Reply To: Nuha and pre islamic Arabia

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There is no issue with the name Nuha since it is a common word that means “wisdom”, “intelligence” and it is used with this meaning in the Quran. If the false deity’s name is also Nuha, that does not make the word a bad name, unless you use the name to refer to the deity. But if you use the name for its meaning, then there is no issue.

A similar issue is the using of the names of chapters of the Quran, which scholars do not recommend, for example naming a child Ikhlas after Surat al-Ikhlas. However, scholars say if you name a child Ikhlas for its meaning, not as a reference to the chapter of the Quran, then there is no issue with it.

Back to deities, if someone today creates a false deity and names it Muhammad, that does not make Muhammad a bad name. The same is true for Nuha. And let’s not forget the names of the other false deities of Arabs: Allaat was meant to be the feminine form of the word Allah, the fact that they share the same linguistic root does not make the word “Allah” a bad word.

If you need further assurance, here is a fatwa from the Islamic Affairs ministry of the government of the United Arab Emirates, and here is another fatwa on IslamWeb.net, a respected site run by the Islamic Affairs ministry of Qatar. Both fatwas say the name is a good name and they find no issues with it.