Mu' meneen Brothers and Sisters,

As Salaam Aleikum wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuh.  (May Allah's Peace, Mercy and Blessings be upon all of you)

 

One of our brothers/sisters has asked this question:

assalamoalaikum...
i have a cousin who has been named Abeesha... i have heard that it is a name in hebrew and that it means god is my father.... but we thought it was an arabic name meaning gift from god.... i would like to know its real meaning 

 

(There may be some grammatical and spelling errors in the above statement. The forum does not change anything from questions, comments and statements received from our readers for circulation in confidentiality.)

 

Answer:

 

Meaning Name Abeesha

In the name of Allah, We praise Him, seek His help and ask for His forgiveness. Whoever Allah guides none can misguide, and whoever He allows to fall astray, none can guide them aright. We bear witness that there is no one (no idol, no person,  no grave, no prophet,  no imam,  no dai,  nobody!) worthy of worship but Allah Alone, and we bear witness that Muhammad (saws) is His slave-servant and the seal of His Messengers.

 

To the best of our knowledge, ‘Abeesha’ is neither an Arabic term nor does it have a particular meaning in the Arabic language. 

 

We are not versed in the Hebrew language, thus obviously we would not be qualified to comment on the meaning of the term.

 

It would obviously be better to assign a name, regardless of its language, which has a good and wholesome meaning; but if one wishes to assign a name which has no meaning, that too is acceptable in Islam.  The names that are considered unacceptable in Islam are those names that have a clear connotation of ‘shirk’, or its meaning implies something derogatory or evil.

 

Whatever written of Truth and benefit is only due to Allah’s Assistance and Guidance, and whatever of error is of me alone.  Allah Alone Knows Best and He is the Only Source of Strength.

 

 

Your brother and well wisher in Islam,

 

Burhan