Muslim Names: Men not be given the attributes of Allah

Tawheed Al-Asmaa Was-Sifaat requires that man not be given the attributes of Allah.

In maintaining the unity of Allah’s names, Allah’s names cannot be given to His creation unless Abd comes before His name. Abd meaning “slave of” or “servant of”.

Names such as Ra’oof and Raheem are allowable names for men because Allah has used them to refer to the Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wasallam):

“A messenger has come to you from amongst yourselves to whom anything which burdens you is grievous. He is full of concern for you and is full of pity (Ra’oof) and full of mercy (Raheem).”
[Surah at-Tawbah 9:128]

But names such as Ar-Ra’oof (the One Most Full of Pity) and Ar- Raheem (the Most Merciful) represents a level of perfection which can only belong to Allah and it can only be used to refer to men if Abd is written before the names such as Abdur-Ra’oof or Abdur-Raheem.

Also, names like Abdur-Rasool (slave of the messenger), Abdur-Nabee (slave of the Prophet), Abdul-Husayn (slave of Husayn), etc., where people name themselves slaves to other than Allah are also not allowed. Based on this principle, the Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wasallam) forbade Muslims from referring to those put under their charge as Abdee (my slave) or Amatee (my slave girl).


Source(s):
Ibn Yasin (editor), Who is your Rabb?
www.discoverislamaustralia.com