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Does the name "Safwan," mentioned in Surah Al-Baqarah, Ayah 264, refer to the smooth stone upon which nothing grows, and is it disliked to name (one's child with) it for this reason?

1 min readAlso available in العربية

There is no objection to naming a newborn "Safwan." Companions and early Muslims were named this. Its meaning is smooth rock, or purity and clarity. A newborn can be named this, taking into consideration its positive aspect, such as purity and steadfastness in truth, rather than the aspect of barrenness. Similar to this, Arabs would name their children names like "Himār" (donkey) or "Kalb" (dog), observing the good qualities in them such as patience and alertness.

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

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