حكمة
ḥikma
Wisdom that rests on the revelation of God’s will.
What it means
Ḥikma is wisdom, the sound judgment that puts each matter in its right place. In the Quran it is a gift of God: “He gives wisdom to whom He wills, and whoever is given wisdom has been given much good” (2:269). The Prophet’s mission included teaching it: he recites the verses, purifies the people, and teaches “the Book and wisdom” (2:151). Luqman is the one given ḥikma in surah 31 (31:12).
The Quran also commands: “Call to the way of your Lord with wisdom and good counsel” (16:125). Faruqi ties wisdom to revelation, so it is the knowledge of God’s will applied to the case in hand. Scholars have taken the Quran’s “wisdom” to include the sunna. The same root gives ḥukm, judgment, and al-Ḥakīm, the divine name. Seeking wisdom is therefore a religious duty as well as a practical one.
Often misunderstood as
Rendered “philosophy” in some historical translations; the Quranic term is wisdom grounded in revelation.
Term and Arabic as listed in Ismail al Faruqi, Toward Islamic English (International Institute of Islamic Thought, 1995), p. 30, listed as ḤIKMAH. The definition is restated here.