Naming Your Child

Salam Alaikum warahmatullahi wabarakatu Bismillah al Rahman al Rahim al hamdu Lillahi Rabbil alameen wa Salatu was Salam ala nabina Muhammad wa ala alihi wa sahbihi wa sallam. So I've been receiving a considerable number of requests, asking me to shed light on the etiquettes, surrounding naming one's child slash children. I've also been asked recommendations for names for boys and girls. And along with that, I've also been asked to, you know, touch on the do's and the don'ts of naming one's child slash children.

So that's what I hope to do in this video.

Having said that, I've already initiated a short series of videos on Tick tock, you can go check it out. If you are on the platform, I've put up part one and I hope to put up the rest of the series as well in sha Allah Allah. But over here on YouTube, but I plan on doing is with this video at least is to put up a slightly more detailed discussion for those of you who may be interested in a detailed discussion with regards to this topic. So we begin this video by praising Allah we asked him for his help, and we asked him to send his choices of blessings and salutations upon the final messenger, our beloved prophet muhammad sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, his family members, his

companions and all those who trade upon his path with utmost sincerity until the day of Ghana.

Firstly, we need to acknowledge that children are a huge blessing from Allah subhanho wa Taala. They are gifts from Allah, his original blessings and gifts that come with responsibilities. And these responsibilities have been outlined to us by the prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam in his teachings, so we have action items starting off with how to welcome a newborn into this world. And the Prophet did not leave us groping in the dark, he taught us many things. He has outlined our responsibilities as parents towards our children. So from these responsibilities is the act of choosing a good and appropriate name for one's child or children. So now we have a couple of

narrations, a couple of ahaadeeth that outline this, and the principle that can be drawn from all of these narrations. The summary is that the name that is being chosen needs to be a name that has a good meaning to it. So the Prophet encourages names with good meanings attached to them. And he strongly discourages names that have bitter meanings, bad meanings attached to them, as we will see in just a bit in shallow dialogue. So I'm going to run through a few guidelines in terms of names. So like I said earlier on, bear in mind that the principle is to avoid names that have bad meanings. Why you might be wondering, well, it doesn't really, it's not rocket science to understand it. But

then again, what you need to kind of

relate to and understand is that from an Islamic perspective, how we look at names is that it is in a way a form of DHA. So when an appropriate name is suited upon a child, let's say for example, Sally,

now Sonny is translated as righteous one, a good person. So think of it now each time the mother calls the child, each time the father calls the child, and you know, the power of the mothers do as the fathers do is and along with that, the family members they all call this child, Sally, Sally, your Sally also. So basically, each time you call the child you're calling or Righteous One, oh, good person. All right, just one. So this becomes a form of Doha for this child. On the other hand, the opposite is applicable as well. May Allah protect our children and help us and guide us to choose the right names. But let's say hypothetically, if someone were to suit the name, fast, I'm

sure no one would. But just to understand this better, faster, is the opposite of silent. So fast, is translated as disobedient, one transgressive criminal sinner. Now just imagine if you were to keep calling the child faster or faster car which is the feminine version of it, yeah, fast, fast or fast or faster car, you're basically calling the child or disobedient one or center or transgressor. So this is why the Prophet so strongly encourages choosing names that have good meanings to them. So that is the principle that we have to bear in mind. Along with that names that are exclusive for Allah subhanho wa Taala must be avoided. Say for example, alcoholic, non alcoholic is translated as

the creator who is the creator, Allah azza wa jal is the creator. So can we call ourselves alcoholic? No, it's not possible. But if you want to use the name, you can do so by adding the word Abbot. So Abdullah Holic, which is translated as the slave of the Creator, which is fine, but one thing to bear in mind is that a lot of people go with

names as such like Abdullah Holic or Abdur Rahman Abdur Rahim because even a Rahman Al Rahim exclusive for Allah azza wa jal Rob is exclusive for Allah subhanho wa Taala Allah is exclusive for Eliza Virgil. So the name Allah you can suit it upon yourself. If you add up the at the beginning Abdullah now with Abdullah Khalid, Abdul Rahman and Abdul Rahim, what happens most of the time is that people tend to for the sake of convenience, drop the AB and then start calling using a Holic or Rahman Al Rahim, which is wrong, because like I said earlier on these names are exclusively for Allah subhanho wa Taala.

So along with that, we'll be discussed basically avoiding names that have bitter meanings, avoiding names that are exclusive for Allah subhanho wa Taala. And we should also avoid names for females that have seductive meanings, again from a negative angle. So let's say for example, if if someone were to think of the name fitna for one's daughter, now this is not appropriate. Why fitna is translated as temptation. fitna is translation is translated as trial challenge. seduction, if you will. So this is not a name, nor can something derived from this name also be used, such as farting, which is someone who seduces of Athena, someone who said use as a female version of it. So these

names need to be avoided. And this is why my dear brothers and sisters, I would say it is of utmost importance, that if you don't have knowledge with regards to a certain matter, refer to the people of knowledge, and when referring do so in an appropriate manner.

