Friday Islamic and Moral Diet Series
(FIMDS) 4

Some people just mispronounce Muslim names and many of us don't see it as a problem. Barring my knowledge of Historical Linguistics, how did Siraaj turn to Suraju, Zulaykhah to Suliya, Khadeejah to Adija, Is'haq to Siaka, Ibraheem to Brahimo or Buremo, 'Aasiyah to Siata, Dhikrullah to Sikiru, Sa'eed to Saidi, Moryam to Mori, Shaakirah to Saki, Ridwan to Riliwan, Misbah to Musibau, Zulfah to Silifa, Sofiyyah to Sefiya, 'Abdulmojeed to Mojidi, and Najmuddeen to Naajimu, Fadheelah to Fali, Faatihah to Fetia and so on?

I know some prominent OPC members called Kasimu Sànpòn-ná, Wasiu Akerese, Taofiki Agbónonlé and Taoridi Sangoté. What happened to Qoosim, 'AbdulWas'i, Tawfiq and Tawheed? Is it because they were not even Muslims?

There are Yoruba films titled Muniru ati Ambali, Jelili Oniso, Monsuru, Monsuratu, Mufu Olóòsà Oko, Aminatu, Sikiratu Sindodo, Aafa Sule et cetera. How did these names change from Muneer and Hambal, Abduljeleel, Miftah, Aameenah and Sulaymon? Are the producers ignoramuses or they have an axe to grind? Are we suffering from inferiority complex?

Only a joker answers to a corrupted Muslim name. Your freedom begins from what you accept as your name or your child's name.
'When the child is born, one of the first ways in which he is to be honoured is by giving him a good name, because a good name will have a good impact on the heart when it is first heard.' --Almowardi

Demmzy15:
Alhamdulillah, i've corrected mine. From "Mohammed" to "Muhammad"! Jazaka Allaah kayran Ya Akhi.

BaarakaLLaahu feek

Not just mispronunciation. Some are completely shy or rather scared of using their Muslim names.

AllstarZ:
Not just mispronunciation. Some are completely shy or rather scared of using their Muslim names.

Allahu Akbar. My brother you are right.
And some deliberately twist it themselves to something else not linkable to the original name. eg Sulaiman slimy, Saheed seedorf etc.

# If this is done to hide their Islam or dogmatic following of a celebrity especially a Kafir celebrity then this is a big blow to their eeman.

# But if it's done for 'tushing up' then I don't know the ruling but it is definitely better to keep the proper name.
Allah knows best.

Mashaa Allah.

Sometimes this mispronunciation is annoying but to me they are simply local adaptations of these name like ibrahimovich. Etc

Allah's mercy will continue 2reach you, His grace will forever be with you, His favour will distinguish you and His help will never be far from you. Jumat kareem.

I'm proud of my Muslim name...Hassana

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Thank you op.

I think these beautiful Muslim names were change and pronounced the way our fathers and mothers pronounce them, it was pronounced by ethnic accent/tongue.

Asalam Alaekum,

In my opinion, I think the root cause(s) of mispronounciation of this Muslim names is intonation from different ethnic groups or tribes.

The way an Igbo man will pronounce some names is different from the way an Ibadan man will pronounce, they are not doing this deliberately but because most of this names are outside their ethnic names.

Alhamdulilah pls as a yoruba guy my ppl call me wasiu is it right or wrong coz even according to the Arabic spelling there is "waw" 9 at the end and some muslim don't pronounced the last word it Arabic




so after removing the last alphabet the name turns to was'i which is correct and which one is wrong

Those are ARABIC names. Not Islamic. Islam is an Arabic religion with adopts Arabic culture and symbolism.

It is already a show of inferiority complex when, as an African, you believe in ANY of the Judaic religions

Alhamdulilah pls as a yoruba guy my ppl call me wasiu is it right or wrong coz even according to the Arabic spelling there is "waw" 9 at the end and some muslim don't pronounced the last word it Arabic




so after removing the last alphabet the name turns to was'i which is correct and alphabet one is wrong

I love my Muslim name so much that even most people know me by it more than my first name, when I was in primary and secondary schools there was hardly anyone who didn't know me then because of the name, it was so bad that the some Muslims can't pronounce their own name correctly not to talk of writing it correctly I changed the way I write my name since my primary school days when I got to know the correct pronunciation aided by the fact I attended Arabic school and it's very important for every Muslim to attend Arabic and Islamic school to know some fundamental things about the religion. Parents too should ensure their children attend model Muslim schools for their primary and secondary education, I'm so happy and grateful my parents made me attended both primary and secondary education simultaneously with Arabic and Islamic education and alhamdulillah I did well in both as I was able to learn up to thanawy level (high school) in Arabic and Islamic education by the time I graduated from Western secondary education ..... Even the OP sef mispelt my name is Hanbali not Hambal.... Hanbali حنبلي.... There is ن and not م after the first letter

Jazhakaalahu khaeran op.I had always thought suliyat and zulhaikho were different names. People are also fond of adding the suffix 'u' to feminine names i.e aminatu,idayatu.I cant forget the look on my brother's face whenever he is reffered to as 'sule'.

PEOPLE WANT TO GO FOREIGN. LIKE YORUBA CALL AYINKEADE NOW SOME WRITES HARHINKHEHARDEY OR OMOLOLA WRITE AS HORMOLORLAR. Were is yorubas going please?

