My father has an old friend, and my father calls his friend’s wife “Mother of the Believers” because her name matches the name of one of the Mothers of the Believers.
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The questioner : My father has an old friend, and my father uses the term “Mother of the Believers” for this friend’s wife because her name matches the name of one of the Mothers of the Believers. He also calls one of his old friends Nuh. Is this permissible for him?
The Shaykh : As for the first issue, using the title “Mother of the Believers” for a woman is forbidden because it is a lie; she is not a Mother of the Believers. The Mothers of the Believers are only the wives of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him). Also, the one who says this lie intends to associate this woman with the wives of the most noble of creation, Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him), whereas she is undoubtedly the wife of a person who does not equal the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) in rank.
As for the second issue, which is naming a man Nuh, there is no harm in naming a man Nuh, or Isma'il, or Ishaq, or Ya'qub, or Hud, or any other name of the prophets.
And I say: there is no harm in naming him, by assigning this name to the person. However, if he is given this as a kunya (honorific) while his real name is different, then this requires consideration. We might say it is prohibited because it is a lie, or we might say it is permissible by way of comparison, because this man has a large family, so he is compared to Nuh in the number of children, for Nuh (peace be upon him) is the second father of humanity, as Allah the Exalted said:[As-Saffat 37:77].
The questioner : May Allah bless you.
The Shaykh : As for the first issue, using the title “Mother of the Believers” for a woman is forbidden because it is a lie; she is not a Mother of the Believers. The Mothers of the Believers are only the wives of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him). Also, the one who says this lie intends to associate this woman with the wives of the most noble of creation, Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him), whereas she is undoubtedly the wife of a person who does not equal the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) in rank.
As for the second issue, which is naming a man Nuh, there is no harm in naming a man Nuh, or Isma'il, or Ishaq, or Ya'qub, or Hud, or any other name of the prophets.
And I say: there is no harm in naming him, by assigning this name to the person. However, if he is given this as a kunya (honorific) while his real name is different, then this requires consideration. We might say it is prohibited because it is a lie, or we might say it is permissible by way of comparison, because this man has a large family, so he is compared to Nuh in the number of children, for Nuh (peace be upon him) is the second father of humanity, as Allah the Exalted said:
And We made his descendants those remaining [on the earth]
وَجَعَلْنَا ذُرِّيَّتَهُ هُمُ الْبَاقِينَThe questioner : May Allah bless you.