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 Burhan Bhai,

Assalam-a-Alaikum,
I have a son of 10 months which i gave a name of "Zain Ali" but regarding this name I received some comments from elders of my family that this is not a correct name and they adviced me that the correct name should be "Zain-ul-Abedin" or "Zain-ud-Din".

Please advice in the light of Islam that "Zain Ali" is correct name or should I changed accordingly.

Yours brother

(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:

Name Zain correct

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.

The meaning of ‘zain’ is Arabic is ‘best’ or ‘the best of…’, and ‘Ali’ mean ‘the high’. Thus, ‘Zain Ali’ indeed does not correspond to a valid meaning, although by itself Ali is a very good name, as it is also the name of one of the noblest companions of the Prophet of Allah (saws).

‘Zain-ul-Abedeen’ is also a very good name, and means ‘the best of the worshippers’, and a title of the righteous and pious grandson of Hadrat Ali (r.a.) and son of Hadrat Hussain (r.a.), whose name was Ali Zain-ul-Abedeen.

‘Zain-ud-deen’ is not particularly a good name as it means ‘best of the deens’, and that name although widely used, is not appropriate for a human being.

Among the best Islamic names and the names most loved by Allah Subhanah are Abd-Allah and Abd-ar-Rahmaan. Also, any name whereby one declares his subjugation to one of the many attributes of Allah, like Abddus-Shukoor, Abdul-Maalik, Abdur-Razzaak, Abdul-Khaalik, etc. are considered good Islamic names.

Then there are the names of any of the Prophets of Allah like Adam, Noah, Ibraheem, Moosa, Yahya, Isa, Idrees, Sulaimaan, Dawood, Mohamed, etc. Any of these names are good names for boys.

And then there are the hundreds if not thousands of names of the noble and righteous companions of the Last Messenger of Allah (saws) like Abu Bakr, Umar, Uthman, Ali, Bilaal, Salmaan, Hudhaifa, Khalid, Ammaar, Yaasir, etc. Any of these names will be considered good Islamic names.

The deen of Islam is rich in history… from the times of Prophet Adam (a.s.) to the present day… And any good name of any of the God-fearing and pious slaves of Allah would make for a good Islamic name for the new born.

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

Your Brother in Islam,

Burhan