The Abuse of Muslim Names Among the Yoruba People of South-Western Nigeria

Abstract

Islam like every other religion, culture, society and tradition recognize the importance of a name as a major means of individual recognition or personal identification. Thus a person without a name can be equated with an animal or a person without any history at all. In some societies, names are mainly determined by circumstances of birth as well as religious and ethnic backgrounds of the parents and likings for certain names. But in Islam, the distinguishing feature of Muslim names generally is that they are inspired by the teachings of Islām in the Qur'ān and Sunnah of the Prophet. Names are selected because they are religiously acceptable and are rejected because they are religiously unsound. It is however observed that some Muslim names and their holders have become targets of derision in the hands of some individuals of Yoruba extraction. This has actually affected the psyche of those who bear those names so much so that some have opted for name-change. This paper therefore attempts to do a survey of some Muslim names and how they are used in different manners to vilify their bearers by the Yoruba people of southwestern Nigeria. The paper finds out that those engaged in this practice are the uncivilized and Uncultured individuals regardless of any religious inclinations. The paper adopts descriptive and ^analytical methods whereby a step by step analysis of the practice is provided to reveal the extent to which those names are abused. The paper while examining the implications of this practice under the shari‘ah of Islām concludes by admonishing the perpetrators to desist in order to avoid the wrath of Allāh.