Salam alaekum WA Rahmatullah WA BARAKATUHU

I have tried to stopped people several times from calling me fatty instead of fatimah.
Even my dad is quilty of this, but what kind I do

surestakes:
Those are ARABIC names. Not Islamic. Islam is an Arabic religion with adopts Arabic culture and symbolism.

It is already a show of inferiority complex when, as an African, you believe in ANY of the Judaic religions

you definitely don't know anything about names a Muslim can bear, agreed these names are written in Arabic but it's important for a Muslim to have a good name that can show he's a Muslim definitely they are Islamic names too because everything about a Muslim is an identity that differentiates him from non Muslim, from names, dressing, behavior, the way worship and so on...before the prophet Muhammad (SAW) came the Arabs called themselves some names that are not proper and the prophet told them to change their names and those with good names are told not to change their names

The key question is whose fault?
Parents?
Friends?
Environment?
Most of our parents are not that Islamically inclined, hence they just pronounce the names as they see it spelt. Most of us obviously corrected that when we went to Ile kewu(Arabic schools) but of course some will make the derogatory pronunciations stay just to spite you. But as you say, you don't leave to answer to What's not your name. All the same, We should be proud of our Muslim names. The meanings can't be compared to whatever translation you can muster. Islam is just beautiful and I'm very proud to be a Muslim.

Mine from Musibau to Mizbahudeen... Although, the former is formal for all my documents.

I wish I could change it but it's too late.

May Allah SWT forgive my Late Dad n Living Mom

mzteemarh:
I have tried to stopped people several times from calling me fatty instead of fatimah.
Even my dad is quilty of this, but what kind I do

you stop answering it when they call you that without being rude and as for your dad you will continue to tell him and sometimes too don't answer him when he calls you that and if he asks you why are you not answering you will say that's not your name, without being rude

There are names that don't take Abdul and some that does. This is mostly confusing. We all know all the 99 names of Allah must come with an 'Abdul' before them but of of the names that shows the attributes of Allah but not in the 99 names?

eitsei:
you definitely don't know anything about names a Muslim can bear, agreed these names are written in Arabic but it's important for a Muslim to have a good name that can show he's a Muslim definitely they are Islamic names too because everything about a Muslim is an identity that differentiates him from non Muslim, from names, dressing, behavior, the way worship and so on...before the prophet Muhammad (SAW) came the Arabs called themselves some names that are not proper and the prophet told them to change their names and those with good names are told not to change their names

List some "bad names" and explain why you think they are bad or point out where in the Quran that name is regarded as bad

newly reverted Muslims ask, should they change their names?
The answer is that they should not change their names except in the following situations:
• If the name is forbidden in Islam. For example, if the name implies worshipping other than Allah like Abdush-Shams (slave of the sun), Abdun-Nabi (slave of the Prophet), Abdul-Maseeh (slave of the Christ), etc. Also, if the name symbolizes idols like Naelah, Hubal or Buddha, then it must be changed immediately.
• If the name is typical of the non-believers like Botros, John, Diana, Suzanne or Victoria, then a Muslim should stay away from these names.
• If the name praises oneself, as in the case of Barrah (pious), the Prophet, sallallahu alayhe wa sallam, changed it to Zainab and said, "Do not praise yourself. Allah knows the pious ones more than you do." (Muslim)
• If the name has a bad meaning like the names of animals such as Faar (mouse), Kalb (dog), Hanash (snake). Or pronounced badly in another language such as Tom (many pronounce it Toom, which sounds like garlic in Arabic).
If the non-Muslim name is like one of the above then it must be changed to a good Muslim name, one that is desirable in Islam. For example Abdurrahman, Abdullah, any of the Prophets' names, the companions names, the wives of the Prophet, allallahu alayhe wa sallam, or his daughters.
It should be taken into consideration that only the first name is changed and not the father's name no matter how bad it is. In the Day of Judgment, people will be called by their fathers' names.
I can't remember any of the verses of the Quran that supports it... Cc hahn

In the Americas, slaves would generally keep the name of their slave masters. Thus Friday Johnson. Johnson would be the family name of the slave master.

It is human nature. Every nation has their own local adaptations to names not just Nigeria and this is not just with arabic names. Go to saudi and lets see how they pronounce your native name.

WASMOG:
Alhamdulilah pls as a yoruba guy my ppl call me wasiu is it right or wrong coz even according to the Arabic spelling there is "waw" 9 at the end and some muslim don't pronounced the last word it Arabic




so after removing the last alphabet the name turns to was'i which is correct and which one is wrong

Yes, in Arabic language, the last vowel is not pronounced. So, the proper way to pronounce it is AbdulWaasi' with omission of the u at the end.

In fact saying AbdulWasiu is not grammatical correct because the vowel that ends the name is the kasra (i) sound not the dammah (u) sound because of the grammatical construction which the name is from.

Allah knows best.

Some people even pronounced mojeed as mongidi, while Sulaiman as sule

Ma sha Allahu ,Sheikh newnas may Allah reward you abundantly for this important thread. My name is pronounced Surajo instead of Siraaj right from my Primary School days.Likewise my sister Hadiza instead of Khadeejah.Some of these mispronounciation result from our dialects Hausa people pronounce the names differently likewise Igbos n Yorubas