I know Prophet Samuel is indirectly mentioned in the Quran. Does that mean it is a suitable name?
Answer
Prophet Samuel peace be upon him is mentioned in verse 2:246 of the Quran and the verses that follow it. The name Samuel means "God has heard" according to the Bible. Since the name belongs to a good person and has a good meaning, it is not forbidden to use it in Islam.
Some scholars however do not recommend using names coming from Jewish and Christian sources. For example Prophet Yusuf's brother is mentioned in the Quran, but his name is not (Benjamin), and for this reason Muslims don't normally use the name Benjamin since it is associated with Jewish and Christian culture.
But every age of history has different concerns and considerations. Since the name is not forbidden in Islam, the decision to use it ultimately returns to you.
Reader Comments:
on Tuesday 21st of April 2015 06:57:05 PM
What is wrong with being associated with a non-Arab culture? The Prophets were all Muslims, and I find this a harsh answer “its not forbidden” leaves a bad taste in the mouth rather than simply saying “its a permissible and dignified name and we ought to reclaim it as Muslims”
on Monday 11th of January 2016 08:44:47 PM
I get what the commenter who posted on Tuesday 21/4/15 is saying as this website’s tone on names aren’t always so enthusiastic and sound slightly negative when the names that are asked about usually don’t mean anything bad. I dislike how this website makes out that religious names like Samuel, Daniel, Benjamin, Joshua shouldn’t be used by Muslims just because they’re popularly used by Jews and Christians; Muslims believe in these important figures too! These names ARE part of Muslim culture, NOT apart. Not using Arabic names doesn’t mean a person’s child/children would lose their Muslim identity; they would have a Muslim identity by being taught about Islam by their FAMILY. It is the actions and the amount of faith a person has that determines if they are a Muslim or not, not just a name wrote down on paper!
At the end of the day, any good meaningful name from any origin is acceptable in Islam, simple as.
on Thursday 28th of July 2016 05:52:21 PM
The name Samuel is used alot among muslims in Africa, India, Bangladesh, “arabic countries” in North Africa..etc. You can check it out on google or facebook by writing Samuel in combination with a typical religious muslim name such as Mohammed, Ahmed, Ali, Omar, Haidar..etc. Plenty of people using it. In other arabic countries such as Egypt, Iraq, Lebanon..etc the name is also used but mostly by christians. However, there are muslims there that have used it and still using it. My brother’s friend is a muslim from Iraq and his birth name is Samuel. I also met muslims from Kenya, Bangladesh, Marrocko and Tunisia who are named Samuel. It is a prophet name such as Adam, Danyal (Daniel), Dawoud (David), Yosef, Josef (Joseph), Elyas (Elia), Sam (Shem; Noas Son), Yakoub (Jakob), Ishaq (Isak), Suleyman (Salmon), Ibrahim (Abraham)..etc. Samuel in arabic is pronounced Samo’eel but you write it Samuel like in other countries when you use english letters.
on Monday 27th of August 2018 06:14:44 PM
Totally agree that having an Arabic name does not necessarily mean you will be more Muslim. Islam is a religion that has spread across the world and is not just an Arabic culture.