Is the name Abd al-Muhsin allowed?
Question:
We are thinking to name our baby as Abdul Mohsin. But one of our family member said we cannot add Abdul with Mohsin as it is not Allan's name,and Abdul is added only to Allah's name.
So can u tell the answer in detail explanation?
Answer:
Before answering your specific question I would like to make a general comment about Names of God:
Other than the names that the Qur’an mentions, we do not have absolutely reliable news on what other names God has. The hadiths in this regard are all Ahad (based on single or very few narrators in every generation). On the other hand, the Qur’an says (7:180) that all good names belong to God. My interpretation of this is that once the meaning of a name matches the attributes of God, then the full application of that name belongs to God and God only and He can be called by that name. Note that it is not like there are some divinely assigned names for God and then God puts these in our words. God does not have any languages. We human beings use some words in our languages that in their absolute meaning can only belong to God. God then refers to these words that we use in our language, as His names to remind us of His excellence. Therefore as long as the meaning of a name matches the attributes of God, we can consider that name to be one of the names of God (no matter if it is in Arabic or not).
With the above in perspective, I can tell you that the name Mohsin can indeed be used to refer to God.
Apart from the fact that in its absolute meaning (one that does good) it only belongs to God, we can also find it in Hadith. For instance in the hadith of Shadad ibn Au’s in al-Mujam al-Kabir (7:257) it is narrated that the prophet (pbuh) said 'God is Mohsin so you too bring Husn in your deeds … '. Al-Albani considers the hadith to be authentic in his Sahih al-Jami (1824).
A number of the well-known scholars of the past including Ibn Taymiyah (in majmu’a al-fatawa 1:379) and ibn Qayyim (in madarij al-salikin, 1:418) have referred to Mohsin as a name of God.
There are also scholars of Islam at our time whose names start with Abd al-Musin, among them Sheikh Abd al-Muhsin al-Ahmad or Abd al-Musin al-Ibad al-Badr, as well as reciters of the Qur’an like Abd al-Muhsin as-Qasim.
So first, congratulations for the new born, and second, Abd al-Musin is a good name for the child.
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January 2016
We are thinking to name our baby as Abdul Mohsin. But one of our family member said we cannot add Abdul with Mohsin as it is not Allan's name,and Abdul is added only to Allah's name.
So can u tell the answer in detail explanation?
Answer:
Before answering your specific question I would like to make a general comment about Names of God:
Other than the names that the Qur’an mentions, we do not have absolutely reliable news on what other names God has. The hadiths in this regard are all Ahad (based on single or very few narrators in every generation). On the other hand, the Qur’an says (7:180) that all good names belong to God. My interpretation of this is that once the meaning of a name matches the attributes of God, then the full application of that name belongs to God and God only and He can be called by that name. Note that it is not like there are some divinely assigned names for God and then God puts these in our words. God does not have any languages. We human beings use some words in our languages that in their absolute meaning can only belong to God. God then refers to these words that we use in our language, as His names to remind us of His excellence. Therefore as long as the meaning of a name matches the attributes of God, we can consider that name to be one of the names of God (no matter if it is in Arabic or not).
With the above in perspective, I can tell you that the name Mohsin can indeed be used to refer to God.
Apart from the fact that in its absolute meaning (one that does good) it only belongs to God, we can also find it in Hadith. For instance in the hadith of Shadad ibn Au’s in al-Mujam al-Kabir (7:257) it is narrated that the prophet (pbuh) said 'God is Mohsin so you too bring Husn in your deeds … '. Al-Albani considers the hadith to be authentic in his Sahih al-Jami (1824).
A number of the well-known scholars of the past including Ibn Taymiyah (in majmu’a al-fatawa 1:379) and ibn Qayyim (in madarij al-salikin, 1:418) have referred to Mohsin as a name of God.
There are also scholars of Islam at our time whose names start with Abd al-Musin, among them Sheikh Abd al-Muhsin al-Ahmad or Abd al-Musin al-Ibad al-Badr, as well as reciters of the Qur’an like Abd al-Muhsin as-Qasim.
So first, congratulations for the new born, and second, Abd al-Musin is a good name for the child.
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January 2016