ʿAbd al-Ghaffār
عَبْدُ الغَفَّار
Say it ab-dul-ghaf-FAAR
Servant of the Ever-Forgiving
At a glance
- Gender
- Boy
- Arabic root
- gh-f-r
- Origin
- Arabic
- Found in
- Classical Arabic names
- Also spelled
- Abdulghaffar, Abdul Ghaffar, Abdelghaffar
Meaning & source
Servant of al-Ghaffār, the Ever-Forgiving: al-Ghafūr and al-Ghaffār mean “the One who covers His servants’ sins and passes over their faults”.
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غفر: الغَفُورُ الغَفّارُ، جَلَّ ثَنَاؤُهُ، وَهُمَا مِنْ أَبنية الْمُبَالَغَةِ وَمَعْنَاهُمَا السَّاتِرُ لِذُنُوبِ عِبَادِهِ الْمُتَجَاوِزُ عَنْ خَطَايَاهُمْ وَذُنُوبِهِمْ
Who carried this name
- ʿAbd al-Ghaffār ibn ʿUbayd Allāh al-Qurashī, who has an entry in the Siyar al-Dhahabī, Siyar Aʿlām al-Nubalāʾ (Muʾassasat al-Risālah ed.), vol. 10, p. 437 (entry 138)
Ruling
What the scholars said about this name
Names that make a child the servant (ʿabd) of one of Allah’s names are among the best names. Ibn al-Qayyim quotes Ibn Ḥazm: the scholars agree that names joined to Allah, such as ʿAbdullāh and ʿAbd al-Raḥmān, are commendable. The Prophet ﷺ said the names most beloved to Allah are ʿAbdullāh and ʿAbd al-Raḥmān (Muslim 2132).
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اتَّفقُوا على اسْتِحْسَان الْأَسْمَاء المضافة إِلَى الله كَعبد الله وعب الرَّحْمَن وَمَا أشبه ذَلِك فقد اخْتلف الْفُقَهَاء فِي أحب الْأَسْمَاء إِلَى الله فَقَالَ الْجُمْهُور أحبها إِلَيْهِ عبد الله وَعبد الرَّحْم
General guidance, not a fatwa. Ask your imam about your own family.