Let me tell you why. When it comes to something related to our bodies, let's say it's a heart condition. Let's say it's a medical condition, would you when you bump into

the doctor, maybe let's say if you bump into him at the marketplace? Will you decide in amidst all of that chaos and noise? And do you think it's appropriate for you to talk about this with the doctor? Would you consider it appropriate with the doctor considered appropriate? No. Rather, you know, the protocol, you would generally look at scheduling an appointment with the doctor, you would go to the doctor's office, you would sit down and in a very,

you know appropriate manner you would discuss this, why? Because it is of importance, then why? Or why do we not give the same importance to these matters of Dean? Now, we just highlighted the importance of choosing a good name for one's child. But you know how people generally do it. They pick up their phones, they don't think they don't think twice as to whether this is the right time of the day, nothing just call up the scholar. And they expect an answer just, you know, just like that, you know, on the move. Subhana Allah This is not appropriate for that matter. Anything related to the deen we give so much of importance to matters related to the dunya. Let's say if it's a

business consultation, would you do it in that fashion? If it's something related to your body? You wouldn't do it? If it is something related to your let's say, if you wanted to meet an engineer or an architect with regards to your house, would you do it in such a fashion? No. So then why do we do it with the team? So like I said earlier on it is important that you do so that you refer to the people of knowledge in an appropriate manner, where you reach out to them? Should you do an appointment perhaps or ask them when it is appropriate to speak, and then go on to put forth your questions so that you get good replies from them. I hope

you know I've emphasized enough on how important it is to do this, because a lot of people either they take this matter very lightly, but they just suit any name. You know, I heard of some very strange practice where certain people they take the Koran and again, I think this is perhaps due to lack of knowledge, the depth of Quran, they have the ceremony, where they conclude that you know what, we're going to open up the Quran and whichever word that our eyes fall on that is going to be the name for the child. Now in the Quran, my dear brothers, my dear sisters, the word fear around comes about. And Allah forbid, if your eyes were to fall on the word fear, I don't know are you

going to name your child fear around?

Now this is a strange practice. So you need to choose names that are appropriate with good meanings. Now there is no mandatory rule that you must choose a name from the names of the Prophets, or that you must choose a name from the companions of the Prophet. There are recommendations that are in place from the Prophet sallallahu Sallam to choose names of the Prophets recommendations, but it's not mandatory, it's not obligatory, the principle is that the name must have a good meaning and that it must be appropriate. Now to move on, I'd like to touch on a few categories of good names category number one, and this is based on the words of the messenger sallallahu alayhi wa sallam had his

record with the book of Imam Muslim Rahim Allah. The Prophet sallallahu Sallam is reputed to have said that the most beloved of names unto Allah

Abdullah and Abdur Rahman, Abdullah Abdul Rahman Beautiful Names. So if we are able to choose these names, then well and good. The second category are all of the names which express your servitude and your worship unto Allah subhanho wa Taala such as, like I mentioned earlier on Abdullah Holic, you are describing yourself as the slave of Allah azza wa jal, okay, or

Abdur Rahman Abdur Rahim at the Salaam we have all these names that are in place. Another category that can be considered appropriate is the category that includes the names of the Prophets, the Gambia and the Rasul the prophets of Allah subhanho wa Taala. Why because you're naming your child after a prophet of Allah. The next category includes all of the names of their righteous lives of Allah subhanho wa Taala. So the scholars of the past so how about one lie, lie Lie imaginary in the tab your own about barbarian, the generations of the past the pious people of the past, you can name your children after them, intending that inshallah My child is going to become a legend in a good

way. So the last category and this is the the general category, my dear brothers and sisters is the category that includes all names, regardless of the language that they come from a times you have names that are Persian in background, okay, at times, again, you have to understand that the name does not have to be in Arabic, it does not have to be in Arabic, it can be it can have Arabic roots, it can have Persian roots, it can have, it can come from different languages, there is no harm in that, so long as the meaning is proper and pleasant. This is the principle that has to be borne in mind. As we make our way towards the end of this video, I have one more important point to touch on.

And then with that, we'll get into a list of names for boys and girls, just to inspire you in terms of, you know, choosing the appropriate name for your child in Sharla, Ghana. Now this important point is to try your best to choose names that can be pronounced the right way easily. If you have a name that can easily be mispronounced, it's best to avoid it if that mispronunciation would lead to a distortion of the meaning.

