Names and Titles

“Abu Ja‘far (a.s.), has said, The truest name is that which expresses one’s slavery to (Allah) and the best of them are names of the Prophets.’”

“Abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), has said, ‘My father narrated to me from my grandfather that ’Amir al-Mu’minin has said, ‘Name your children before they are born: and if you do not know they are male or female, then name them with such names that are good for both male and female. In case a child is miscarried, when that child will meet you on the Day of Judgment, whom you had not given a name, it will say to his father, ‘I wish you had named me.’ The Messenger of Allah had named Muhsin before his birth.’”

“The first good thing that a father can do to his children is to give them good names. You must find a good name for (each of) your children.’”

“Abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), has said, ‘We name every child born to us Muhammad and after seven days if we like we change or keep the same name.’”

“I asked abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), for advice about the name of my child and he (the Imam) said, ‘Name him with the names that express slavery (to Allah).’ He then asked, ‘Which ones are they?’ He (the Imam) said, “Abd al-Rahman.’”

“Abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), has said that the Messenger of Allah, O Allah, grant compensation to Muhammad and his family worthy of their services to Your cause, has said, ‘If four sons are born to someone and he does not name even one of them with my name he has done injustice to me.’”

“Mu‘awiyah appointed Marwan ibn al-Hakam as his agent in al-Madinah and ordered him to pay a certain salary to the young people of Quraysh which he did. Ali ibn al-Husayn, ‘Alayhim al-Salam, has said, ‘I went to him and he asked, ‘What is your name?’ I replied, ‘It is Ali ibn al-Husayn.’ He then asked, ‘What is the name of your brother?’ I replied, ‘It is Ali.’ He said, ‘Ali and Ali. Is it that your father does not want to leave any of his children without naming them all Ali?’ He paid me a certain amount. I returned to my father and informed him of what had happened. He (the Imam) said, ‘Woe is upon the son of al-Zarqa’, the leather- treating man. Even if one hundred sons will be born to me I will not give anyone of them any other name except Ali.’”

“I once heard abu al-Hassan (a.s.), saying, ‘Poverty does not enter a house wherein a person’s name is Muhammad or Ahmad or Ali or al-Hassan or al-Husayn or Ja‘far or Talib or ‘Abd Allah or Fatimah of the women.’”

“Abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), has said that once a man came to the Holy Prophet (saww) and said, ‘O Messenger of Allah, a son is born to me, what should I name him?’ The Messenger of Allah replied, ‘Name him with the most beloved of names to me; Hamza.’”

“This is a narration of abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), from the Messenger of Allah, O Allah, grant compensation to Muhammad and his family worthy of their services to Your cause. He (the Messenger of Allah) has said, ‘You should give yourselves good names; on the Day of Judgment you will be called with your names: O so and so son of so and so, stand up to your light and stand up, O so and so son of so and so, you have no light.’”

“Abu Ja‘far (a.s.), once asked me, ‘What is your Kunyah (father of so and so or son of so and so)?’ I replied, ‘I have no Kunyah yet; I have no son or wife or daughter.’ He (the Imam) asked, ‘What keeps you from having one?’ I replied, ‘It is a Hadith which is narrated from Ali (a.s.). ’ He (the Imam) asked, ‘What is it?’ I replied, ‘Ali (a.s.), has said, “If one adopts a Kunyah and he does not have a wife he then is father of al-Ja‘r (dried up dung).”’ Abu Ja‘far (a.s.), then said that it is forged and it is not of Hadith of Ali (a.s.). We give Kunyah to our children in their childhood for fear of bad names being ascribed to them.’”

“Abu Ja‘far (a.s.), once wanted to visit one of his followers because he was ill. He (the Imam) told me to follow him and I followed him (the Imam). When he (the Imam) arrived at his door his small son came out and abu Ja‘far (a.s.), asked, ‘What is your name?’ He replied, ‘It is Muhammad.’ He (the Imam) asked, ‘What is your Kunyah ?’ He replied, ‘It is Ali.’ Abu Ja‘far (a.s.), then said, ‘You have fortified yourself against Satan very intensely. When Satan hears someone calling O Muhammad, O Ali, Satan melts like lead until he hears someone calling with the names of our enemies; he becomes excited and swaggers.’”

“Abu Ja‘far, or abu ‘ Abd Allah (a.s.), has stated this Hadith. ‘This is ‘Muhammad’ (the Messenger of Allah) who has given them permission to name themselves with his name. However, who has given them permission to name themselves ‘Yasin’ which is the name of the Holy Prophet, O Allah, grant compensation to Muhammad and his family worthy of their services to Your cause )?’”

“Abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), has said that the Messenger of Allah asked for a sahifah (a book) and he (the Messenger of Allah) wanted to prohibit the use of certain names to use. He (the Messenger of Allah) passed away but he (the Messenger of Allah) did not mention them. Of such names are al- Hakam and Hakim, Khalid and Malik. He (the Imam) said that such names are six or seven and it is not permissible to use them.’”

“that the Prophet (sw) prohibited using four epithets; Abu ‘Isa, Abu al-Hakam, Abu Malik, and Abu al-Qasim if the name is Muhammad.’”

“Abu Ja‘far (a.s.), has said, ‘The most hated names to Allah, most Majestic, most Glorious, are Harith, Malik and Khalid.’”

“I once heard abu Ja‘far (a.s.), saying, ‘A man would come to Ali ibn al-Husayn (a.s.), and his Kunyah was abu Murrah. When asking for permission at the door he would say, ‘This is abu Murrah at the door.’ Ali ibn al-Husayn (a.s.), said to him, ‘I swear you to Allah that when you come to our door do not say, ‘This is abu Murrah at the door (it is Kunyah of Satan).”’