3 replies to this topic

[sarah_anisah]

Assalamu Alaikum
I am not familiar with the first name you posted  :?  but the second one, I think means pretty... could be wrong though  

Sarah

[tathbeet]

Salaam alaikum,

I think the first one is from the word `inayah (`ain-noon-alif-ya-taa marboota), meaning help.

Enayatullah would thus mean "the help of Allah"?

I'm not a native Arabic speaker, so I don't have a sense for names in Arabic. Sometimes I suggest a name to my husband and he says, "Never!" Even my son's name, AbdurRahman, although it is one of the most beautiful names in creation, took a while to grow on me. At first it just seemed, well, long... However, (and this is just me), I feel most comfortable with names that I know:

1) make sense in Arabic,
2) are esthetically pleasing in Arabic, and
3) have historical precedence in Islamic culture.

Why be so limiting? Because so many Muslim, but non-native Arabic speakers come up with bizarre and sometimes inappropriate or even haram names for their children. Sometimes they just open the mushaf (copy of the Qur'an) and choose the first name their eye lands on. So, what if it landed on the word, Jehennam (Hell)? You can put any word in front of the Name of Allah to indicate possession, just like you can smack a taa marboota on the end of any name to try to make it feminine, but that doesn't necessarily make for a nice name.

Beware of name lists. Try to double, triple and quadruple-check anything that appeals to you. Naming in a language other than your own is not easy and a name carries great significance - a child generally has to live with his parents' choice forever.

Just a thought,
ummabdurRahman

P.S. Oh, and, uh, please somebody tell me if Enayatullah is actually a nice name...  :oops:   and if it is, forgive my hesitant ramblings...