Personal Names
See also: List of Arabic theophoric namesAccording to Islamic tradition, a Muslim may not be given any of the 99 names of Allah in exactly the same form. For example, nobody may be named al-Malik (The King), but may be named Malik (King). This is because of the belief that Allah is almighty, and no human being is the equivalent of Allah, and no human being will ever be the equivalent of Allah. Muslims are allowed to use the 99 names of Allah for themselves but should not put 'Al' at the front of them.
However the names of Allah can be combined with the word "‘Abd-" which means "servant/Worshiper" (of Allah) and are commonly used as personal names among Muslims. For example ‘Abd ar-Raḥmān ("Servant of the Most Compassionate/the Beneficent"). The two parts of the name may be written separately (as above) or combined as one transliterated name; in such a case, the vowel transcribed after ‘Abd is often written as u when the two words are transcribed as one: e.g., Abdurrahman, Abdul'aziz, "Abdul Jabbar", or even Abdullah ("Servant of Allah"). (This has to do with Arabic case vowels, the final u vowel showing the normal "quote" nominative/vocative case form: ‘abd-u.)
Some Muslim people have names resembling those 99. Examples include:
- Salaam, such as Salam Fayyad.
- Jabbaar, such as Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.
- Hakeem, such as Sherman "Abdul Hakim" Jackson.
- Ra'oof, such as Ra'ouf Mus'ad.
- Malik, such as Zayn Malik.
Read more about this topic: Names Of God In Islam
Famous quotes containing the words personal and/or names:
“I want relations which are not purely personal, based on purely personal qualities; but relations based upon some unanimous accord in truth or belief, and a harmony of purpose, rather than of personality. I am weary of personality.... Let us be easy and impersonal, not forever fingering over our own souls, and the souls of our acquaintances, but trying to create a new life, a new common life, a new complete tree of life from the roots that are within us.”
—D.H. (David Herbert)
“And even my sense of identity was wrapped in a namelessness often hard to penetrate, as we have just seen I think. And so on for all the other things which made merry with my senses. Yes, even then, when already all was fading, waves and particles, there could be no things but nameless things, no names but thingless names. I say that now, but after all what do I know now about then, now when the icy words hail down upon me, the icy meanings, and the world dies too, foully named.”
—Samuel Beckett (1906–1989)