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It is famously known amongst both Shia and Sunni scholars that the names of Imam Ḥasan (‘a) and Imam Ḥusayn (‘a) were s e l e c ted for them by God. Ibn Athīr has written in his text Asad al-Ghābah that: The people were not familiar with the names of Ḥasan and Ḥusayn and so no one had named their children as such in times past. When the Ḥasanayn (Ḥasan and Ḥusayn) were born, these names were given to them by God who revealed them to the Prophet (ṣ)….[1]
Similarly, Jalāl al-Dīn Suyūṭī (one of the famous scholars of the Ahl al-Sunnah in the tenth century) has narrated: Ḥasan and Ḥusayn are two names from the names of paradise and the Arabs had never before given these two names to their children.[2]
In the book ‘Abaqāt al-Anwār, it has been written that: On the day that Imam Ḥasan (‘a) was born, the Angel Gabriel came to the Prophet (ṣ) and said: Oh Muḥammad, your Lord sends you his greetings and he says that ‘Alī is in relation to you what Hārūn was to Moses with the exception that there will be no messenger after you; therefore, name this child with the name of the son of Hārūn, for Hārūn’s children were named Shubbar and Shubayr, meaning Ḥasan and Ḥusayn.[3]
Qandūzī has also written that: When Ḥusayn (‘a) was born, the Prophet (ṣ) named him Ḥusayn by the command of God and he gave him to Umm al-Faḍl, the wife of ‘Abbās ibn ‘Abd al-Muṭṭalib, so that he could be breastfed by her daughter, Qutham.[4] In A‘yān al-Shī‘ah it has been narrated that: When Imam Ḥasan (‘a) was born, the Lady Fāṭimah (‘a) asked Imam ‘Alī (‘a) to name him but the Imam (‘a) said that he would wait until the Prophet (ṣ) had chosen a name… so the Prophet (ṣ) named him Ḥasan and this was not a known name during the pre Islamic era.[5]
Similarly, Jalāl al-Dīn Suyūṭī (one of the famous scholars of the Ahl al-Sunnah in the tenth century) has narrated: Ḥasan and Ḥusayn are two names from the names of paradise and the Arabs had never before given these two names to their children.[2]
In the book ‘Abaqāt al-Anwār, it has been written that: On the day that Imam Ḥasan (‘a) was born, the Angel Gabriel came to the Prophet (ṣ) and said: Oh Muḥammad, your Lord sends you his greetings and he says that ‘Alī is in relation to you what Hārūn was to Moses with the exception that there will be no messenger after you; therefore, name this child with the name of the son of Hārūn, for Hārūn’s children were named Shubbar and Shubayr, meaning Ḥasan and Ḥusayn.[3]
Qandūzī has also written that: When Ḥusayn (‘a) was born, the Prophet (ṣ) named him Ḥusayn by the command of God and he gave him to Umm al-Faḍl, the wife of ‘Abbās ibn ‘Abd al-Muṭṭalib, so that he could be breastfed by her daughter, Qutham.[4] In A‘yān al-Shī‘ah it has been narrated that: When Imam Ḥasan (‘a) was born, the Lady Fāṭimah (‘a) asked Imam ‘Alī (‘a) to name him but the Imam (‘a) said that he would wait until the Prophet (ṣ) had chosen a name… so the Prophet (ṣ) named him Ḥasan and this was not a known name during the pre Islamic era.[5]
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