Ruling on calling a child Rahmah, Aayah, Furqaan, Himmah, Bayaan, Taqiy or Mu’ayyad-Billaah

Question

Praise be to Allah.

Firstly:

With
regard to the name Rahmah (meaning mercy), it is a good and blessed name,
and we hope that the one who is given this name will be a mercy to his
parents, family and ummah, and thus attaining the mercy of Allah, may He be
glorified and exalted. Hence some of the scholars are of the view that it is
good to give a child this name, as it says in Tasmiyat al-Mawlood by
al-‘Allaamah Bakr Abu Zayd (may Allah have mercy on), p. 31

Secondly:

With
regard to the name Aayah (meaning a sign), there is also nothing wrong with
it. Undoubtedly all creatures created by Allah are among His signs which
point to His greatness and might, may He be glorified and exalted.

Thirdly:

With
regard to the name Furqaan (meaning criterion), it is makrooh (disliked)
because it is the name of one of the soorahs of the Qur’an, and the scholars
regarded it as makrooh to name a child with one of the names of the Qur’an
or its soorahs.

Ibn
al-Qayyim (may Allah have mercy on him) said: One of the things that is not
allowed is to name a child with one of the names of the Qur’an or its
soorahs, such as Ta-Ha, Yaa-Seen, and Haa-Meem. End quote.

Tuhfat
al-Mawdood,
p. 127

Fourthly:

It is
permissible to give a child the name Himmah (meaning aspiration), and there
is nothing wrong with it; the meaning is acceptable and gives one strength
and the desire to achieve sublime aims.

Fifthly:

With
regard to the name Bayaan (meaning clarity), the fatwas of contemporary
scholars differed concerning it, and there are two opinions:

1.

That it is
makrooh

Shaykh Ibn
‘Uthaymeen (may Allah have mercy on him) said:

With
regard to Bayaan, I do not think that this should be given as a name. The
same applies to the name Eemaan (meaning faith), because it has an element
of self-praise. The same applies to the name Abraar (meaning righteous). End
quote.

Liqaa’aat al-Baab al-Maftooh,
no. 16/question no. 26

He (may
Allah have mercy on him) also said:

“Bayaan” –
we say that this should not be used as a name, because Bayaan is one of the
names of the Qur’an. End quote.

Liqaa’aat al-Baab al-Maftooh,
no. 67, question no. 8

Shaykh Ibn
Jibreen (may Allah have mercy on him) was asked the following question:

One of our
brothers was blessed with a baby girl whose name is Bayaan. What is the
ruling on that? Please note that the baby is now one year old, and the name
is recorded officially.

He
replied:

I think
that this name should be changed, because some of the shaykhs have said that
it is not permissible, as it is a name or a description of the Qur’an. It is
better to change it, even after the passage of one year or more. And Allah
knows best.

End quote
from the Shaykh’s webpage:

http://ibn-jebreen.com/book.php?cat=6&book&page=3778

2.

The second
view is that it is permissible.

Shaykh
Bakr Abu Zayd (may Allah have mercy on him) said:

There are
many questions nowadays about the ruling on giving a baby the name Bayaan.
Some of the scholars disallowed it, because it is one of the names of the
Holy Qur’aan, and it is not allowed to give to humans the names of the Word
of Allah that was revealed to His slave, Prophet and Messenger Muhammad
(blessings and peace of Allah be upon him).

To those
who have asked me, I have given a fatwa stating that it is permissible to
give a baby the name Bayaan, which is one of the names that may be given to
both males and females, like the names Asma’, Khaarijah and so on. That is
because this word, bayaan, is not one of the names of the Holy Qur’an;
rather it is one of its great descriptions, like the word Huda (meaning
guidance).

It is
worth noting here that Shaykh Saalih ibn Ibraaheem al-Bulayhi (d. 1410 AH –
may Allah have mercy on him) wrote a book of two volumes which he called
al-Huda wa’l-Bayaan fi Asma’ al-Qur’an (lit. Guidance and Clarity
regarding the names of the Qur’an). If they were names of the Qur’an, he
would not have used them in the title of his book; rather they are
attributes, not names.

The ruling
that it is permissible is not affected by the fact that the first one who
spoke of the divine decree in Basra was called Bayaan ibn Sam‘aan. How many
narrators had the name Bayaan, and we have not heard of any scholars
avoiding their reports because of their name.

See also
at-Taqreeb by al-Haafiz Ibn Hajar (may Allah have mercy on him), in
which there is mention of someone called Bayaan. And Allah knows best. End
quote.

Mu‘jam
al-Manaahi al-Lafziyyah,
p. 627

Perhaps
the view that it is permissible is more likely to be correct, because that
is the basic principle (i.e., that things are permissible), unless there is
evidence to prove that they are not allowed. Among the names on which there
is consensus that they are good and permissible there are sufficient names,
so there is no need to get involved with a matter concerning which the
scholars differed as to whether it is permissible or not, so long as there
is no need for that.

Sixthly:

With
regard to the names Taqiy (meaning pious) or al-Mu’ayyad Billah (meaning
supported by Allah), it is makrooh to use these names, because they imply
self-praise. We have previously discussed the fact that it is makrooh to use
names that suggest exaggerated praise of their owners. See the answers to
questions no. 101401 and
117474

See also
the answer to questions no. 1692 and
7180

And Allah
knows best.