ʿAbd al-Karīm
عَبْدُ الكَرِيْم
Say it ab-dul-ka-REEM
Servant of the Most Generous
At a glance
- Gender
- Boy
- Arabic root
- k-r-m
- Origin
- Arabic
- Found in
- Classical Arabic names
- Also spelled
- Abdulkarim, Abdul Karim, Abdelkarim, Abdul Kareem
Meaning & source
Servant of al-Karīm, the Most Generous: one of Allah’s attributes and names, “the One of abundant good, the Giver whose giving never runs out”.
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كرم: الكَريم: مِنْ صِفَاتِ اللَّهِ وأَسمائه، وَهُوَ الْكَثِيرُ الْخَيْرِ الجَوادُ المُعطِي الَّذِي لَا يَنْفَدُ عَطاؤه، وَهُوَ الْكَرِيمُ الْمُطْلَقُ
Who carried this name
- ʿAbd al-Karīm ibn Mālik al-Jazarī, the ḥadīth narrator al-Dhahabī, Siyar Aʿlām al-Nubalāʾ (Muʾassasat al-Risālah ed.), vol. 6, p. 80 (entry 19)
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.