Mu' meneen Brothers and Sisters,

As Salaam Aleikum wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuh.  (May Allah's Peace, Mercy and Blessings be upon all of you)

One of our brothers/sisters has asked this question:

Give me the meaning of "FAMEEN". Is there any word "FAMEEN" in QURAN. My wife`s name is "FAMEEN SULTANA". I would like to know whether that name could be kept or not. Few people said that name "FAMEEN" is not in QURAN. Let me know about it. 

(There may be some grammatical and spelling errors in the above statement. The forum does not change anything from questions, comments and statements received from our readers for circulation in confidentiality.)

Answer:

Meaning of name Fameen

In the name of Allah, We praise Him, seek His help and ask for His forgiveness. Whoever Allah guides none can misguide, and whoever He allows to fall astray, none can guide them aright. We bear witness that there is no one (no idol, no person, no grave, no prophet, no imam, no dai, nobody!) worthy of worship but Allah Alone, and we bear witness that Muhammad (saws) is His slave-servant and the seal of His Messengers.

Your Question: Give me the meaning of "FAMEEN". Is there any word "FAMEEN" in QURAN.

Although ‘fam’ in proper Arabic language means ‘the mouth’, to the best of our knowledge there is no such term as ‘fameen’ either in the Arabic language or the Glorious Quran.

Your Question: My wife`s name is "FAMEEN SULTANA". I would like to know whether that name could be kept or not.

The term ‘Sultana’ means one who is in authority, or a ruler or queen, and it is a good name to keep.

Beloved brother, the principle in Islam is that when one needs to figure out what is permissible and impermissible in Shariah, one only needs to look into the impermissible list from the Quran and Sunnah; and if not found in the list of forbidden things, that thing will be assumed permissible.

The names which are impermissible to keep in Islam are:

1. A name that is associated with ‘shirk’ (the likes of Abd-Shams (slave of the sun), Ramdas (slave-servant of the hindu god Ram), etc.)
2. A name which has a particular evil or negative meaning (the likes of thief, murderer, dog, etc.)

If a name does not violate the above two principles, there is absolutely no pre-requisite or condition that one must keep a name in Arabic, or from the Quran, or a ‘muslim’ sounding name, or even if it needs to have a proper meaning, etc.

The name ‘Fameen’ is neither a name associating with shirk, nor does it have an evil meaning. If one wishes to keep the name ‘Fameen’, there is absolutely no harm or restriction in Islam.

Whatever written of Truth and benefit is only due to Allah’s Assistance and Guidance, and whatever of error is of me alone. Allah Alone Knows Best and He is the Only Source of Strength.

Your brother and well wisher in Islam,

Burhan