The Question of a Name

[crayon]

Asalamu alaikum,

This is something I've always wondered about.

"The most beloved of your names to Allah - the Mighty and Magnificent - are 'Abdullah and 'Abdur-Rahman"

This hadith states that the best two names of a person are Abdullah and Abdurrahman. I'm assuming the female equivalent is treated the same, Amat Allah and Amat Arrahman.
It is recommended to call your children those names.

I've also heard and read that it recommended to call your children by the names of the prophets, and sahabah; in the hope that they will grow up like them. Because of this, we get names like Yusuf, Ibrahim, Muhammad, Umar, Uthman, etc.

But here is when I get confused.
It's also good to call your children names that signify good things, such as patience, or virtue, or beauty, etc.
However, people always seem to use the arabic version of these names, even if they themselves are not arab.

Why? Is it a must? Is it preferable? Why should someone name their daughter Amal in lieu of Hope, or Farah instead of Joy, for example? Is there any Islamic reason?

So basically, if I want to name my son Robert, which means bright fame, or call my daughter Heather, which is a kind of flowering plant, would there be anything wrong with that?
If you knew a muslim who called one of their children a name like that, what would your opinion about it be?

 

[Nσσя'υℓ Jαииαн]

I have no idea sis, but me personally I don't have a thing for western names...there are very few names that I like. I think Islamic/Muslim names are nicer To me of course.

I think I'd probably find it awkward if I met a Muslim whose kids name was like Robert or Heather lol.

 

[crayon]

Jazaki Allah khair for the input sis!

What is a "western" name, though?
Simply any name that isn't Arabic?
Why are Arabic names considered "Muslim" and "Islamic"?

Those are actual questions btw, I'm not criticizing you or anything.

 

[witness]

Asalamualaikum w. w.

I've wondered this too

perhaps trying to find the deeper intention of why one wants to keep a particular name from a particular culture might help.

eg. A revert muslim coming from a western culture (American/german/english etc) may have different reasons for keeping a name from their home culture than a revert muslim from Arabia/India/China who wants to keep the same name.

If the intentions are sound then another aspect to look at is what are the likely assumptions that can be made when a member of the society (inc.family/friends) hears that name.
Are they negative/positive...do they portray an islamic identity, if thats what one wants?

I think Arabic names usually tends to lead to an Islam associated assumption.

Wasalam

 

[Nσσя'υℓ Jαииαн]

Jazaki Allah khair for the input sis!

What is a "western" name, though?
Simply any name that isn't Arabic?
Why are Arabic names considered "Muslim" and "Islamic"?

Those are actual questions btw, I'm not criticizing you or anything.

Hehe, I'm not even sure my reasons are legit lol. But I dunno, just a preference. Also I should add I like names that are well...different. I guess Western for me is whats not cultural and Islamic, yes so ur just about on target with that .

As for why are Arabic names considered Muslim...good question...maybe cuz we see Muslims more with that name. A stereotype perhaps or how it's been protrayed? Coz nowadays especially, when you see an Arabic name, people assume its a Muslim.

Also I've noticed even with Arab Christians or Jews...they seem to have a western name as a first name...at least from what I've encountered. Allahu Alam. I guess it depends on how its been fit in your mind...lol.

Wa iyaaki sis

 

[crayon]

Witness-

A good point, about the intentions behind a name. What do you think each revert's reasons for keeping that name would be? Or further still, what about the parent who is naming the child?

Well technically, if we're assuming that every Arabic name causes people to associate you with Islam, then calling your child "Ghabi", which means stupid in Arabic, would also relate you to Islam. But of course, that name is not acceptable because it has a negative meaning.

Should a person refrain from naming their child something that doesn't have the possibility of having an Islamic association?

Light of Heaven-

I agree, I also like unusual names..
But then why not call my child a Japanese name?

That's true, that people associate Arabic names with Islam, which is I guess perhaps a reason many converts choose to change their name to something Arabic.

Arab Christians do sometimes have certain names that only they use, such as George or Tony, for example, but then there are the "secular/neutral", for lack of a better word, names, that neither have to do with either religion, but have a good meaning, and are used by both Muslims and Christians.

Sorry if I'm rambling..:-[

 

[idk]

Ive always loved the name romeo for a boy and shante for a girl...or kai for a boy...


romeo means romantic,
shante means sing
and kai means ocean in hawaiin....

but im not sure if its actually halal to call your kid any of these names..

sis crayon, i dont see anything wrong with calling your child a japanese name..arab names are used because its the langauge of the quran, thats why people love to name their kids arabic names...

see you could call your child
romancey.. in arabic..which means the same as romeo..but does it being arabic make it ok?


lemme try and research..

 

[crayon]

^I've found this, sis:
link

If you look at the list of "good names", at the bottom, you'll notice they're all in Arabic. Why? Does it not even occur to people to use names not from the Arabic language?

Okay, loving the language of the Quran and wanting to use it for everything possible makes sense, but then there's this stigma that not using an Arabic name is horrible and shameful! (disclaimer: from my personal experience)

This makes it sound like I hate Arabic, or that I want to call my future kids Jessica and Alfred, lol. I don't, to either one of those. It's just something that I've always wondered about.

 

[Al-Zaara]

Cultural it is and what's spread through media and stuff.
You know, just like "all Muslims are Arabs", it's "all Arabic-names are Islamic". I've seen Amina:s, Fatima:s, Ahmad:s who were Christian. There really are lots of cases where people over-do it with the Arabic language and Arabic culture. As if there's only one of it anyway.

My name is definitely not Arabic and I'm not fond of too many Arabic names and if so, I prefer the Turkish versions. I'd actually be delighted to meet a Muslim named Robert or Heather.

 

[idk]

^^ LOL INIT.

