You called your child what? Are
you joking? You know, it never ceases to make me cringe when I hear the names
that some parents give their children. I am not joking about this but it is
something horrific. If only the child knew the meaning of the name; what would
they say? Would they not cringe as I do? Well anyway as ever is granddad is
going to give advice. Well that's what someone called it when my mouth opens
and words come out!
Where did you get it from?
Yes, where did you that from? I
have never heard of it before and you have picked it out of fresh air and
placed it before me! If it was a dagger I would quote Shakespeare! Now due to
the Indo Pak slang of Arabic words good names are given a totally different
meanings. The famous example is Thamina which in Arabic means priceless. This
is what daughters are like to their fathers but when you read that Tha as sa
the meaning changes totally. So Thamina becomes Samina which means fat. This
name corruption would make those who understand Arabic howl with laughter when
they hear it!
Iqra is another common girls
name. It's the first word revealed of the Quran but what does it mean? It's a
common verb in the imperative form meaning read. It's not a name! Okay? It's
not a name! Also giving children names that are not names is not proper at all! Read, come over here!
Lists and personalities
The list of incorrect name is
very long and it makes me shudder to even think of them! Names that are titles
can be okay, as long as you do not tell people to use the entire title when
calling them! Like Zayn Al-Abideen etc. Other names that should not be given like Yasrab/He drinks, dhahan/brain, siham/arrows, Nadeem/regret and the
list goes on.
Also avoid name of personalities that have bad
names in Islamic history; like Yazid, Hajaj, Pervez, Ummayyah/ the name of the
tribe against Ahl Al-Bayt and it also means illiterate etc. And all their ilk
should be avoided at all costs. If you
have a name that has a bad connotation then change your name by deed
poll for goodness sake!
99 names
Now this is a very contentious
issue that many do not understand. The Prophet (may Allah bestow peace and
blessings upon him) advised to give names with praise or servitude linked in
them. Like his blessed name or a name that means slave of Allah or one of the
99 names.
The only problem is when people
use the second part of the word omitting Abd/slave. The common example is Haseeb; his
name should be Abdulhasseb but now it's just Haseeb. This is permissible but
should be avoided because of potential harm in it. Why? Because Allah has
attributes/siffat and creation has characteristics/khuluq. These are two
different things, look in the Quran how Allah describes the Prophet (may Allah
bestow peace and blessings upon him) as Rauf/compassionate and raheem/merciful.
These are not attributes/safat like Allah rather these are characteristics
which makes them permissible and different. Because most people misunderstand
them, in particular, our petrol fueled friends; they should be avoided. (In
terms of usage). So someone can name their child any of the names of the 99
names except Al-Rahman and of course the name Allah. The last two are not to be
used under any circumstances. Even though the other terms are permissible
it does not mean that they should be used it's better not to. Names in common
usage are Majid and Ali etc.
The word Abd Al-Nabi or Ghulam
Nabi have much controversy because it's not understood what abd means. Abd has
two meanings one is servant and other is slave. (Abdul is not a name it means
slave of - that's not a name!) The common misunderstanding of the word Abd is
that is means slave and there is no other possible meaning. When Abdulmustafa
is used its a servant but not in terms of worship. Servant meaning khadim not
anything other. Slavehood is solely for Allah and not for anything or anyone else. So
someone can have the name Abdulmustafa meaning the servant of Mustafa. This is
not shirk because it means servant not slave. Similar is the name Ghulam
Mustafa and so on. Do not forget the name that is not possible to give is Sami
ullah which means the hearing of Allah. This is something that's highly
disliked or even unlawful. No one can be the hearing of Allah (the Exalted). Do
not allow someone to give this name to their children.
The Prophet (may Allah bestow
peace and blessings upon him) had servants himself. Zayd ibn Al-Harith (may
Allah be pleased with him) was a gift to him by our lady Khadijah (may Allah be
pleased with her); for their wedding.
Does Al/the matter and Raab
We look at Surah Yusuf for the
best story of a family separated and reunited. That's why it's so important.
Yusuf (upon him peace) helps a man with a dream and he says 'mention me to
your lord' (verse 42); this is used in term of king and not in terms of lordship
of God. Here, the word is not used like Raab Al-'Alameen/Lord of universe or otherwise.
Normally Raab is used with another noun and not on its own. But most of all
look at the context before becoming the judge, jury and executioner.
Also latter we that the Pharaoh
is called Al-'Aziz and this title is given to Yusuf (upon him peace). Had it
been shirk/polytheism Yusuf would not have allowed it. Also ال does not make a difference because
it just means the.
Picked from the Quran
We all love the Quran but let's
detach our emotions from it. Picking a name out of the Quran without
understanding and out of context; its irrational and dangerous. Why? Because
you do not understand what the name means or what the context is. You pick out
a name like Rauwada which sounds good but it means flowing; it's not a child's
name! Neither is naming your child after an item like a sword or an arrow. So
do not pick a name from the Quran without knowing what it means exactly. Or
else you want to call your child a silly name that does not mean what you think
it means! Change the name!
Do not forget that the Prophet
(may Allah bestow peace and blessings upon him) changed names of
companions that had bad meanings. Abu Hurayrah's name before Islam was
AbdusShams/Slave of the sun. The Prophet (may Allah bestow peace and blessings
upon him) changed it to Abdurrahman/Slave of the All-Merciful.
One of his wives had an incorrect
name and he changed it into Zaynab. why is it important to change names? The
Arabs have a saying that everyone has a share of their name. So if you call
your daughter Samina do not be surprised if she is fat! Or if you call your son
saghir/small and his growth is stunted!
Culture and language
This does play a part too because a meaning of one name in Hindi might not mean that same thing in Arabic. So I would recommend looking for the meaning of a name generally in Arabic before considering names. Although it does not mean you have to name your children with Arabic only names rather the meaning must be good. Naheem means praise of God in the language of Hindi but in Arabic it could mean clearing ones throat or avarice. It could also be a corruption of Naeem.
Also there are lot of badly spelt names, so please spell them correctly.
This does play a part too because a meaning of one name in Hindi might not mean that same thing in Arabic. So I would recommend looking for the meaning of a name generally in Arabic before considering names. Although it does not mean you have to name your children with Arabic only names rather the meaning must be good. Naheem means praise of God in the language of Hindi but in Arabic it could mean clearing ones throat or avarice. It could also be a corruption of Naeem.
Also there are lot of badly spelt names, so please spell them correctly.
How should I choose a name?
Simple start by names of any
Prophet, their wives or family then companions. Find out the meaning of the
names. Check the meaning of the name with a book of Muslim names. Email me if
you have to! Then feel free to give it and relax. Please do not let me hear
daft names that are not names.
Also please spell them in Arabic
not your local tongue! Usman/Osman should be Uthman etc. You have not a clue
how tired I am from hearing names that not names! Peace!
