Can a human be given the name Barr or Al-Barr?

Question

Salam, all praise to Allah.

As we have seen that many people have the names that relate to Allah such as Rahman, Qayoom, Ahad and etc. I have been told until now that you can give someone Allah's name by putting Abd prior to it. Or the name should have the attributes of humans and not the attribute that only Allah only poses.

My main Question is that is naming someone Al Barr/Barr which translates to "The Kindly and Gracious Benefactor, The Righteous, The Source of Goodness" is allowed.

Thank you.

Answer 1

Without the "Abd" (meaning "servant of") and "al" (meaning "the" making it unique to Allah), it may be considered Makruh to name someone "Barr."

This is because there is a hadith of the Prophet (SAW):

Muhammad b. 'Amr b. 'Ata' reported:

I had given the name Barra to my daughter. Zainab, daughter of Abu Salama, told me that Allah's' Messenger (ﷺ) had forbidden me to give this name.

(She said): I was also called Barra, but Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) said: Don't hold yourself to be pious. It is God alone who knows the people of piety among you. They (the Companions) said: Then, what name should we give to her? He said: Name her as Zainab. (Sahih Muslim)

"Barr" means something along the lines of "pious" or "righteous." "Barra" is only the feminine form of that. So, if the Prophet did not like naming with "Barra," that would apply to naming with "Barr" as well.

The correct way of using the name Barr is Abd ul-Barr. So, it would mean "servant of Al-Barr."

Answer 2

All the beautiful names of Allah have a definite article prior to them:

Ar-Rahman الرحمان or الرحمن (The -most- gracious) not رحمن nor رحمان
Ar-Rahim الرحيم (The -most- merciful)
Al-Qayyum القيوم (The eternal)
Al-Wahid الواحد (The one)
etc.

Without this definite article it doesn't fulfill the condition of uniqueness which is necessary to be related to Allah!

Note that

Aahad آحاد (refers in Arabic to some singularity) or
Ahad أحد (the later means in Arabic somebody/someone)

Might be a bad choice as the related name of Allah is:

Al-Wahid al-Ahad الواحد الأحد (the one and only)

According the above the only correct name is:

Al-Barr البر

And of course this name is permissible with the prefix "'abd" it is the name of a well known Andalusian hadith and fiqh scholar ibn 'Abd al-Barr ابن عبد البر.

The issue is that

بر

In Arabic means compassionate/pious and similarly to this all names and attributes of Allah have a meaning, using them for naming without the prefix 'Abd or as an indefinite noun the meaning doesn't change significantly (except with the uniqueness) and that's why choosing such names is somewhat frowned upon due to ahadith about "praising oneself" like:

• The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said "The dearest phrases to Allah are four: Subhan Allah (Hallowed be Allah), Al-Hamdulillah (Praise be to Allah), La ilaha illa-Allah (There is no deity but Allah), Allahu Akbar (Allah is Greater). There is no harm for you in which of them begin with (while remembering Allah). And do not give these names to your servants: Yasar and Rabah and Najih and Aflah.
  (Sahih Muslim)

• Do not call your servant Yasar (wealth), Rabah (profit), Nijih(prosperous) and Aflah (successful), for you may ask; Is he there? And someone says: No. Samurah said: These are four (names), so do not attribute more to me. (Sunan abi Dawod)

And according to what Allah says:

....So do not claim yourselves to be pure; He is most knowing of who fears Him.(53:32)

So before naming a child one should contemplate a moment whether this meaning is Ok? If I chose a name that has a certain meaning will this meaning have any impact on this child? Will this child satisfy this meaning?

How about a child having the name Barr who grows up as a heartless etc.?