وَقَالُوا۟ كُونُوا۟ هُودًا أَوْ نَصَـٰرَىٰ تَهْتَدُوا۟ ۗ قُلْ بَلْ مِلَّةَ إِبْرَٰهِـۧمَ حَنِيفًا ۖ وَمَا كَانَ مِنَ ٱلْمُشْرِكِينَ
Wa qaaloo koonoo Hoodan aw Nasaaraa tahtadoo; qul bal Millata Ibraaheema Haneefanw wa maa kaana minal mushrikeen
"Yahudi veya Hıristiyan olun ki doğru yolu bulasınız" dediler. "Doğruya yönelmiş olan ve Allah'a eş koşanlardan olmayan İbrahim'in dinine uyarız" de.
And they say, "Be Jews or Christians, and you will be guided." Say, "Rather, the way of Ibrahim, who turned purely to God — and he was not among those who associate others with God."
Hanif names a person leaning away from everything worshipped around him and inclining toward one direction alone, and the reply offers that description in place of the two communal labels just proposed. Grammarians note that millata Ibrahima stands in the accusative with its verb left unspoken, follow or take, so the answer arrives as something to do rather than a name to adopt.