Muslim names
Kamrul Hasan BUET
Thanks to R.H. Khandker who with his long experience abroad has had his opinion on a very simple but important aspect of our nomenclature. In his writings he has said that he would appreciate any clue about the starting of the trend to use Muhammad, Mohammad or Md. as the first name. As far as I know this trend was first introduced by Sher-e-Bangla AK Fazlul Haq during his chief ministerial period. As the Hindus of this region usually used "Shree" in the starting of their name, A K Fazlul Haq offered the Muslim community to use Muhammad before their names. A.K Fazlul Haq introduced this term as the Muslim identity and the pious Muslim community accepted this. But things began to be perplexing when some people meant it as an integral part of their names and the others termed it as just a honorific (but not a part of the name).Many people in our country think that naming after the Prophet is a religious ritual. But in the Holy Koran or the Hadith, no such obligation is referred to. As a result we don't find the practice of using Muhammad as part of the names of Muslims in the rest of the world like in our country. Islam actually has advised to use the names which have fair meanings and show reverence to Allah but along with it Islam also has advised to use the names which will represent one's geographic nationality and the father's name. It's a must for all Muslims to follow the teachings of our Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) in every sphere of life but it is not a must to name a newborn baby after him. Another important matter is that the spelling of this Arabic name should be 'Muhammad' but many of us often spell this name as Mohammad.
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