The Holy Prophet
Peace and Blessings of Allah be Upon Him has two personal names. He is known as
Ahmad in the past scriptures and Muhammad in the Holy Qur'an. There are
countless attributive names of Sayyiduna Rasoolullah Peace and Blessings of
Allah be Upon Him. He is known by a distinct name in different areas. Every area
(skies, earth, oceans, mountains, etc.) knows him by a special name and he is
addressed accordingly.
There are numerous Fada'il (Excellence and Benefits) of keeping the names
"AHMAD" and "MUHAMMAD" as mentioned in many sayings (Ahadith) of the best of the
Creation; the Master of Mankind Peace and Blessings of Allah be Upon Him. Few of
them are stated below:
1. It
is stated in Tabarani that the Holy Prophet Sallallaho Alaihi wa Aalihi wa
Sallam said, "Keep the names (of your children) on my name and not on my
Kunniyat (Title)."
2. Ibn Asakir and Hussain Ibn Ahmad has stated that Sayyiduna Rasoolullah
Sallallaho Alaihi wa Aalihi wa Sallam said, "If a son is born to you and out of
love and respect for me and to obtain the blessings of my name, you keep the
child's name 'Muhammad', then the father and child will both enter Jannah."
3. Hafidh Abu Tahir and Hafidh Ibn Bakeer narrates on the authority of Sayyiduna
Anas Radi Allahu Ta'ala Anhu that Sayyiduna Rasoolullah Sallallaho Alaihi wa
Aalihi wa Sallam said, "On the day of Qiyamah two persons will be summoned to
the Court of ALLAH. The verdict would be - 'take them both to Jannah!' They
would say, 'O Almighty ALLAH! We have performed no good deed to entitle us to
enter Jannah!' ALLAH will command again, 'Take them to Jannah because I have
taken an oath that I will not put any person in Jahannam (Hell) whose name is
Ahmad or Muhammad.'"
NOTE:
Elaborating on the above Hadith, A'laHadrat Imam Ahmad Rida (Radi ALLAHu Ta'ala
Anhu) states: "That person is a Mu'min (Believer) and according to the Quran,
the Hadith and the Sahaba, a Mu'min is he who has sound and correct beliefs of
the Ahle Sunnah Wa Jama'ah, that is, 'Sunni Sahih-ul-Aqida'. On the contrary, as
for those who are misled and possess incorrect Aqaid are, according to Hadith
Shareef, dogs of Jahannam whose deeds are rejected, and even if they are
innocently murdered between Hajre Aswad and Makame Ibraheem and have Sabr and
hopes for reward from ALLAH, then too ALLAH will not show any mercy towards them
but sentence them to Hell. These Ahadith have been narrated by Daarqutni, Ibn
Majah, Baihaqi and Ibn Jawzi etc from Hadrat Abu Umaama and Hadrat Huzaifa and
Hadrat Anas (Radi Allahu Ra'aala Anhum Ajma'een) and this faqeer (AlaHadrat) has
quoted these narrations in numerous of his Fatawa. Now, it must be noted that
there is no glad tidings in this Hadith (about those whose names are Muhammad
and Ahmad), for kuffaar like Muhammed bin Abdul Wahab Najdi or Sayid Ahmed Khan
whose maslak is clearly kufr, since even the fragrance of Jannat is definitely
haraam upon the kaafirs."
[Ahkaam-e-Shariat]
4. Sayyiduna Rasoolullah Sallallaho Alaihi wa Aalihi wa Sallam states: "My Lord
has mentioned to me, 'I swear by My Sight and greatness that whosoever is named
after you shall never be destroyed by the Fire of Hell.'"
[Hilyah Abu Nu'aym]
5. Ameer al-Mu'mineen Sayyiduna Ali (Radi ALLAHu Ta'ala Anhu) narrates that
Rasoollulah Sallallaho Alaihi wa Aalihi wa Sallam states: "Those who sit in a
company and eat food, and if there is a person amongst them by the name of Ahmad
or Muhammad, then that entire group would receive the blessing of ALLAH twice
daily." [Hafidh Ibne Bakeer, Waylami, Musnad Abi
Saeed Naqqash, Ibn Adi Kaamil]
Shortly, in
homes where persons with these sacred names live, ALLAH blesses that home twice
daily.
6. Sayyiduna Rasoolullah Sallallaho Alaihi wa Aalihi wa Sallam states: "What
would you lose if in your homes there is one, two or three Muhammad's."
[Tabaqat Ibne Sa'ad]
7. Sayyiduna Rasoolullah Sallallaho Alaihi wa Aalihi wa Sallam states: "When a
group sit in consultation and if a person by the name of Muhammad is amongst
them, but is not included in such a meeting, ALLAH does not bestow Barakah in
such a meeting." [Taraifi, Ibne Jawzi]
8. The Glorious Prophet of ALLAH Sallallaho Alaihi wa Aalihi wa Sallam said: "He
who is blessed with three sons and does not name one Muhammad is indeed a Jahil
(Ignorant)." [Tabarani, Mau'jam al-Kabeer]
9. The Holy Prophet Sallallaho Alaihi wa Aalihi wa Sallam said: "When you name
the child Muhammad, respect him, make place and accommodate him in a gathering
and do not accuse or curse him." [Hakim, Musnad
al-Firdous, etc.]
10. Sayyiduna Rasoolullah Sallallaho Alaihi wa Aalihi wa Sallam said: "When you
name your son Muhammad, do not hit him, deprive him or rob him."
[Musnad, Bazar]
It is preferable (MustaHsan) to keep the child's
name "Muhammad" alone and not to add any name to it because the excellence of
the sacred name alone has been mentioned in the aHadith. [An Nooru Wad Diya,
pages 18 to 24]
11. Imam Sakhaawi narrated on the authority of Imam Ataa (Radi Allahu
Anhu) [Taabi’ee, who is the distinguished Teacher of Imam al-A’ima Sayyidina
Imam al-Azam Abu Hanifa Radi Allahu Anhuma] as follows: “One who wishes for his
pregnant wife to have a boy baby, he should place his hand on her stomach and
say,
إن
كان
هذا
الحمل
ذكراً
فقد
سميته
محمداً
If it is a
boy, then I have named him Muhammad.
In sha Allah a boy will be born.”