When 'Ruhaan' Is A 'Muslim' Name!

By Sumit Paul, New Age Islam 17 July 2023 Growing religious polarisation has jolted India. One TV actress Dipika Kakar, known for her roles in popular shows, has recently given birth to a son. After being discharged from the hospital, Dipika brought her new-born home. Excited to share the news with her fans and followers, she uploaded a video on social media announcing her son’s name. However, the video has since been deleted. Dipika Kakar, Shoaib Ibrahim and Ruhaan with their family members. ------ In the now-deleted video, Dipika revealed that she had named her son “Ruhaan” which means “kind, spiritual.” Little did she know that her choice of a Muslim name would lead to trolling and controversy. Her fans took to social media to express their anger and disappointment over her decision. As a result, Dipika decided to delete the video. People trolling her must know that Dipika is now Faiza. She's married to one Shoaib Ibrahim, who has also acted in TV serials. After getting married to Shoaib, she embraced Islam. Why should others have any issue? Names are names. They're not determined by any religion. But we're conditioned to compartmentalise people as per their names. A leading English daily carried a small article nearly two decades ago. It was written by a Hindu couple. The couple lived in Saudi Arabia and Central Asia for many years as both were educationists, teaching English. They picked up rudimentary Persian and Arabic as well and loved the names of Muslim children who were their students. So, when they were blessed with a male child, they christened him Yasir (Arabic for 'wealthy and prosperous'). Got to say, a beautiful name. That was in the mid-sixties! But when they returned to India, their young son complained that he would always be mistaken for a Muslim. Finally, the parents rechristened him and gave a ' Hindu' name to their son. Things have changed in 'modern' India, so much so that a Muslim book-vendor in Poona is often asked by Hindus and also by Muslims (Poona doesn't have very many Urdu-speaking people) as to why his name is Samir (variantly spelled Sameer) because Sameer is a common Hindu name that means Zephyr in English or Bayaar in Hindi. These people don't know that the Arabic name Samir/ Sameer means 'holy', 'jovial', 'loyal' or 'charming.' Such dismal fate has befallen the word 'Samar’. It's a common name, predominantly used by Hindus. It means 'Yuddh,' 'battle' or 'jung.' But it also means ' Fruit ' or 'Produce' in Arabic (its origin is doubtful as the word Samar meant fruit in Pahlavi and even in Pashto). A poet Samar Usmanabadi has had to change his name as people think that his name means 'Yuddh' in Hindi. The poor guy is a Muslim and didn't mean 'battle'! We're living in strange times when innocuous names are also on the radar. By the way, my mother wanted to name me Arghaab (Exalted and Lofty in Dari, Afghan variant of Persian), but I chose Sumit for myself as I knew that such a difficult but beautiful name with a Ghain (it's spelt Ain/Re/Ghain/Alif/Be) would never be enunciated correctly by the fast dwindling Urdu-knowing people on the sub-continent and the Hindus would alienate me because of my (Muslim) name. ---- A regular columnist for New Age Islam, Sumit Paul is a researcher in comparative religions, with special reference to Islam. He has contributed articles to the world's premier publications in several languages including Persian. URL: https://newageislam.com/interfaith-dialogue/dipika-polarisation-ruhaan-muslim/d/130226 New Age Islam, Islam Online, Islamic Website, African Muslim News, Arab World News, South Asia News, Indian Muslim News, World Muslim News, Women in Islam, Islamic Feminism, Arab Women, Women In Arab, Islamophobia in America, Muslim Women in West, Islam Women and Feminism