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:

Dear Brother Burhan,

Assalamalaikum

I am sending you my query for the third time; we have named our son Jibril Eshaan Khan (Jibril the angle of allah subhana) we are not sure of the name Eshaan (when we selected the name we were told it means brightness) can you kindly give the exact meaning of Eshaan ? Also i was going through the questions & answers in the meanings archive to select a good name for a new born, here i feel that there is confusion with regard to some names for exampl you have replied to one brotheres query that Hamza in arabic means Lion, in another query you have translated Asad as Lion in Arabic, i came accross many such names which you have translated with diffrent meanings which i feel is quite confusing.

I hope you will reply at the earliest and oblige.

Your brothere in islam

(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 Name

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 none worthy of worship but Allah Alone, and we bear witness that Muhammad (saws) is His slave-servant and the seal of His Messengers.

A name assigned to each individual is no more than a sign or recognition of that person; and there is absolutely no obligation or compulsion in Shariah that a believer is obliged or required to keep a ‘traditional’ Islamic or ‘muslim’ name. One is at complete liberty to assign any good wholesome name to their off-spring in absolutely any language they will or please.

The only names which Islam prohibits from assigning to a believer are names which connote or denote polytheism or disbelief (Abdul-Lat, Abdul-Uzza, (slaves of the pagan gods like Lat and Uzza, etc.) or names like Ramdas (slave of the Hindu god Ram), etc.; or names which have an inherit evil or vile meaning.

Other than names which connote polytheism and disbelief, or names which have an inherently evil meaning….Islam has allowed the believers the complete freedom to chose and assign any good wholesome name in any language they will and please.

Your Question: ….can you kindly give the exact meaning of Eshaan ?

The literal meaning of the term ‘Eshan’ is one who is in Allah’s Grace or one who is worthy.

Your Question: i came accross many such names which you have translated with diffrent meanings which i feel is quite confusing.

Beloved brother, a term in the Arabic language (as also in other languages) may have multiple meanings, and conversely a thing may be called by more than one name. ‘Asad’ and ‘Hamza’ both indeed are names for a lion in the Arabic language.

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