Is It Permissible To Call Someone by a Name of Allah?

Answered by Shaykh Yusuf Weltch

Question 

Is it permissible to call someone by their name, if their name is of the names of Allah Most High?

Answer

In the Name of Allah, the Most Merciful and Compassionate

If the name of Allah Most High that this person is named with is of those names that can permissibly be ascribed to a human in some facet allowed in the Sacred Law – then you can call them by that name.

Some examples of this are:

– Qadir: Even though Allah Most High is the absolutely able, human beings have been given a contingent created ability.

– Rahim: Absolute mercy is from Allah, however Allah encourages mercy for creation; furthermore the Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and give him peace) is refer to as Rauf, Rahim (compassionate and merciful) in the Qur’an.

That said, some names of Allah Most High cannot be ascribed to anyone not even metaphorically or contingently – these names are prohibited for Muslims to have and they should be advised with wisdom and gentleness to have people call them by a different name.

Examples of these are:

Khaliq: The creator

Ilah: God

Rabb: Lord — Note that the word Rabb is used for creation only when ascribe to something else. Rabb al-Bayt (master of the house) Rabb al-Mal (possessor of the wealth) are examples of permissible uses for Rabb.

If a person has any of these names, they can simply add Abd (slave of) to the front of the name. For example Abd al-Khaliq.

Hope this helps

Allah knows best

[Shaykh] Yusuf Weltch

Checked and Approved by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani

Shaykh Yusuf Weltch is a teacher of Arabic, Islamic law, and spirituality. After accepting Islam in 2008, he then completed four years at the Darul Uloom seminary in New York, where he studied Arabic and the traditional sciences. He then traveled to Tarim, Yemen, where he stayed for three years studying in Dar Al-Mustafa under some of the greatest scholars of our time, including Habib Umar Bin Hafiz, Habib Kadhim al-Saqqaf, and Shaykh Umar al-Khatib. In Tarim, Shaykh Yusuf completed the memorization of the Qur’an and studied beliefs, legal methodology, hadith methodology, Qur’anic exegesis, Islamic history, and several texts on spirituality. He joined the SeekersGuidance faculty in the summer of 2019.