هدى
Hudā
Divine guidance: the direction God gives humankind through revelation, and the Quran’s own description of itself.
What it means
Hudā means guidance, and in Islamic usage it is the guidance that comes from God through revelation. The Quran opens by describing itself as “a guidance for the God-conscious” (2:2), and its first surah asks, “Guide us to the straight path” (1:6). The Quran says that the guidance of God is the true guidance (2:120), and it presents each prophet as bringing it to his people. Faruqi lists the word among the terms that name the revelation of Islam. It is a gift that people receive from God and must then act on. The same root gives hidāya (guidance) and mahdī (one who is guided).
Often misunderstood as
It is sometimes rendered “instruction” or “religion” in general, which loses the sense that guidance is something God gives and people accept.
What the sources say
The Quran treats guidance as God’s to give while leaving people responsible for their response: God guides whom He wills (2:213), yet the Book is sent for all people (2:185). Scholars read this as an invitation that can be accepted or refused.
Term and Arabic as listed in Ismail al Faruqi, Toward Islamic English (International Institute of Islamic Thought, 1995), p. 47, listed as HUDĀ. The definition is restated here.