using the expression “worshipping truth.” We do not worship an abstract idea or our own understanding of what is right. We worship Allah, who is Al-Haqq.
Because people may sometimes mistake their own opinions for the truth. They may think whatever suits their own interests is right. Therefore, we cannot regard our own selves as the sole source of truth.
5. Hakîm, Hâkim, Hüküm, and Hikmet
These words come from the root H-K-M, not the root of “haqq.”
| Word | Basic meaning |
|---|---|
| Hakîm | Wise; someone who uses correct knowledge appropriately |
| Hâkim | One who judges, governs, or prevails |
| Hakem | A person asked to adjudicate a dispute |
| Hüküm | A decision made about a matter |
| Hikmet | Using correct knowledge in the right place and measure |
| Mahkeme | The place where judgment is passed |
| Mahkûm | A person upon whom judgment has been passed |
| Muhkem | Made firm; sound in ruling and structure |
| Ahkâm | Rulings |
| Tahkim | Referring to an arbitrator, or strengthening |
Hakîm means possessing judgment and wisdom. Wisdom is not merely knowing what is right, but using that knowledge and making sound judgments through it. TDV Encyclopedia of Islam
We can establish the relationship here as follows:
Without knowing what is true and right, one cannot be wise. Without wisdom, one cannot pass judgment in accordance with what is right. And without such judgment, fairness cannot come about.
6. Its Connection with the Second Verse of Surah Luqman
The expression in the second verse of Surah Luqman is:
“Tilka ayatu al-kitabi al-hakim.”
The word here is technically “hakim”; it refers to a book that is wise, sound, and contains correct judgments and knowledge.
The verse does not directly say “a book that governs and rules over people.” But we can make this connection:
The Qur’an is a wise book. Because it distinguishes truth from falsehood. It teaches people to make sound judgments. When people learn the Qur’an’s wisdom, they first begin to gain control over their own selves, anger, earnings, and behavior.
In other words:
- Reality exists.
- Investigation is needed to learn the reality.
- When reality is understood, the truth becomes clear.
- Wisdom is needed to assess the truth correctly.
- A person of wisdom thinks wisely.
- They make a judgment according to what is right.
- When the judgment is implemented, fairness arises.
- If a right is given to its holder, justice is realized.
- If a right is violated, injustice and oppression occur.
- If the truth is abandoned, a person falls into falsehood and misguidance.
We can summarize the entire relationship in one sentence:
Hak is truth itself; hakikat is its manifested form; tahkik is investigating it; hikmet is understanding it correctly; hüküm is deciding according to it; hakkaniyet is respecting it; and justice is giving a right to its holder.
And the most striking conclusion is this:
Being right is not merely possessing the truth; it is being able to live by the truth we possess without turning it into injustice.