Siddiq

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Siddiq (Arabic word meaning "truthful") is an Islamic term and is given as an Honorific title to certain individuals. Feminine gender for Siddiq is Siddiqah. The word is sometimes used as a title given specific by Muhammad, according to Islamic sources. Other times, it is used to denote that the person is unquestionable in their trustworthiness.

[edit] Sunni usage

Sunni use Siddiq as a nickname for Abu Bakr, the first Caliph of Islam and the closet friend of Prophet Muhammad, while Siddiqa is used for his daughter and Prophet Muhammad's wife Aisha.

[edit] Sufi term

In Sufism, Siddiq is a rank that comes after prophet. Generally given to a person who verified the claim of prophethood in its early stage. Sufis believe the following four ranks are free of time and space and therefore life and death becomes meaningless.

1. Nabi - Prophet, someone who learned of the unseen from God directly
2. Siddiq - Early day muslim who learned the unseen from the Prophet
3. Shaheed - Martyr, someone who gave his life for the will of God and has thus become beyond mortality
4. Salih - Righteous, someone who spends every bit of his life per the will of God and thus achieved the status of "Baqaa" thru Fanaa. Also referred to as Wali.

[edit] Shia usage

Shi'a use Siddiqah as a title for his Prophet Muhammed's daughter Fatima. In Then I was Guided, the Shi'a author asks its Sunni audience how it is possible for both Abu Bakr and Fatimah to be "Siddiq", when contemplating their intense and deep conflicts, implying that logic demands one to be a lier, and arguing it can't be Muhammads daughter [1]. Sunni view that their conflict was a pure misunderstanding, not blemishing their trustworthiness.