as He, exalted be He, says: “There is nothing like unto Him, and He is the All-Hearing, the All-Seeing.”¹

It is likewise obligatory to honor His Names by not bestowing them upon anyone else, for this is integral to true monotheism.

Abū Shurayḥ once bore the kunyah Abū’l-Ḥakam. The Prophet ﷺ said to him, “Allah alone is al-Ḥakam (the Judge), and to Him belongs all judgment.” Abū Shurayḥ replied, “My people, whenever they disagreed about something, would come to me; I would arbitrate between them and both parties would be satisfied.” The Prophet responded, “How excellent that is! Which of your children is the eldest?” I said, “Shurayḥ, then Muslim, then ʿAbd Allāh.” He asked, “Who is the eldest?” I replied, “Shurayḥ.” He said, “Then you are Abū Shurayḥ.” This was narrated by Abū Dāwūd and others.

The Messenger ﷺ therefore changed his kunyah out of reverence for the Divine Names, for Allah alone is al-Ḥakam in the absolute sense. The Almighty says, “Allah judges, and none can overturn His judgment.”² He is the Judge in this world and the Hereafter: in this life He rules among His creatures through the revelation He sent to His prophets, and on the Day of Resurrection He will judge between them with His knowledge regarding all that they disputed, giving justice to the wronged against the wrongdoer.

This ḥadīth proves that it is impermissible to take for oneself any of Allah’s Names that are exclusively His, or to adopt titles that suggest irreverence toward them, such as calling oneself Abū’l-Ḥakam and the like.

Part of honoring Allah’s Names is that a person should not say of his servant, “My ʿabd (male slave) or my amma (female slave),” for such wording implies a share in lordship.

In the authentic collection it is related from Abū Hurayrah that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: “Let none of you say, ‘Feed your rabb (lord),’ or ‘Give water to your rabb.’ Rather, let him say, ‘my master (sayyidī) and my patron (mawlāy).’ And let none of you say, ‘my ʿabd, my amma.’ Instead, let him say, ‘my young man (fatāy), my young woman (fatātī), or my boy (ghulāmī).’”

Thus the Messenger of Allah ﷺ forbade the expressions “your rabb,” “my ʿabd,” and “my amma,” because they—