same name. Just as Sayyiduna Darda رَضِىَ الـلّٰـهُ عَـنْهُ narrates that the Beloved Prophet صَلَّى الـلّٰـهُ عَلَيْهِ وَاٰلِهٖ وَسَلَّم said, ‘On the Day of Judgement, you will be called by your names and the names of your forefathers, therefore, keep good names.’

(Sunan Abi Dawood, Hadith 4948, vol. 4, p. 374)

Dear Islamic brothers! Those people who name their children after singers, film actors or مَـعَـاذَ الـلّٰـه non-Muslims should take heed from this Hadith, for what greater disgrace is there than the children of Muslims being called by the names of non-Muslims on the plains of resurrection tomorrow. The task of naming children in our society is usually given to a close family member, for example, grandmother, aunty, uncle, etc., and sometimes, due to their distance from Islamic knowledge, they give the children such names that have no meaning at all or do not have a good meaning, or are not correct according to the Shari’ah. Such names should not be kept. Sometimes, such names are sought that nobody else in the family or locality has, and everyone that hears it, says, ‘This is the first time I have heard this name, it is an excellent name.’

After hearing these words, the one who kept that name cannot control his delight. Such people should ponder for a moment whether this happiness is a result of the disease of a desire for praise. Thus, one ought to keep names after the names of the Prophets عَـلَـيْهِمُ السَّلَام, the Sahabah and the Tabi’een رَضِىَ الـلّٰـهُ عَـنْهُم, and the Awliya رَحِمَهُمُ الـلّٰـه. One benefit of this will be that the child will develop a spiritual link with the pious predecessors, and another benefit is that through the blessings of keeping the names of those righteous personalities, it will have positive effect on their life. In order to learn more interesting and amazing facts about names, read the book of Maktaba-tul-Madina, entitled, ‘Naam Rakhnay Kay Ahkam’; this book contains a list of many good names for children, and it contains numerous beneficial points regarding keeping names for children. This book can be read on the website of Dawat-e-Islami (www.dawateislami.net), and it can also be downloaded and printed from there too.

صَلُّوۡا عَلَى الۡحَبِيۡب                                       صَلَّى اللّٰهُ عَلٰى مُحَمَّد