The man replied, “My name is Baghidh (the hated or despised).

The man replied, “My name is Baghidh (the hated or despised).” The Prophet (blessings of Allah be upon him and his progeny) replied, “Your name is now Habib (the beloved)” which was the exact opposite of Baghidh.[^4] The same thing can be seen in relation to another person that had met the Prophet (blessings of Allah be upon him and his progeny).

When asked his name, the man replied, “My name is `Abdus Sharr’ (the Servant of Evil).” The Prophet (blessings of Allah be upon him and his progeny) replied to him, “Rather, your name (now) is `Abdul Khair’ (the Servant of Good).”[^5] In the same way, once a woman came to the Messenger of Allah (blessings of Allah be upon him and his progeny) and when she was asked what her name was, she replied, “`Asiyah” (one who commits sins).

The Prophet changed her name and said, “From today onwards, you will be known as ‘Jamilah’ (beautiful).”[^6] A man whose name was `Abdul Jan (Servant of the Jinn) came to the Prophet (blessings of Allah be upon him and his progeny) and by the command of the Messenger of Allah (blessings of Allah be upon him and his progeny) his name was changed to `Abdullah (Servant of Allah).[^7] Some people who had names such as Jabbar or Qayyum which are names reserved for Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He) were commanded by the Prophet (blessings of Allah be upon him and his progeny) to add `Abd to the beginning of them.

Therefore, their names were changed to `Abdul Jabbar and `Abdul Qayyum.[^8] Those people who had names such as `Abdul `Izzah (Servant of Respect), `Abdul Shams (Servant of the Sun), `Abdul Lat (Servant of the Stone Idol named Lat) or even Shaitan (Satan) where all told to change their names and the new name of `Abdullah (Servant of Allah) was given to all of them.[^9] There are also other examples in these same instances which in order to keep our discussion short, we will not narrate here.

The historian, Ibn Athir is his work, Asadul Ghabah , which is a commentary on the lives of the people around the Prophet of Allah (blessings of Allah be upon him and his progeny) during the days of Ignorance (pre-Islam), has narrated many more examples of people who had repulsive names and by the commandment of the Prophet (blessings of Allah be upon him and his progeny), their names were changed.