Take for example, sometime back there was someone who reached out to me wanting to know as to whether the name Maha kill is appropriate for the child. Another name for alcohol, I tried to have it, you know, put up somewhere around here. To make it easy for you to understand our pill with an iron, olive, cough and lamb It stems and gives the meanings of intelligence alcohol in the Arabic language intelligence. So alcohol is an intelligent person. Now this name in and of itself is not problematic. But the thing is, a lot of people might end up pronouncing this name as alkyl if they were to not pronounce the iron and the cough, and if they were to replace the iron with a Hamza and

the coffee, the caf, now the meaning drastically changes, he changes from our article which is in relation to intelligence to actual in the Arabic language, which has a lot to do with eating Akela means to eat. So arkell is someone who eats. And in certain contexts, our kill is used for a greedy person, someone who is you know, eating all the time, which is not an appropriate meaning or an appropriate name to suit upon someone. So as you can see, this is why it is of utmost importance that you choose the right name, and also refer to the people of knowledge in this regard, before you finalize on a name. Now I'm going to run through a list of names

that, you know can serve as inspiration for you, if you're looking for a name, and also to give you an idea of how you know the names need to be, you know, picked. So this list is going to be from the Quran, it's going to be named with the prophets, Allah Salatu was Salam and generate names that have good meanings. So you have names like Adam, for example. This is mentioned in the in the Quran and it's obvious right it's after

the first human being to be created the Prophet Adam and it's led to us and then you have names like Idris, which is again after a prophet of Allah subhanho wa Taala. Then you have

the name, which is also from the names of the Prophet Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wa sallam. So I'm just basically trying to go in order I mentioned the letter A and then or other Hamza, so under Hamza, you have the the name is how you have again after the Prophet is how caulifla to Salaam, then you have the name.

unwell, which is from No, so no is light. So unworked means radiant bright

and illuminating, if you will, right. Then you have the name, amen. Now this name is somewhat I would say use the times for boys and girls.

The meaning of it is appropriate at the end of the day it can be used for boys and girls and it certain junctures, you see people using it for boys and a time to see it being used for girls as well. The meaning is from

you know, like you mean in the Arabic language is also translated as being right handed and, and, and also a lot of Baraka, a lot of blessings with it as well. Then you have the name a tube, which is after another prophet of Allah subhanho wa Taala. As we move to the letter B or in the Arabic language Ba, you have the name besom which is translated as a very excessively smiling individual Mashallah beautiful name. Then you have the name borhan, which is translated as evidence or proof, then you have Bilal which is after the famous Companion of the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam. Then if you take

the letter, you have the named ACL, which can be translated as facilitation making things easy. Then you have the letter thought in the Arabic language sabot which means something firm something established. Then you have the letter jeem where you can use it, or rather the name Jawad comes from jeem. jawwad basically means a very generous person, a very generous person. Then you have names like Haffield, which can be translated as protector or half of the Quran. Someone has memorized the Quran or is preserving the Koran basically, then you have the name Hasson which again,

comes from goodness means g which is good in the Arabic language right. And it is after the famous grandson of the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam as well. Then you have the name Halim, which can be translated as forbearing with a lot of wisdom. Then you have the name Hamza, at the end of the day after the uncle of the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam then you have the name Holly, which can be translated as a close friend. You have the name Danielle, which is after a an abbey of Allah subhanho wa Taala that the wood again after a prophet of Allah subhanho wa Taala. So as you can see,

many brothers and sisters there are so many names, Beautiful Names with good meanings. Now let's mention a list of female names. we just discussed male names. So now I want to list down a few names that are appropriate for females. So you have the name Ayesha, primarily after the beloved wife of the Prophet sallallahu sallam, our mother Ayesha rhodiola one so Arusha basically means one who is lively full of life. Then you have the name Amina, which can be translated as a person who has peace of mind, peace of mind, a person who is not afraid, Amina. She is full of

meaning she's secure, she's very safe. Then you have the name rrim in the Arabic language. This is a bit of a unusual name and I thought of mentioning it here. For those of you who are looking for names Aleem are wam bream is translated as a gezer idea that is white in color. So it's an appropriate name for a female. Then you have Rama in the Arabic language, which is again derived from the same roots as the name of a lot of man and a Rahim it has meanings of mercy, kindness, compassion. Then we mentioned besom when talking about boy names for boys and here you have Basma. Basma is appropriate for a female because it sounds feminine, and again has the same meaning so

Basma can be translated as a smile or an expression of happiness. But apart from that, you have the name zeyneb, which is translated as a tree with a very nice and good scent, a good smell. Then you have the name sour raw, which can be translated as someone who brings happiness, joy to one's heart, Syrah after the wife of the Prophet Ibrahim, and so that was Salam. Then you have the name Miriam. which is again, you have an entire chapter in the Quran, it is after the mother of a Silas that was Salam. Then you have the name Selma, which can be translated, it stems from the same roots as Salama, which basically means safety against security

and similar meanings as Mina. So then now you have the name new raw, which can be translated as again like we discussed with the name unwell for boys for males here Nova can be translated as light as radiance. So as you can see many brothers and sisters in Islam, you have all of these beautiful names to choose from, you know, so go with the guiding principle that it is about

Most important is that you choose a name that is appropriate that has a good meaning to it I hope this video was of benefit and I hope I was able to shed you know light with regards to this particular topic. If you found the video of benefit do share it with others others can benefit as well. Just like Camilla Harris said, I'm Wiley Kumara Rahmatullahi wa barakato