There’s been much ado in recent weeks and years regarding the muslim proscription against depictions of the prophet Muhammed.
So what’s the deal with muslims - other than the prophet - who are in fact named Muhammed? The two most famous I can think of would be Muhammad Ali (famous boxer) and Mohamed Atta (infamous pilot). Variant spellings notwithstanding, how is it permissible to actually name yourself after the prophet?
Because Islam has no rules against using the name of the prophet? It’s not like the rule is “you won’t refer to Mohammad ever.” It’s that you can’t use a representative drawing to depict him.
The prohibition against depictions of the Prophet is linked to the very strong injunctions against idolatry in Islam. Technically all the Abrahamic religions prohibit the worship of idols (“graven images”), but Islam’s interpretation has always been that praying before religious images (like a statue of Mary) constitutes idolatry, including portraits of religious leaders.
Being named for a prophet is not prohibited. In fact I’ve always wondered why in the European Christian countries there’s such a sharp split between those who evidently have some kind of taboo against naming a boy “Jesus” versus not: I’ve met or heard of plenty of Hispanic men named Jesus, but never a British, French, Polish or German one, or for that matter an Italian. (Maybe it’s a relic of the Moorish era, since Jesus (“Isa” in Arabic) is also a prophet in Islam and there are Muslims so named.)
Because Mohammed was the last & greatest prophet, but definitely not God. Or his Son.
I, too, have noticed that boys can be named “Jesus” in a Christian culture that had centuries of direct contact with Islam.
Is Joshua an unpopular name in Britain? Because that’s the same name as Jesus (just a different transliteration).
Though Joshua was also the name of a Jewish leader in the Old Testament, and I would think that those Joshuas were named (directly or indirectly) after him.
Muhammed is a very popular name in Islamic cultures. I sit next to a Muhammed at work.
Not only that, but it’s common enough to be stereotyped. If someone wants to imply a person converted to Islam, the name change almost always included the name Muhammad, or at least did until recently.
Joshua is the English transliteration of Jesus’ name (Y’shua). There are plenty of Joshuas around.
So why is it OK to name a person Muhammed, but not a Teddy bear?
Presumably because in that case it’s been deemed disrespectful…?
I have no cite or source for this, so take it with as much salt as you wish. But I read once that Mohammed (and its variations) constitute the most common given male name in the world.
I didn’t chase down a primary citation, but the statistics section of the Wikipedia article on the name confirms what you’re saying.
I thought the problem with the teddy bear was that by naming it Mohammed, it could be understood to be a depiction or idol of the prophet. You can name people Mohammed but not inanimate objects. Is there a prohibition against giving the name to pets?
Don’t know if there’s a formal prohibition, but you would probably offend the hell out of a lot of people that way.
At least two reasons:
It’s idolatry
Muslims view all animals as being beneath humans. To give an animal a person’s name is a supreme insult to that person.
To the OP:
Tradition also actually encourages people to use the name Muhammad –
“If you have a hundred sons, call them all Muhammad.”
Most Muslim men I know have “Muhammad” in their names somewhere.
An Egyptian guy I knew went by the name “Amr” but his driver’s license said “M. Amr.” Similarly, a Persian guy I know goes by “Ali,” but his driver’s license says “M. Ali.” In both cases, the M stands for “Muhammad.”
Most certainly. The king of Sweden once had a dog named Ali, which caused much uproar among muslims, so it was promptly renamed. I am aware that dogs are considered unclean, but I think it would have been the same if it had been some other kind of animal.
Made a chalk drawing of the Prophet lately?: http://religion.blogs.cnn.com/2010/05/20/my-take-everyone-chalk-mohammed/?hpt=C1
It’s probably not that much different than people in Latin American naming their kids Jesus.
Well, Levon named his kid Jesus, 'cause you know, he liked the name.