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Does a Muslim sin when he addresses someone named "Abd al-Rasul" by his name?

1 min readAlso available in العربية

It has been previously explained that naming with names that imply servitude to other than Allah is forbidden and must be changed.

As for calling a person by a name that involves polytheism, it is not permissible because it implies an affirmation of falsehood. It should be avoided, and the person should be addressed as "Abd Rabb al-Rasul" (Servant of the Lord of the Messenger) or something similar.

This applies to a living person being addressed. As for the names of the deceased, there is no harm in mentioning them by their known names, even if they were forbidden by Islamic law, because this is a matter of reporting about them. The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, mentioned the names of people from the جاهلية (pre-Islamic era) such as "Abd al-Muttalib" and "Abd al-Uzza."

However, the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, used to change the forbidden names of living people. Abd al-Rahman ibn Awf was called "Abd al-Ka'bah," and his name was changed. Abu Hurayrah was called "Abd Shams," and the Prophet, peace and and blessings be upon him, changed his name.

Summarized from the full answer at Ftawy · reviewed Sep 2, 2026

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