Eemaan as a girl's name

17-7-2006 | IslamWeb

Question:

As salaamu alaikum..... I am confused. Is it makrooh to name a girl Iman/Eman? I thought Iman meant Faith in Islam.... What is wrong with this name? Thank you. Fi aman Allah Iman

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Answer:

All perfect praise be to Allaah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah, and that Muhammad is His slave and Messenger. We ask Allaah to exalt his mention as well as that of his family and all his companions.

 

In principle it is permissible to name someone by any name unless it entails something prohibited, in which case the name becomes disliked or forbidden according to the circumstance. We have already mentioned in Fataawa 82724 and 87262 the general conditions in giving names, so please refer to them.

There is no doubt that the name Eemaan is a good name as it has a good meaning. However, it is confirmed that the Prophet forbade being named with Rabaah, Najeeh despite the fact that they are names that have good meanings; this is for a given reason which is mentioned in another narration. The Prophet said: "Do not name your child Rabaah, Yasaar, Aflah or Naafi'." [Muslim]  The Prophet clarified the reason by saying: "It will be asked: ''Is there Rabaah [or Yasaar, or Aflah…], and it will be answered: "No, there is not." [Ahmad and At-Tirmithi]

This reason also exists with the name 'Eemaan as one could ask: ''Is there Eemaan?, and it will be answered: ''No, [there is no Eemaan]'' [which could mean there is no faith].

Therefore, it is more appropriate not to be named with this name.

Allaah Knows best.