Explanation of the hadith of Abu Jubayrah ibn al-Dhahak (may Allah be pleased with him), who said: (It was revealed concerning us, concerning the Banu Salimah: “And do not call one another by [offensive] nicknames”)

The Shaykh : We have reached in our previous lesson the one hundred and thirtieth hadith, which is one of the hadiths narrated by the author with his authentic chain from Abu Jubayrah ibn al-Dhahak, who said: “It was revealed concerning us, concerning the Banu Salimah: He said: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) came to us, and there was no man among us who did not have two names. So the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) would say: . And they would say: “O Messenger of Allah, he gets angry at that.”
The purpose of this hadith is twofold: the first is to explain the reason for the revelation of this verse, and the second is a legal ruling. As for the reason for the revelation of this verse, as Abu Jubayrah ibn al-Dhahak states, when the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) came to Madinah, it was their custom that every man had two names: a good name that he was pleased with, and an ugly name that he rejected. It was their custom that if a man wanted to take revenge on another, he would call him by his ugly name, and conversely, if he was pleased with him, he would call him by his good name. When the Messenger (may Allah’s prayers and peace be upon him) came and found the people with this custom, and he did not notice that they had become accustomed to a man being called by a name he did not like, the Messenger (peace be upon him) called a man by a name he knew was his, and it was said to him: “O Messenger of Allah, he gets angry at this name.” So Allah (Mighty and Majestic) revealed: This is the reason for the revelation of the verse. The meaning of this is that the righteous man, and there is no one more righteous among the righteous after our Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him), may be led into some bad habits because he does not notice them. This is our Messenger (may Allah’s prayers and peace be upon him) calling some people by a name they do not like, and he (peace and blessings be upon him) is not responsible for this calling that the one being called does not like, because he was new to Madinah and its inhabitants. And yet, Allah (Mighty and Majestic) revealed this noble verse: meaning that none of you should call his brother by a name he does not like, or by a nickname he has not adopted, but rather he should call him by the name his father and family gave him. All the more so, the legal ruling follows: it is not permissible for a Muslim to intentionally harm his Muslim brother by giving him a nickname that bothers him and that he does not like. Because the verse—I remind you again of the verse—was revealed regarding not calling one another by [offensive] nicknames, even if that was the custom of people in some lands. So Allah (Mighty and Majestic) taught His Prophet (peace be upon him) the best of manners, and among that is that He revealed to him this verse: [stating that] none of you should call one another by bad nicknames, even if he does not intend to bother or anger the one he is giving that nickname to, which he does not like. So all the more so, it is not permissible in Islam to invent or create a nickname for a Muslim with the intention of bothering and angering him. This is one of the manners of Islam, and we find, with great regret, that many Muslims have strayed from being taught by its manners. So it is not permissible for a Muslim to give his Muslim brother a nickname that he does not like or want. I remind you of a nickname that became widespread in the lands, used to accuse people like us who call for following the Book and the Sunnah; they call us Wahhabis. This naming, in terms of its wording, is actually nothing; it does not constitute a problem. Rather, the great issue lies in the intention of the one using it. That is because the word “Wahhabi” is actually a blessed word, because it is an attribution to one of the names of Allah (Mighty and Majestic), namely al-Wahhab (the Bestower). Wahhabi is on the pattern of Rabbani in wording and meaning. So-and-so is Rabbani means that so-and-so is attributed to Allah (Mighty and Majestic), and there is no more noble attribution than that. Similarly, Wahhabi is an attribution to al-Wahhab, who is Allah (Blessed and Exalted is He). So this attribution and this naming as Wahhabi, in terms of the attribution, is one of the best of nicknames. In fact, it falls into another type of Islamic manners that will come, if the one using it means what this word indicates, which is the chapter of mutual praise. In that case, if we say to a person, “You are a Wahhabi” in its original linguistic meaning, and we say that this is like saying to him, “You are Rabbani,” then the subject changes and turns upside down, entering into the chapter of His saying (Glorified and Exalted is He): . But the error comes from this usage in assuming a bad meaning from this good word, Wahhabi, because it is equivalent to them as if it were a heretic, may Allah protect us from that. And they openly state, with regret, in their ignorance, that this Wahhabi does not love the Messenger and does not send prayers upon the Messenger, and such like of many fabrications. So giving a Muslim such a nickname bothers him, and this is what the Messenger (peace be upon him) forbade and taught the Muslims by his saying: . So our Lord condemns the sin of the open sinner who strays from Islamic manners and from obedience to the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him). So we must pay attention to this in all our usages among ourselves, not giving a person a nickname or name that he does not like or love, but rather calling him by the name he chose for himself or that his family chose for him.