Is naming a person using one of Allah's names allowed?

Question

In South Asia, names like Johirul Islam or Kabir Ahmed are very common. My name is Mohayeminul Islam (Muhaiminul should be the correct spelling I suppose). All the first names I noted are the names of Almighty Allah. Often I hear that such names are not allowed in Islam because those are qualitative names of Allah and we as human cannot expect those within ourselves.

However, adding an Abd is fine. For example, Abdur Rahman is OK because it means Slave of Rahman.

Is this a fact? What are the references?

Answer 1

The general rules for naming someone with one of Allah's Names are as follows:

• If the name has a meaning or refers to a function or quality that only Allah is capable of, like creating, resurrecting, lordship, etc. then it is not permissible to call a human being by these names, except by prefixing "'abd" to that name.

• If however the name refers to a more general quality, like hearing, listening, being generous, wisdom, etc. it is permissible to call a person by that name. Of course the permissibility is for those Names of Allah that satisfy this condition and with the initial "al" removed from the name (because "al" implies uniqueness and exclusivity).

Source: IslamQA answer - quoting Imam an-Nawawi, a Shafi'i reference and a Hanafi reference.

Now as for the name Muhaimin, according to this article by Shaykh Muhammad Ratib al-Nabulsi means, among other things, to have knowledge and be protective and control through that knowledge. The article contains more information about the name, but it appears as if the name Muhaimin can be used in a context other than Allah's Name. Ask a trusted scholar to verify.

Answer 2

First, finding references on this is hard. Perhaps it's sufficient to say that rasulullah changed the names of certain people when their names were islamically unacceptable. See my answer on naming girls Asiya for some examples.

If you look through the sunnah, you won't find that rasulullah changed the names of anyone who had these names; you will find he changed Abdul 'Uzzah (the slave of Uzzah, one of the mushrikeen gods), or similar names, into Abdullah.

I put this question to my Arabic teacher; this is essentially what he said:

• Allah's names all have Alif-Laam at the beginning (eg. Ar-Rahman, Al-'Aleem).
• This prefix (alif-lam) makes a very strong form of the name; this prefix is unique to Allah alone
• You can name your sons without the prefix (eg. Ar-Raheem => Raheem)
• You cannot name your son "Rahman," because the meaning is unique and distinct from the other names (roughly translates to "the source of mercy")
• You can name your sons with "Abd" and the name of Allah (eg. Abd Ar-Rahman, commonly written as Abdur-Rahman)

Wallahu a'lam.

Source: Understanding Islam Arabic Course, circa 2005

Answer 3

I think a good example of those allowed names, which ashes999 and Ansari also mentioned is the name Ali.

We know that Al-ʿAlī is one of the Allah's names and we also know about Ali ibn Abu Talib (AS).

As Wikipedia says:

Many sources, especially Shia ones, attest that Ali (ibn Abu Talib) was born inside the Kaaba in the city of Mecca, where he stayed with his mother for three days. According to a tradition, Muhammad was the first person whom Ali saw as he took the newborn in his hands. Muhammad named him Ali, meaning "the exalted one".

And God knows best