I know a muslim girl called Judy..
And i know alot of non muslims called Aisha and Anisa And Sara.

Maybe we will be the generation 2 break the tradition...

We can have as many Jessicas, Alfreds, Roberts, Heathers, Romeos, Kai's, Shantes as we like.

Lol

 

[Nσσя'υℓ Jαииαн]

Witness-

A good point, about the intentions behind a name. What do you think each revert's reasons for keeping that name would be? Or further still, what about the parent who is naming the child?

Well technically, if we're assuming that every Arabic name causes people to associate you with Islam, then calling your child "Ghabi", which means stupid in Arabic, would also relate you to Islam. But of course, that name is not acceptable because it has a negative meaning.

Should a person refrain from naming their child something that doesn't have the possibility of having an Islamic association?

Light of Heaven-

I agree, I also like unusual names..
But then why not call my child a Japanese name?

That's true, that people associate Arabic names with Islam, which is I guess perhaps a reason many converts choose to change their name to something Arabic.

Arab Christians do sometimes have certain names that only they use, such as George or Tony, for example, but then there are the "secular/neutral", for lack of a better word, names, that neither have to do with either religion, but have a good meaning, and are used by both Muslims and Christians.

Sorry if I'm rambling..:-[

I got nothing against names as such, it's just my preference really, to want to use really Islamic names, cuz they're so beautiful mashaAllah. Like I said, different names r cool, whether is Jap, Chinese, Italian etc...coz a lot of names are really lovely. And sis Zaara is right too, you will see a lot of non Muslims with Arabic names. Thats definitely true.

 

[witness]

^

but then there's this stigma that not using an Arabic name is horrible and shameful! (disclaimer: from my personal experience)

Its a shame this stigma exists...which seems to create a place where people may want to counteract it by keeping names not associated with islam and therefore perhaps diluting or blending their identity ----(not sure how to put that, im not meaning their faith is corrupted but the appearance of....... i guess its not making sense...sorry...word drought.

Anyway I wonder if the problem lies in the non-islamic attitude of being judgemental;
ie.non Arabic name=bad muslim.

How sad,the very condemnation that may look pro-islam can actually drive away others from being proud of and keeping an Islam associated name.

However im sure many old names which can be considered religious even in Islam are not even Arabic...like Ebrahim, Asiya etc.

Also the idea of names having an effect on peoples characteristics...
What do you think of the intention to be named after a grandfather or greataunt etc even though the name may be like Khadijah or Yusuf. I feel its a wasted oppurtunity of aquiring the characteristics of the person who is universally associated with that name...

 

[crayon]

Al Zaara, that's what I'm thinking as well, that a lot of it is simply overdoing Arab cultural aspects of life that are unrelated to Islam.


Light of Heaven, by Islamic do you mean one of the names of the prophets, sahaba, or Abdul something?
Of course if it's a personal preference there's nothing wrong with it at all, alhamdullilah there's tons of names out there so everyone can choose one they love.
It's just when one feels obligated to use an Arabic name just because they are muslim that I don't agree with.

Witness, I agree, I think it's the whole problem of being judgmental about these things.
I guess if you call your child after a respectable, well mannered elder who's called Khadija, for example, perhaps your child will have the characteristics of both Khadija radia Allah 'anha, and the elder? So it's a double win, lol.

 

[witness]

...I guess if you call your child after a respectable, well mannered elder who's called Khadija, for example, perhaps your child will have the characteristics of both Khadija radia Allah 'anha, and the elder? So it's a double win, lol.

...the problem is when the elder is someone you definitley don't want the(anyones) child to be like! :giggling:

 

[Al-Zaara]

^ Exactly! Haha.

I guess if you call your child after a respectable, well mannered elder who's called Khadija, for example, perhaps your child will have the characteristics of both Khadija radia Allah 'anha, and the elder? So it's a double win, lol.

I really don't believe that you get the good characteristics of whose name you take. At all.

 

[crayon]

Al Zaara, I've heard something before, not sure if it's a hadith or not, but it basically says "choose good names for your children, for each child has a share in his name". I'll try to find it inshaAllah. edit- it's not a hadith, it's something ibn taymiah said, here it is in arabic:

قال بن تيمية رحمة الله عليه: ما من إنسانٍ إلا وله من اسمه نصيب
​

I was googling this, and I came across this link.

"Islam does not oblige Muslims to choose specific names, Arab or non-Arab names, for their children, whether males or females. It is rather up to people to decide which names they would like to choose for their children."

And

"As for non-Arab names, there is nothing wrong in using them as names, so long as they bear good meanings in their language. Although the early Muslims were purely Arabs living in a pure Arab atmosphere, they found no harm in non-Arab names, as regards men and women. For example, "Mareyah" (the Mother of the Believers) who gave birth to Ibrahim, the son of Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) was known for her Coptic name."

So it's just culture, I guess.

 

[Al-Zaara]

Of course it is, didn't Al-Zaara tell you. I mean, there have been lots of different languages who have mixed or taken inspiration from one another, and rarely is anything really "pure".

 

[Nσσя'υℓ Jαииαн]

Quoted By Crayon:

Light of Heaven, by Islamic do you mean one of the names of the prophets, sahaba, or Abdul something?
Of course if it's a personal preference there's nothing wrong with it at all, alhamdullilah there's tons of names out there so everyone can choose one they love.
It's just when one feels obligated to use an Arabic name just because they are muslim that I don't agree with.

Yea sis names of Prophets(pbut) their wives, Sahabas/Sahabis etc. I adore them :statisfie

Hmm I wonder who thinks its obligatory :skeleton:

Allahu Alam tho.

 

[Yanal]

Is Robert an Islamic name?

 

[Leyla73]

Is Robert an Islamic name?

I don't think it is.. <_< lol