GIVING IMPROPER NAMES TO MUSLIMS Giving improper names to a Muslim or calling a Muslim an improper name given by others is not

permissible. Rasulullah sall-Allahu alaihi wa sal-lam states in a had ith-i-sharif [1]: A person who has an improper name should change it to a good na me. For example, the name Asiya ought to be replaced with Jamila. It is permissible t o give nice names to Muslims. Children should not be given eulogistic names such as Rashid and Amin. Names like Muhyiddin or Nuruddin would be fictitious and ne ulogistic (bidat [2]). It is an act of makruh [3] to call sinners, ignoramuses an d apostates with names of this sort, which are eulogistic and laudatory. Nor can they be used in their figurative subsenses. Some (Islamic scholars) expressed t heir deductions as to the vindicability of giving such names to your children fo r being blessed with the auspicious connotations inherent in their meanings. It is permissible and useful to use these names for those scholars who are renowned for their piety.[Famous scholar Ibn al-Abidin rahimahullahu taala states in the fi fth fascicle of his book Radd-ul-Muhtar that the best and most proper names for Muslim children are Abdullah, then Abdurrahman, then Muhammad, then Ahmad and th en Ibrahim in the order of priority. It is also permissible to give names of All ahu taala such as Ali, Rashid, Aziz. However, names of this level will have be utt ered with due reverence. A person who knowingly shows disrespect while mentionin g these names becomes a disbeliever. For example, saying Abdulkoydur instead of Ab dulqadir, or Hasso instead of Hasan, or Ibo instead of Ibrahim would be degrading th ese names. Even though saying these words would not cause disbelief when one doe s not intend to degrade them, it is better to avoid using such words which would verge on disbelief. If a child dies immediately after birth, it should not be b uried without giving a name. Even though the name Abdunnabi is permissible, it is better not to use it. Hadrat [4] Sayyid Abdulhakim Arwasi rahimahullahu taala prea ched for twenty-five years after late afternoon prayer every Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday at the Bayazid mosque in Istanbul until he passed away in the year 13 62 hijri qamari, [1943 A.D.] During one of his preaches he stated: A child has th ree rights on his parents: giving a Muslim name at birth; teaching him reading/w riting, knowledge (ilm), and crafts upon reaching the age of discretion; and marr ying him when he reaches the age of puberty. Some degenerate people in Europe and America are raised in an irreligious and non-ethical manner and are given fake diplomas and scholarly titles and then sent to Islamic countries. These ignorant disbelivers are appointed to high schools and universities as teachers or profe ssors. They trap Muslim children with their position and make them irreligious a nd non-madhhabite. These children influenced by them easily become murderers and traitors. Those parents who send their sons and daughters to these schools are throwing their children to the Hell with their own hands.] GLOSSARY [1] hadith (sharif): i) a saying of the Prophet (alaihi s-salam).; al-Hadith ash-s harif: all the hadiths as a whole; ii) ilm al-hadith; iii) Books of the hadith as h-sharif. iv) Al-hadith al-qudsi, as-sahih, al-hasan: kinds of hadiths (for whic h, see Endless Bliss, II). [2] bidat: (pl. bida) heresy; false, disliked belief or practice that did not exis t in the four sources of Islam but which has been introduced later as an Islamic belief or ibada in expectation of thawab (blessings) ; heresy. [3] makruh: (act, thing) improper, disliked and abstained by the Prophet (alaihi s -salam); makruh tahrima: prohibited with much stress. [4] Hadrat: title of respect used before the names of great people like and Isla mic scholars.