Is omitting the word (Ibn) in a name considered imitating the Christians?
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The questioner : Shaykh, may Allah bless you: Some scholars have mentioned that describing a son's name directly with the father's name, meaning: without the word Ibn, without mentioning Ibn, that this contains a resemblance or imitation of the Christians' practice in naming their children, where they mean they connect the name directly to the father's name without mentioning the word Ibn?
The Shaykh : Yes, yes.
The questioner : Also, some of the brothers, may Allah bless them, have noticed that names containing the Divine Name, such as: 'Abd al-Rahman and 'Abd Allah, and so on, contain errors. For example, it is said: So-and-so al-'Abd Allah, or So-and-so al-'Abd al-Rahman, or there is a type of self-praise, for example, it is said: So-and-so al-'Abd al-Jabbar, or So-and-so al-'Abd al-Latif. This is an observation, I do not know, O Shaykh, what is your opinion?
The Shaykh : As for the first: which is that a person omits Ibn in the name, and says for example: Muhammad 'Abd Allah, Muhammad Saleh, Muhammad Sulayman, and the like, these are undoubtedly contrary to the way of the Salaf, and we did not know it before, but it entered upon us from the nations that the disbelievers colonized, and it has spread among the people now, unfortunately. The correct thing is to say: Ibn, as Allah the Exalted said:[At-Tahrim 66:12].
And as for Muhammad al-'Abd Allah, they do not mean by their saying: al-'Abd Allah, that Allah is a servant, or al-'Abd al-Jabbar, that the Mighty One is a servant, absolutely not, and it does not occur to anyone's mind. But the al here means the family of (Al), and it changed to al for ease of pronunciation because it is always on people's tongues. So saying: al-'Abd Allah means the family of 'Abd Allah. This expression has been on the tongues of the scholars, the scholars of this land, for a long time, and they have not rejected it, nor have they investigated it. But the people, with the expansion of the call to prayer now and ideas, have started to say: how can this be? We say that the saying of the one who says: al-'Abd Allah al-Sulayman means the family of So-and-so.
The Shaykh : Yes, yes.
The questioner : Also, some of the brothers, may Allah bless them, have noticed that names containing the Divine Name, such as: 'Abd al-Rahman and 'Abd Allah, and so on, contain errors. For example, it is said: So-and-so al-'Abd Allah, or So-and-so al-'Abd al-Rahman, or there is a type of self-praise, for example, it is said: So-and-so al-'Abd al-Jabbar, or So-and-so al-'Abd al-Latif. This is an observation, I do not know, O Shaykh, what is your opinion?
The Shaykh : As for the first: which is that a person omits Ibn in the name, and says for example: Muhammad 'Abd Allah, Muhammad Saleh, Muhammad Sulayman, and the like, these are undoubtedly contrary to the way of the Salaf, and we did not know it before, but it entered upon us from the nations that the disbelievers colonized, and it has spread among the people now, unfortunately. The correct thing is to say: Ibn, as Allah the Exalted said:
And [the example of] Mary, the daughter of 'Imran, who guarded her chastity
وَمَرْيَمَ ابْنَتَ عِمْرَانَ الَّتِي أَحْصَنَتْ فَرْجَهَاAnd as for Muhammad al-'Abd Allah, they do not mean by their saying: al-'Abd Allah, that Allah is a servant, or al-'Abd al-Jabbar, that the Mighty One is a servant, absolutely not, and it does not occur to anyone's mind. But the al here means the family of (Al), and it changed to al for ease of pronunciation because it is always on people's tongues. So saying: al-'Abd Allah means the family of 'Abd Allah. This expression has been on the tongues of the scholars, the scholars of this land, for a long time, and they have not rejected it, nor have they investigated it. But the people, with the expansion of the call to prayer now and ideas, have started to say: how can this be? We say that the saying of the one who says: al-'Abd Allah al-Sulayman means the family of So-and-so.