Salam, I have been trying to look for the usage of "Shakura" (not "Shakur" or "Shakir") for boys name in the net. But to no avail. Hope you can shed some lights on whether it is permissible to use such name on boys. Thanks, Muhammad

The only Shakura we know about is the Arabic girl name Shakura, which means "appreciative". This is an explicitly feminine name due to the feminine -a at the end. We have never seen a feminine name used for boys, since such names almost always have masculine versions (such as Shakur in this case) which people use for boys.

Some scholars, such as Salman al-Ouda, consider it an error to use a feminine name for a boy. For this reason it is best to avoid it.

There are some well-known exceptions to this rule, such as the name Hamza, which has the feminine -a. These are acceptable names since they are only used for males, even though linguistically they are female. So the issue is a cultural issue; names that are culturally feminine, such as Fatima, should not be used for boys.

Therefore if Shakura is a common boy name in your culture, it may be acceptable to use it for a boy (ask your local imam before you make a final decision).