Publisher's Synopsis
Muhammad, meaning one who is praised, is the most commonly given name in the world. According to a Hadis, Prophet Muhammad is supposed to have said, Whoever is named after me with the hope of being blessed, he will be blessed and will be in peace till the Day of Qayamat.According to the Mishkatu 1 Masabih, on the subject of names, the Prophet is supposed to have said, The best name in the sight of God are Abdullah (the servant of Allah), Abdur Rahman (servant of the merciful one.) The vilest name you can give a human being is Malikul-Amlak or king of kings because no one can be such but God Himself.Call your children after your prophet but the names God likes best are, Abdullah (servant of Allah), Abdur Rahman (servant of the merciful one) and the next best are Haris (husbandman) and Hammam (high-minded). The worst of names is Harb (enmity) or Murah (bitterness).On the day of Qayamat you will be called by your names and the names of your fathers. Therefore keep good names.Shuraih ibn Hani relates that his father came to the Prophet with his tribe and the Prophet heard them calling him Abul Hakam. When the Prophet said, Why do you call him so? Hakam, Ruler, is an attribute of God. And the prophet ordered him to call himself Abu Shuraih, the father of Shuraih, his eldest son.What is the ritual that accompanies the birth of a Muslim child? According to tradition, the child is bathed and bound in swaddling clothes. He is carried by the midwife to a waiting assembly of male relatives and friends. There the chief Maulawi or an Alim or respected elder recites the Azan (summons to prayer) in the infants right ear, and the Iqamah (which is the Azan with the addition of the words We are stan
