Arabic root

ن-ف-ق

Nun-Fa-Qaf

2 words from this root family

About this root

Nun-Fa-Qaf (ن-ف-ق) has 2 words in the Fahm dictionary: anfaqa (he spent (in charity) / he gave), munāfiq (hypocrite).

In the Quran, words built on this root occur 111 times in 86 verses, across 31 of the 114 suras. The first is in 2:3. The form أَنْفَقَ (he spent (in charity) / he gave) accounts for 68 of them.

Themes: Quranic

Words from this root

Word	Meaning	Type	In the Quran	Taught in
أَنْفَقَ anfaqa	he spent (in charity) / he gave	verb, B1	68×	Prophets and Messengers
مُنَافِقٌ munāfiq	hypocrite	noun, B1	27×	Faith, Monotheism, and Hypocrisy

“In the Quran” counts every occurrence of that dictionary form, in any of its senses.

In the Quran

ٱلَّذِينَ يُؤْمِنُونَ بِٱلْغَيْبِ وَيُقِيمُونَ ٱلصَّلَوٰةَ وَمِمَّا رَزَقْنَـٰهُمْ يُنفِقُونَ

Who believe in the Unseen, and establish worship, and spend of that We have bestowed upon them;

Quran 2:3

ٱلصَّـٰبِرِينَ وَٱلصَّـٰدِقِينَ وَٱلْقَـٰنِتِينَ وَٱلْمُنفِقِينَ وَٱلْمُسْتَغْفِرِينَ بِٱلْأَسْحَارِ

The steadfast, and the truthful, and the obedient, those who spend (and hoard not), those who pray for pardon in the watches of the night.

Quran 3:17

وَإِذَا قِيلَ لَهُمْ تَعَالَوْا۟ إِلَىٰ مَآ أَنزَلَ ٱللَّهُ وَإِلَى ٱلرَّسُولِ رَأَيْتَ ٱلْمُنَـٰفِقِينَ يَصُدُّونَ عَنكَ صُدُودًا

And when it is said unto them: Come unto that which Allah hath revealed and unto the messenger, thou seest the hypocrites turn from thee with aversion.

Quran 4:61

Arabic text: Tanzil Quran Text (Uthmani 1.1), CC BY 3.0, tanzil.net. English: Marmaduke Pickthall, The Meaning of the Glorious Koran (1930), public domain, via Project Gutenberg. Counts and verse choice: Quranic Arabic Corpus morphology data (corpus.quran.com).

Word cards with examples

B1verb

أَنْفَقَ

anfaqa

he spent (in charity) / he gave

Example

الَّذِينَ يُنْفِقُونَ أَمْوَالَهُمْ بِاللَّيْلِ وَالنَّهَارِ سِرًّا وَعَلَانِيَةً

alladhīna yunfiqūna amwālahum bil-layli wan-nahāri sirran wa-ʿalāniyah

Those who spend their wealth by night and by day, secretly and publicly (2:274)

Root: ن-ف-ق Quranic

Grammar

Form IV verb (أَفْعَلَ). Past: أَنْفَقَ, Present: يُنْفِقُ. Related: نَفَقَةٌ (expenditure), إِنْفَاقٌ (spending). Often used specifically for spending in God's cause.

Culture

Charitable spending is one of the most praised deeds in the Quran. The ideal is to give at all times and in all ways - openly and secretly, by day and by night.

B1noun

مُنَافِقٌ

munāfiq

hypocrite

Example

إِنَّ الْمُنَافِقِينَ فِي الدَّرْكِ الْأَسْفَلِ مِنَ النَّارِ

inna al-munāfiqīna fī ad-darki al-asfali mina an-nār

Indeed, the hypocrites will be in the lowest depths of the Fire (4:145)

Root: ن-ف-ق Quranic

Grammar

Active participle of نَافَقَ (Form III, to act hypocritically). Noun: نِفَاقٌ (hypocrisy). Surah al-Munāfiqūn (63) is dedicated to this topic.

Culture

Hypocrisy (nifāq) is considered worse than open disbelief because it involves deception. The Quran dedicates extensive passages to identifying its signs.