Girl name Malaika is islamic name or not and it is right to give this name for my baby girl?
Answer
Most scholars (such as Ibn al-Jawzi) are against using the names Malaak or Malaika, which mean "angel". The reason is that these are feminine-sounding name and when people use them for girls, it strengthens the image that the angles are female, which is against the Quran, as shown in the following verses:
Verily those who believe not in the Hereafter name the angels with the names of females. They have no knowledge to base this on. They merely indulge in guess-work which can never replace the truth. So ignore those who turn away from Our revelation and seek nothing but the life of this world. (Quran 53:27-29)
This is not a big issue and if someone is already named Malaika, there is no need to change it. But it is best to avoid this name because of its pagan connotation. When you name a girl "angel", even though angels are not female, it is can be considered an act of disrespect against the angels and the Quran.
New question about this name:
my baby girl is almost 11 years old and we named her 'Malaika' without any impression in mind regarding gender of Malaika. there were and is as such no intention to associate the gender of Malaika by naming it to my child. please advise should I keep this name or change it in Islamic point of view.
Our Answer:
Since your child already has this name, there is no need to change it. There are many scholars who themselves have names that are not recommended by the scholars, but they didn't change their name because once a person has a name, the name refers to the person, not to the meaning of the word. The rules regarding which names are good only apply to naming new babies. Once a person has the name, there is no need to change it.
The only names that have to be changed are those that contain a clearly forbidden meaning, such as Abd al-Lat ("servant of al-Lat", al-Lat is the name of a pagan goddess), these names are called muharram ("forbidden"). As for Malaika, it is called a makrooh name ("not liked by scholars"), which is a different category and changing it is not necessary.
Reader Comments:
on Sunday 4th of January 2015 09:13:47 AM
Please give quranic reference while calling name malaika as makroo..as i being a girl has been named as malaika knowing that angels are male and malaika is the plural of angel..the intention is not to depict gender of angels of god but the serat of a person..
on Tuesday 6th of January 2015 08:03:48 PM
@1: Here are a number of fatwas that state that using names with the meaning of “angel” is makrooh: IslamWeb.net (Arabic), another fatwa from IslamWeb (Arabic), IslamQA.info (Arabic, offers opinions by Ibn al-Uthaymeen and Bakr Abu Zaid). A fatwa from a professor of University of Khartoum (Arabic).
on Tuesday 7th of July 2015 06:12:09 AM
What if I name my male child malaika, is it also disrespectful
on Monday 21st of December 2015 11:11:49 PM
Um, it’s not bad to use this as a name. It only MEANS angel, it’s NOT the same as naming your daughter after an angel e.g. Jibril. So yeah, anyone with this name or is considering using this name, please IGNORE what is said on this website as this person is not very educated on this topic. Tons of muslims use the name Malaika. It’s not a bad name so don’t worry. 🙂
on Sunday 20th of March 2016 12:46:24 AM
Oops! Before I said to “ignore what is said on this website” but after some more research I’ve found out that I am wrong. My apologies.
on Wednesday 24th of August 2016 06:55:19 PM
asalam o alykum !
my nephew name is
hadeed which means iron should we change the name his name ???
on Friday 1st of September 2017 12:29:42 PM
my name is malaika i am 13 years old
plz tell me is that good or ye meri zindgi ya mot
ya akhrat pa asar andaz to nahi ho ga
on Friday 1st of September 2017 12:32:26 PM
i am a girl 7 number pa mera question ha
plz muja jaldi is ka
ansver da da
on Sunday 8th of October 2017 03:37:16 AM
My name is malaika iam 11 years old meaning of malaika name is ANGEL (farishta) ye koi bura nam nahi hai hum ne internet se bhi search kia hai or barron se bhi poocha hai onho ne kha hai ke is nam se kuch nahi hota bus thora bhari nam hai
on Tuesday 22nd of January 2019 07:13:50 AM
my naMe is mlaika batool this name meaning is ANGeL . Iss nam pe ager fatwah lag skta h phr muhammad or ahmad e.g name kyn rkha jata.. y b tu pak naam the
on Friday 7th of January 2022 11:18:07 AM
My name is malaika and I’m 18 so can I change my name or what can I do?