هدى
hadā
To guide to the truth and value of Islam.
What it means
Hadā means to guide, to show the way to a destination. In the Quran guidance is the first gift of revelation: the Book is “a guidance for those mindful of God” (2:2). In every prayer Muslims ask: “Guide us to the straight path” (1:6). The noun hudā is the guidance itself, and the one who gives it is hādī. The verb is therefore used both of God and of the messengers He sent.
The Quran distinguishes between the guide who shows the way and the one who grants the arrival. The Prophet is a messenger who conveys: “You do not guide whom you love, but God guides whom He wills” (28:56). Another verse says: “You surely guide to a straight path” (42:52), meaning by pointing it out through revelation. Faruqi defines the verb as guiding to the truth and value of Islam.
Often misunderstood as
Translated “to lead” in a general sense; the Quranic verb names guidance to the truth that God has revealed, which He alone finally grants.
Term and Arabic as listed in Ismail al Faruqi, Toward Islamic English (International Institute of Islamic Thought, 1995), p. 46, listed as HADĀ. The definition is restated here.