Proof for Permissibility of the Names Abd un-Nabi, Abd ur-Rasul, Abd ul-Mustafa, etc.

 بِسۡمِ اللّٰہِ الرَّحۡمٰنِ الرَّحِیۡمِ 

In the Name of Allah, the Rahman, the Merciful

الصلاة والسلام عليك يا سيدي يا رسول الله

Allah Most High says:

قُلۡ یٰعِبَادِیَ الَّذِیۡنَ اَسۡرَفُوۡا عَلٰۤی اَنۡفُسِہِمۡ لَا تَقۡنَطُوۡا مِنۡ رَّحۡمَۃِ اللّٰہِ

Say [My beloved Muhammad]: “O my servants who have committed excesses against their own souls, despair not of the mercy of Allah”

(Surah 39, Ayah 53)

The Ayah proves that the Believers are the ‘ibaad (slaves) of Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him.

It is therefore permissible to keep a name such as Abd un-Nabi (slave of the Prophet), or Abd ur-Rasul (slave of the Apostle), or Abd ul-Mustafa (slave of the chosen one), and the like, indicating one’s attachment and servitude to the Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him.

It is narrated that sayyidina Umar bin al-Khattab, may Allah be pleased with him, said:

وَذَلِكَ أَنِّي كُنْتُ مَعَ رَسُولِ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ فَكُنْتُ عَبْدَهُ وَخَادِمَهُ

“I was with the Apostle of Allah, peace and blessing of Allah be upon him, and I was his slave and his servant.” (al-Mustadrak lil-Hakim; v.1, p.215, #434)

In the Hanafi school of jurisprudence, the text Durr ul-Mukhtar has a special place. It was compiled by Imam Muhammad Ala ud-Din al-Haskafi, who mentioned the name of his teacher:

فَإِنِّي أَرْوِيهِ عَنْ شَيْخِنَا الشَّيْخِ عَبْدِ النَّبِيِّ الْخَلِيلِيِّ

“I narrate it from our shaykh, the Shaykh, Abd un-Nabi al-Khalili.” (ad-Durr ul-Mukhtar, v.1, p.94)

Those Wahhabis who claim the name Abd un-Nabi and the like are polytheistic or innovative and assert that Imam Ahmad Rida Khan, may Allah have mercy on him, who called himself Abd ul-Mustafa, was in error in justifying such names, should realize that the Shaykh of Imam al-Haskafi came centuries before Ala Hadrat Imam Ahmad Rida Khan, and his name was Abd un-Nabi.

And Allah and His Apostle know best!