naming our children

i was thinking of what hani was going to name her latest addition, due anytime, when i remembered how we named our children.

one of the responsibilities of a muslim man is to name his children with good and meaningful names. it was something i kept telling my husband, reminding him that since it was his responsibility, he should take the lead. very well, he did. but of course, i have my share in it.... i am the mummy, you know.


nadia nasira

it took us so long to decide on the name. we only shortlisted the names on 28 february 2007, after my final check-up, in which the doctor announced that i have dilated 1 cm and would not last the following week check-up. i delivered 2 days after.

both of us went through many websites and bought quite a few books. but then one day, when my husband was on one of his trips, a name was practically whispered to my ears. by who, i have no idea. the name was alia nasira... i smsed him. i think my husband liked the second name...hahaahaha must have been because it was after his name.

the meaning of his name has great significance in my life. he is the symbol of the help of Allah in my life as reflected in surah an-nasr. and the yusuf ali translation of the surah reads as follows:

When comes the Help of Allah (nasrullah), and Victory, And thou dost see the people enter Allah's Religion in crowds, Celebrate the praises of thy Lord, and pray for His Forgiveness: For He is Oft-Returning (in Grace and Mercy).

oh well, that was how the name nasira came about.... so, mummy's choice lah.

how about nadia? well, there was a choice between nadia, natasha and aliya. my husband wanted an international sounding name. aliya was my choice. i was against natasha because i was prejudiced by the non-islamicness of the name. i wonder if it is. nasir was very interested in the name nadia, so, purely daddy's choice, liked so much by nanni and aunty na. i was not so keen but when nasir decided on the name nadia nasira, i liked it. now that i think about it, i shouldn't expect to have it my way all the time, isn't it? i liked the meaning of the name nadia in both arabic (noble) and other languages in the world.

nadia nasira is truly, to me, what her name reflects.

muhammad nashwan nasr

it was much simpler for us to decide on this name. i wanted the meaning of the name similar to nadia nasira. so, the last name was the male version of nasira. mohd (i would have preferred muhd) is a must because my husband has one and also it is the name of the last prophet (saw). nasir and i went through websites and books separately to came up with choices of middle names. i wanted naqeeb and nasir wanted nabeel and some other names. one day, we sat together and went through a website, can't remember which one. we saw the name 'nashwan'. instantly, we both liked the name. it means the exalted.

the truth is, nashwan has always been a name that i liked. i also have a friend whose name is nashuan. it was also the name i suggested to nuff when she had her firstborn but she ended up naming him nazhan, pretty close though.

right, my son was supposed to be mohd nashuan nasr. that was before he was born. after he was born and in nicu, i was discussing the name and its spelling with nuff, who came to visit. she is an expert (she even has a certificate) in tajwidology and we concluded that nash-wan is 2 syllables reflecting the actual arabic word and na-shu-an is 3 syllables whereby the pronunciation, wrongly said could change the actual meaning. so, nashwan, he will be.

then came the day when nasir had to register his birth. he rang me from the registrar and said they don't allow the name mohd. it has to be in full either mohamad or mohamed or muhammad. naturally, i chose muhammad because it was the spelling of the prophet's name in my 'biography of the prophet' textbook.

hmmm...the history behind muhammad nashwan nasr.

deep down in my heart, i wanted my children to have names that are islamic and international sounding and not names that give connotations to a specific race. their names and looks must match, you see....