Naming child 'Subhaan'

23-5-2016 | IslamWeb

Question:

Having the name Subhan for my kid is right in Islam, but some people say that we should change it.

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Answer:

All perfect praise be to Allaah, The Lord of the worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah and that Muhammad, sallallaahu ʻalayhi wa sallam, is His slave and Messenger. 

The apparent view is that there is nothing wrong with having the name Subhaan on its own, without adding it to the name of Allaah (subhaan Allaah); as it does not involve a violation of the sharee'ah. Accordingly, there is no need to change this name. The Arabic word Subhaan is a verbal noun that denotes exaltation.

As-Suyooti defined the word Subhaan, as follows, “Subhaan is a verbal noun that means tasbeeh (exalting). Al-Kirmaani said in his book al-'Ajaa'ib, 'From the strange definitions is what Al-Mufadhdhal stated that Subhaan is the verbal noun from the verb Sabbaha, which means 'he raised his voice with supplication and Thikr'...'”

However, it is better not to name a child Subhaan to avoid any potential confusion when added to the name of his father or grandfather. A fatwa published on the website Islamqa reads, “It would be better if you can change the name by omitting the word Subhaan in order to avoid potential confusion as is the case when the name is added to the name of the father or grandfather to be, for example, 'Muhammad Subhaan Ahmad', and accordingly people may mistakenly assume the addition of the word Subhaan to the name Ahmad (to mean exalted is Ahmad) or the like of what might constitute a violation of the sharee'ah.”

Allaah knows best.