Can names of Allah be used
for naming children?
By: Khurshid Imam
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A. Introduction
A general understanding of Muslims is that one cannot have
names like Rahman, Raheem, Khaliq, Jabbar,
Malik etc as these are names of Allah. If someone decides to name his
infant as “Tawwab” / “Rahman” / “Kareem” then
people oppose him on the ground that these are names of Allah and it’s
incorrect to name someone in the name of Allah.
There are gross misconceptions among Muslims about the subject
of ‘99 Names of Allah’. We will not discuss them here. Please read the article “What
is the name of Allah” by Khurshid Imam to
understand this issue.
The Quran
mentions hundreds of attributes of Almighty God:
Al-Rahman
= The Most Merciful. Al-Rahim = The
Most Compassionate. Al-Basir = The
Seer, The Insightful. Al-Khaliq = The creator. Al-Raziq
= The sustainer. So on..
B. How do we understand an
attribute of Allah?
We say
that Almighty God is merciful,
compassionate, creator, sustainer. However, at the same time we see that human
beings too possess these qualities.
*Allah is MERCIFUL. A
human being is merciful towards fellow human being, towards animals, towards
other creatures. But there is absolutely no comparison between the degree of mercy
of Allah and the degree of mercy of a human being.
Allah is AL-RAHMAN =
Most Merciful.
Human being is RAHMAN
= Merciful
The quality of “RAHMAN” i.e. MERCY in its highest sense
refers to God alone.
Allah showers His
mercy on His creatures spread throughout the universe, His mercy is evident in
numerous forms, He showers his mercy even on those who disbelieve in Him, and His
mercy in absolute sense is beyond our perception.
*Allah is CREATOR. A
human being is also the creator of houses, machines, bridges and millions of other
things. But there is absolutely no comparison between the degree of creativity-
of Allah and the degree of creativity of a human being.
Allah is AL-KHALIQ = THE
CREATOR.
Human being is KHALIQ
= CREATOR
The quality of ‘CREATIVITY’ in its highest form refers to God
alone.
Allah created heavens
and the earth and all that is between them, His creativity in absolute sense is
beyond our perception.
Please note: In Arabic language when “Al” is added with a common noun
then it becomes Proper Noun (One particular entity). So Khaliq refers to anyone
who can create but Al-Khaliq refers to a particular Khaliq, i.e Allah.
Similarly we add “Al” with Raziq and it becomes Al-Raziq referring to
Allah only.
* Allah sees, hears,
and knows. Human beings also see, hear and know but these qualities cannot be
compared with seeing, listening and knowing of Allah. The quality of seeing, hearing
and knowing in highest form refers to Allah only. Allah sees, hears and knows
everything that exists no matter how small or how big. Human beings do not
possess this level of seeing, hearing and knowing.
* Allah is Al-Raziq.
He provides sustenance to all those who need sustenance. Human beings also
provide sustenance so human beings can also be called RAZIQ. Human beings
provide sustenance to some of fellow human beings. But Allah is AL-RAZIQ – one
whose sustenance providing quality cannot be compared with anyone. Allah has
made arrangement of sustenance for animals, plants, insects, fishes, microscopic
life and so on.
So, there is nothing
wrong in naming someone as Khaliq, Raziq,
Malik, Kareem etc. It becomes shirk only when someone compares a quality of
Allah and says that this quality in SAME degree is applicable for
anyone other than Allah.
C. Allah himself
addresses human being with same name as His name.
فَتَبَارَكَ اللَّهُ أَحْسَنُ الْخَالِقِينَ So blessed is Allah,
the best of creators. Quran 23:14
وَتَذَرُونَ أَحْسَنَ الْخَالِقِينَ Do you call upon Ba'l and leave the best of creators. Quran 37:125
Quran is telling that among
many KHALIQ [note the plural word KHALEQEEN] – Allah is the best Khaliq.
The word(s) ‘raziqeen’ [many RAZIQ] appears 6 time(s) in 6 Ayah(s)
in Quran
وَأَنتَ خَيْرُ الرَّازِقِينَ Jesus said
...".. You are the best of
providers". Quran 5:114
Quran is telling that among
many RAZIQ [note the plural word RAZIQEEN] – Allah is the best Raziq.
وَجَعَلْنَا لَكُمْ فِيهَا مَعَايِشَ وَمَن لَّسْتُمْ
لَهُ بِرَازِقِينَ
And We have made for you therein means of
living and [for] those for whom you are not providers. Quran 15:20
In other words, Ayah is saying that Allah provides sustenance to even
those for which human beings are not RAZEQEEN.
وَإِنَّ اللَّهَ لَهُوَ خَيْرُ الرَّازِقِينَ And indeed, it is Allah who is the best of providers.
