Hakikat

Hakikat is a term used in Malay and Indonesian to mean truth, reality, or essence. It is borrowed from the Arabic haqiqa (حقِيقة), literally “reality” or “true nature,” and it is applied across religious, philosophical, and everyday discourse to denote what lies beneath appearances.

In ordinary speech, hakikat can refer to the true state of affairs, the essential nature of a thing, or the truth of a claim, distinguishing it from surface appearances or rumors. In Islamic thought, haqiqa denotes the ultimate reality behind outward forms, referring to the true nature of God and creation and to knowledge of that reality. Within Sufism, haqiqa is central to the inner path of gnosis (ma'rifa): a seeker progresses from outward practice (sharia) to experiential awareness of the true nature of existence, often described as witnessing the one reality or realizing unity (tawhid) in all things. The term is sometimes used with related concepts such as haqq al-yaqin (the truth of certainty) to denote levels of certainty in knowledge.

In modern usage, hakikat remains a neutral term for “truth” or “reality” and is employed in literary, philosophical, and academic contexts to discuss the essence or factual basis of matters.