The name ‘Awn-Allaah

Q) Is the name ‘Awn-Allaah (“help of Allaah”) Islamically acceptable?

A) Praise be to Allaah.

There is nothing wrong with using the name ‘Awn-Allaah, if what is meant is help from Allaah, because this is attributing a verbal noun to the one who does the action.

The scholars of the Standing Committee for Issuing Fatwas were asked:

I am a man called ‘Awn-Allaah ibn Rasheed al-‘Utaybi. On two occasions I saw in a dream that someone was calling me by the name ‘Abd al-Ma’een. Hence I though that my name is one of the names that are disliked and it is permissible to change it. Is the name ‘Awn-Allaah one of the disliked names that should be changed? If that is the case, should I change it to the name that I was addressed by (‘Abd al-‘Ma’een)? If the name of Allaah is omitted, my name would be ‘Awn ibn Rasheed – is that permissible?

They replied:

Using the name ‘Awn-Allaah is not haraam or makrooh according to sharee’ah, because the meaning of this name is help from Allaah, and this is a meaning that is acceptable in Islam; rather it is in harmony with Islamic teachings.

Based on that, there is no need to change your name or drop part of it. You should not pay any attention to the dreams you see, because dreams may be true or they may be confused dreams that do not mean anything, so no shar’i ruling or changes of name can be based on them. End quote.

Fataawa al-Lajnah al-Daa’imah (11/475).

For more information on the etiquette of naming newborns, please see the answer to question no. 7180.

And Allaah knows best.


Islam Q&A