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:

Assalamualaikum,

I am md feroz khan from hyderabad. i heard that my name e.i feroz name cannot be kept for person who is muslim may i know why? i heard from people saying that this name is of killer of omar raziallahu tala anhu. is it true? please clarify? 

(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 Firoz lawful

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: …i heard that my name e.i feroz name cannot be kept for person who is muslim may i know why?

Firoz / Feroz is a term of the Iranian/Farsi language and it literally means victory, or one who is victorious or successful. The name has a good wholesome meaning and there is absolutely no harm if a believer wishes to assign this name to himself or his off-spring.

Your Question: ….i heard from people saying that this name is of killer of omar raziallahu tala anhu. is it true? please clarify? 

Muslim history does indeed record that a person of Iranian origin named Feroz-ibn-Lulu murdered Hadrat Umar ibn-Khattab (r.a.).

Just because one man committed a heinous crime, does not make the name of that person unlawful for the believers!

Abdullah-ibn-Ubayy (may the Curse of Allah be upon him) was the chief of the hypocrites of Madinah and an ardent enemy of Allah and His Messenger (saws)….but that does not in any way mean that believers cannot assign a name as good as Abdullah for themselves or their off-spring.

Or the name Amr-ibn-Hisham! This was the name assigned at birth to Abu-Jahl (may the Curse of Allah be upon him), the ardent enemy of Allah and His Messenger (saws)! But that does not in any way mean that it is unlawful or discouraged for the believers to name their offspring Amr or Hisham.

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