Quran 22:58
وَهُوَ خَيْرُ الرَّازِقِينَ and He is the best of providers [RAZIQEEN]. Quran 23:72,
34:39
وَاللَّهُ خَيْرُ الرَّازِقِينَ and Allah is the best of providers [RAZIQEEN]. Quran
62:11
There are many RAZIQ, among them
Allah is the best RAZIQ.
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There are many who do MAKAR, but
Allah is the best of MAKEREEN. Quran 3:54; 8:30.
Wamakaroo
wamakara Allahu waAllahu khayru almakireena.
Note: In order to have better understanding of this ayah please refer to the article: “Does Allah deceive? makar-Allahu”
Note: In order to have better understanding of this ayah please refer to the article: “Does Allah deceive? makar-Allahu”
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وَهُوَ
خَيْرُ الْحَاكِمِينَ . فَاصْبِرُوا حَتَّىٰ يَحْكُمَ اللَّهُ بَيْنَنَا ۚ be patient until Allah judges
between us. And He is the best of
judges [Hakemeen]. Quran 7:87
وَهُوَ خَيْرُ الْحَاكِمِينَ And He is the best of judges [Hakemeen]. Quran 10:109, 12:80
وَهُوَ خَيْرُ الْفَاصِلِينَ He is the best of
deciders. Quran 6:57
ۖوَهُوَ خَيْرُ النَّاصِرِين But
Allah is your protector, and He is
the best of helpers. Quran 3:150
Note: I could not
find NASIR as one of the attributes in popular ‘99 names of Allah’. But Quran
has given this attribute to Allah.
وَأَنتَ خَيْرُ الْفَاتِحِينَ Our Lord.. You are the best of those who give decision [MANY FATIH or FATIHEEN].
Quran 7:89
A man can be FATIH. Allah is Al-FATIH.
وَأَنتَ خَيْرُ الْغَافِرِينَ Moses said - … and You are the best of forgivers. Quran 7:155
Human beings forgive, Allah also
forgives, but Allah forgives in the highest
degree, Allah is AL GHAFIR.
وَأَنتَ خَيْرُ الْوَارِثِينَ And [mention] Zechariah, when he called to his
Lord, "My Lord, do not leave me alone [with no heir], while you are the best of inheritors."
Quran 21:89
There can be many WARIS, but Allah
is the best WARIS. So, one can have WARIS as name.
وَأَنتَ
خَيْرُ الْمُنزِلِينَ
and You(Allah)
are the best to accommodate [us].' " Quran 23:29
وَأَنتَ خَيْرُ الرَّاحِمِينَ and You are the best of the merciful.'
Quran 23:109
Human beings as well as Allah are
RAHMAN – they both are merciful, but there is no comparison in the degree of
mercy. Mercy in its highest form refers to Allah alone.
وَقُل رَّبِّ اغْفِرْ وَارْحَمْ وَأَنتَ خَيْرُ الرَّاحِمِينَ
And, [O Muhammad], say, "My
Lord, forgive and have mercy, and You
are the best of the merciful." Quran 23:118
D. Allah has used his attributive name for Prophet:
No wonder Allah has referred Prophet
Muhammad (Peace be upon him) as RAUF and
RAHEEM in Quran.
لَقَدْ جَاءَكُمْ رَسُولٌ مِّنْ أَنفُسِكُمْ عَزِيزٌ
عَلَيْهِ مَا عَنِتُّمْ حَرِيصٌ عَلَيْكُم بِالْمُؤْمِنِينَ رَءُوفٌ
رَّحِيمٌ
"There has certainly come to
you a Messenger
from among yourselves. Grievous to him is what you suffer; [he is] concerned
over you and to the believers is kind [RAUF] and merciful [RAHEEM]." Quran 9:128
Important: Human being should not be assigned names that are specific only for
Almighty God.
Many people say that one should be
named as AbdulRahman instead of rahman, abdulKareem instead of Kareem,
AbdulJabbar instead of jabbar because Rahman, Kareem, Jabbar etc are names of Allah. It’s good to have
these names but it is NOT mandatory.
AbdulRahman = Abd + Al + Rahman =
Slave of Al-Rahman
AbdulKareem = Abd + Al + Kareem =
Slave of Al-Kareem
AbdulJabbar = Abd + Al + Jabbar =
Slave of Al-Jabbar.
In fact above said name are same as
having name without “AL”.
You can name someone as AbdulRahman OR
Rahman but certainly not Al-Rahman.
You can name someone as AbdulKareem
OR Kareem but certainly not Al-kareem.
You can name someone as AbdulJabbar OR
Jabbar but certainly not Al-Jabbar.
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Author can be contacted: imam.khurshid@yahoo.com
WatsApp: +91-8884542768
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