Question
I was wondering if there is any clear prohibition/direction in Islam regarding giving your children names of angels like Jibrael, Mikael etc. Also, what is Islam’s position on angel’s gender and if by calling male child Jibrael actually violates the principles of Islam.
Answer
The Islamic Shari`ah has not forbidden naming our children after the names of angels. Most famous names of the angels like Jibrael, Mikael are given by the Almighty himself. We know that Christians name their children after angels for example ‘Michael’ is the Anglicized form of Mikael.
Though the Holy Qur’an may have used masculine gender for angels, yet it does not necessitate that angels have a masculine gender. The available data in the basic religious sources does not provide us any information in this regard. However, we can not say that naming a child after angels has anything to do with our concept of their gender. We can not object to anybody being named after angels unless they knowingly attach any incorrect belief with the practice. In fact, there is clear evidence that, though not very common, Muslims have given such names to their children. The names Jibrael (1) and Mikael (2) are also found in the names of narrators of Hadith.
1. See, for instance, Tehzeeb al-Tehzeeb, volume 12, pg 26.
2, See, for instance, ‘Lisaan al-Meezaan’, volume 6, pg 140.
Answered by: Tariq Mahmood Hashmi
Date: 2014-12-06
