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Is naming a newborn "Abd al-Muttalib" permissible in Islamic law?

1 min readAlso available in العربية

Scholars have agreed on the prohibition of any name that is enslaved to other than Allah, such as 'Abd al-Masih (slave of the Messiah) and 'Abd al-Ka'bah (slave of the Ka'bah). However, they differed regarding the name "'Abd al-Muttalib." Some of them permitted it, citing the Prophet's (peace be upon him) saying: "I am the son of 'Abd al-Muttalib." Others, however, went to the extent of prohibiting it, explaining the Prophet's (peace be upon him) saying as merely a statement of fact (an act of informing) and not an endorsement or an establishment of the name, and that the scope of informing is broader than that of establishing. The correct view is the prohibition of being a slave to Al-Muttalib, because it is enslavement to other than Allah. Therefore, this name must be changed.

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

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