—that is, her original name was Juthāmah—yet I did not rush to adopt it until I had examined the ḥadīth’s chain of transmission in the manner set out above and verified that it is authentic. Praise be to Allah for His enabling grace, and I beseech Him, exalted is He, to make her one of the believing, righteous, devout, and knowledgeable women, happy in this world and the Hereafter.

Fiqh of the ḥadīths

Al-Ṭabarī said:

“It is not proper to give someone a name with an ugly meaning, or a name that implies self-praise, or a name whose meaning is an insult. Although names are merely labels for individuals and are not intended to convey the literal attribute, the reason for disapproval is that a listener who hears the name might imagine it to be a description of the one so named. For that reason the Messenger of Allah ﷺ would change a name to something that, when its bearer was addressed by it, would be a truthful description. He said: The Messenger of Allah ﷺ changed a number of names.”

Ibn Ḥajar cited this in Fatḥ al-Bārī (10/476).

I say: On that basis it is impermissible to name someone ʿIzz al-Dīn (Glory of the Religion), Muḥyī al-Dīn (Reviver of the Religion), Nāṣir al-Dīn (Defender of the Religion), and the like.

Among the ugliest names that have become widespread in our era—and that should be changed without delay because of the offensiveness of their meanings—are those that some fathers have begun giving to their daughters, such as Wiṣāl (union), Sihām (arrows), Nihād (raised bosom), Ghādah (voluptuous woman), Fitnah (trial/temptation), and the like. Allah alone is the one whose help is sought.

217 – “Indeed, Madinah is like a furnace: it expels its impurities, and its good becomes pure and bright.”

Al-Bukhārī recorded it (4/77, 13/174, 258); Muslim (9/155); Mālik (3/84); al-Nasāʾī (2/184); al-Tirmidhī (4/373); and al-Ṭayālisī in his Musnad.