The Islamic Naming System

Islam places great emphasis on the clear identification of family
relationships. The Prophet (SAW) himself said,
"Learn enough about your lineage to know your blood relatives and
treat them accordingly." (At-Tirmidhee)
That is, family lines should be known well enough to prevent marriages
within the forbidden degrees and todetermine blood and family
obligations.
Although it is the duty of the Islamic state to take care of its
citizens, the primary responsibility lies first and foremost on family
members. Therefore, according to Islamic law, blood relationships
should be clearly defined and any tampering with them is strictly
forbidden.
Names Imply a Genealogical Relationship
This is clearly stressed in the Islamic naming system in which each
name and its sequences implies a specific genealogical relationship.
For example, the name Khaalid ibn Abdullah ibn Zakee al-Harbee, which
in present times is written Khaalid Abdullah Zakee al-Harbee means
Khaalid the son of Abdullah, the son of Zakee, from the tribe of Harb.
This system of naming people after their fathersand forefathers has
appeared in most cultures. Even in English, George the son of John
intime became George, John's son and eventuallybecame George Johnson.
In pre-Islamic times, the Arabs used to change the lineage of their
adopted sons to their own lineageand this practice also occurred
during the earlystages of Muhammed's prophethood (SAW). However, Allah
(SWT) forbade it during the Madeenan stage of prophethood in which the
majority of the religious, social and economic laws of islam were
revealed.
Call Them By Their Fathers
Ibn Umar (RA) reported that after the Prophet (SAW) freed Zayd ibn
Harithah and adopted him, people used to referto him as Zayd ibn
Muhammed until the verse the following verse was revealed,
"Call them by (the names of) their father's, that is more just in the
sight of Allah..." (Al-Ahzab 33:5)
Once this principle became part of the divine law, the Prophet (SAW)
was instructed to further emphasize it by a series of warnings. For
example, on one occasion he said,
"He who knowingly attributed his fatherhoodto someone other than his
real father will be excluded from paradise." (Bukhari, Muslim, Abu
Dawood)
Abu Dharr (RA) also related that he heard the Prophet (SAW) say,
"He who deliberately lets himself be called the son of someone other
than his father is guilty of disbelief (kufr)." (Bukhari, Muslim, Abu
Dawood)
Islamic Law is Comprehensive
Thus, the Arabic system ofnaming people accordingto their father's
names which was endorsed by the Prophet (SAW) and approved of by Allah
(SWT) is considered the Islamic naming system.
Islamic law is comprehensive. It regulates all aspects of human life
in order to establish a social system in which human welfare is looked
after and the worship of God is enshrined. Consequently, although some
facets of the Islamic naming system may be more important than other,
none are so irrelevant or unimportant that whether it is done or not
makes no difference.
The fact that European colonialism has managedto corrupt the
application of the Islamic naming system especially among non-Arab
Muslimsdoes not in any way alterits validity. By colonial times the
Western naming system had degenerated into a meaningless jumble of
names followed by a family name.
Muslim Woman Keeps HerFather's Name
Influenced by the Greco-Roman culture in which women were considered
to e the property of men, western society erased a woman's family name
upon marriage and replaced it by that of her husband. In the Islamic
naming system she retains her father's name as it indicates her true
lineage.
However, both of these degenerative Western trends have been widely
adopted in Muslim lands along with other un-Islamic cultural trappings
of European colonialism. New Muslims, unaware of the Islamic naming
system, often adopt Arabic namesin the chaotic European style.
Legacy of Slavery
In fact, those of African descent often erase even their family names
on thebasis that these names are remnants from the days of slavery.
That is, those of their ancestors who were slaves usually adopted the
family name of their slave masters andit was the slave masters' name
which was handed down from generations to generation. Hence, an
individual who may havebeen called Clive Baron Williams while his
father's name was George Herbert Williams may, upon entering Islamic,
rename himself Faisal Umar Nkruma Mahdi. However, his name according
to the Islamic naming system should have been Faisal George Williams,
that is, Faisal the son of George Williams. Whether"Williams" was the
name of his ancestors plantation owner or not is not of any
consequence. Since his father's name was George Williams, he is,
according to the Islamic naming system, the son of George Williams.
That much of his father's name is necessary to determine who his
relatives are in order to avoid incestuous marriages, discharge
inheritance rights and fulfill general responsibilities to blood
relations.
New Muslims Should Keep Family Name
This becomes especially important in the West where premarital and
extra-marital relations are common leading to generations of
illegitimate inter-related children. Consequently, when some of these
half-brothers and sisters enter Islam under different assumed family
names, there exists a veryreal possibility that some of them may
unintentionally contract incestuous marriage. The practice among new
Muslims of deleting their family names has frequently created deep
resentment among their non-Muslim families which could have been
easily avoided if the Islamic naming system had been adopted.
Actually, the new Muslim is under no obligation to change even his or
her"Christian name" unless itcontains an un-Islamic meaning. Thus, the
given name "Clive", which means cliff-dweller need not have been
changed whereas "Dennis", a variation of Dionysus (which was the Greek
god of wine and fertility who was worshipped with orgiastic rites),
would have to be changed. Similarly femalenames like "Lois" which
means desirable or "Ann" (or its diminutive forms Annie and Nancy)
which means grace , need not be changed while names like "Ingrid"
which means daughter of Ing (a god in Germanic mythology) or "Laverne"
taken from the name of the Roman goddess of spring and grain would
also have to be changed.
However,. it is perfectly acceptable for a Muslim, whether a recent
convertor not, to change his or her first name if he/she chooses. It
was the Prophet's (SAW) practice to change peoples first names if they
were too arrogant, negative or un-Islamic. One of the Prophet's (SAW)
wives was originally named"Barrah" (pious) and he changed it to
"Zaynab" (collected by Bukhari, Muslim, Abu Dawood) as Allah (SWT) had
said in the Quran,
"Do not claim piety for yourselves for He knows best who is
God-fearing." (An-Najm 53:32)
Ibn Abbas (RA) reported that another of the Prophet's (SAW) wives was
also named Barrah and he changed it to Juwayriyah (collected by
Muslim).
Ibn Umar (RA) reported that his father, Umar, hada daughter
named"Aasiyah" (disobedient) whom the Prophet (SAW) renamed "Jameelah"
(beautiful ). (collected by Muslim).
Jabir ibn Abdullah (RA) reported that the Prophet (SAW) decided
toforbid names like Ya'laa (elevated), Barakah (blessing), Aflah
(successful), Yasaar (wealth) and Naafi (beneficial). (collected by
Muslim).
The Prophet (SAW) Never Changed the Names of the Fathers
However, Allah's Messenger (SAW) never changed the names of people's
fathers, no matter how un-Islamic they may have been. For example,
when the Sahabi Abdu Shams ibn Sakhr accepted Islam, theProphet (SAW)
cancelled his given nam, Abdu-Shams (slave of a sun), and renamed him
Abdur-Rahman ibn Sakhr (collect by Ibn Hajar al-Asqalaanee). His
father's name, Sakhr (rock), was left untouched.
Likewise, the Sahabi, AbuSalamah's name was changed to Abdullah ibn
Abdul-Asad leaving his father's name Abdul-Asad(slave of the lion)
unchanged. (collected by Ibn al-Jawzee).
Thus, it can be concluded that erasing one's family name is against
both the letter and the spirit of Islamic law. The father's first and
last name shouldbe retained and if the father is unknown, the mother's
first and last name should follow the Muslim's given or chosen name.
Kunyah Can Be Added
However, it should be noted, that there are other titles and
descriptive names which may be added to either or both the beginning
and the end of a person'sactual name. According to the Islamic naming
system, prefixed names known as Kunyah consist of Abu (the
father/owner of) in the case of males and Umm (the mother of) in the
case of women, followed by the name of the person's oldest child or
male child, a child wished for or a trait the person is noted for.
Some people became so well known by their Kunya that their actual
names are almost forgotten.
For example, among the Sahabah:
*. Abu Bakr (Abdullah ibn Uthman)
*. Abu Hurayrah (Abdur Rahman ibn Sakhr)
*. Abu Laylaa (Bilal al-Ansari)
And among the fuqahaa (legislators): Abu Haneefah (Nu'maan ibn Tahabit).
The suffixed tittles are of two types:
1. The Laqab , a descriptive trait, for example, Abu Bakr was titled
by the Prophet (SAW) "as-Siddeeq" (thetruthful) and Umar,"al-Farooq"
(the discerner).
2. The second type is known as Nisbah which refers to the place or
tribe with which one is associated. For example, the Sahabi, Abu
Dharr"al-Ghifaaree" (from the tribe of Ghifaar) and Hadith scholars
such as al-Bukhari (Muhammad ibn Ismaa'eel), from the cityBukhara and
at-Tirmidhee (Muhammad ibn Eesaa) from the city of Tirmidh. The
Nisabah suffix may also refer to a profession.
Naming Girls
Care should also be takenin naming girls, as the practice of giving
girls two or three female names before the family name is a fairly
recent Western practice which isinconsistent with the Islamic naming
system. For example, a girl named Asmaa Jameelah Zaynab Abdullah whose
father's name was Zayd Abdullah should really be called Asmaa Zayd
Abdullah, that is, Asmaa the daughter of Zayd Abdullah.
This principle is due to the fact that a man's or woman's given name,
according to the Islamic naming system, should only be followed by the
name of his or her mother if the father was unknown, or the child was
illegitimate and the parents were not married. Thus, the name Asmaa
Jameelah Zaynab Abdullah in the Islamic naming system means Asmaa was
the illegitimate daughter of Jameelah and her motherJameelah was also
the illegitimate daughter of Zaynab, the daughter of Abdullah.
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And Allah Knows the Best!

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Published by :->
M NajimudeeN Bsc- INDIA

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