ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 2280
http://www.s-gabriel.org/2280
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10 Apr 2001
From:  (Josh Mittleman)


Greetings from the Academy of Saint Gabriel!

You asked whether <Khadijah bint 'Amr Abdul Raman> is an appropriate name
for an Arabic woman in our period.  This letter is a brief answer to your
question.

<Khadijah> was the name of Mohammed's first wife [1]; it was consequently a
common name throughout the Muslim world and we have found examples of it
used in our period.  Transliterated examples include [5]:

  Umm al-Baqa' Khadija bint al-Hasan (d. 1243)
  Khadija bint Muhammad al-Bayluni (d. 1523)

The spellings <Khadijah> and <Khadija> are equally correct.

We also have examples of <'Amr> as a masculine name in Arabic [2].  The
apostrophe in this name represents an Arabic letter that is pronounced as a
glottal stop (which is the sound in the middle of <uh-oh>).

<'Abdul Rahman> or <'Abd al-Rahman> is an example of type of Arabic
nickname called a <lakab>.  Lakabs were typically religious in nature, and
this is one such: It literally means "servant of the Merciful" and refers
to Allah, who was sometimes described as "The Merciful".  Lakabs of this
form were used only by men.  They often came to be used in place of the
man's given name (or <'ism>).  We have found a number of examples of <'Abd
al-Rahman> in our period [2, 3, 4].

We aren't sure how you want <'Abd al-Rahman> to be understood in your name.
If you intend it to be part of your father's name, then you're half
correct: A man was known either by his 'ism or by his lakab, not both.  We
therefore recommend you use <Khadijah bint 'Amr> or <Khadijah bint 'Abd
al-Rahman>, but not both parts of your father's name.

If you intended <'Abd al-Rahman> to describe you directly, then we strongly
recommend you drop it: Lakabs of this form were used only by men.  We have
found examples of analogous feminine lakabs of the form <Amat al-Rahman>
"handmaiden of the Merciful" [5]:

  Amat al-Rahman bint 'Abd al-Haqq ibn Galib (12th C)
  Amat al-Rahman bint Ahmad ibn 'Abd al-Rahman (d. 1049)
  

As with masculine names, this lakab name would have been used in place of
<Khadijah>, not in addition to it [5].

<Khadijah bint 'Amr> would have been pronounced roughly \khah-DEE-zhah
bihnt 'AHMr\.  The apostrophe represents a glottal stop, as above.  \KH\
represents the raspy <ch> sound in the Scottish word <loch> or German
<Bach>.  \zh\ represents the sound of of the <s> in <measure>.  The final
<r> in <'Amr> is very lightly pronounced.  Note that <'Amr> is only one
syllable.  <Khadijah bint 'Abd al-Rahman> was pronounced roughly
\khah-DEE-zhah bihnt 'ahbd ahr-RAH-mahn\.  The word <al> means "the", and
its pronunciation was often changed by the letter that followed it.  In
this case, the \l\ sound becomes \r\ and merges with the following \R\ in
<Rahman>.  This <r> is trilled, as in modern Scottish dialect.  The <h> in
<Rahman> is pronounced with the throat slightly constricted, to produce a
rougher sound than the normal English \h\.  It should be clearly
pronounced.


You also asked about the correct spelling and capitalization of your name.
There's no single right spelling.  Arabic names were originally written in
the Arabic alphabet, of course, which has no capitalization and which is
transliterated into the Roman alphabet in many different ways.  For
example, <'Abdul Rahman>, <'Abd al-Rahman>, and <'abd ar-Rahman> represent
the same Arabic name.  In an English context, these three transliterations
are equally valid.  Since the <h> in <Rahman> is pronounced, it should be
included in any spelling.


We hope this brief letter has been useful.  Please write us again if you
have any questions.  I was assisted in researching and writing this letter
by Aryanhwy merch Catmael, Juliana de Luna, Antonio Miguel Santos de
Borja, Adelaide de Beaumont, Talan Gwynek, Sion Andreas, Da'ud ibn Auda,
Julie Stampnitzky, and Kunegund filia Theoderici.

For the Academy,


  Arval Benicoeur
  10 Apr 2001


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References

[1] Armajani, Yahya.  _The Middle East: Past and Present_ (Englewood, NJ:
Prentice-Hall, 1970), p.80.

[2] Da'ud ibn Auda, "Arabic Naming Practices and Names List," _Compleat
Anachronist_ #51, "The Islamic World" (Milpitas: SCA, Inc, Autumn
1990; WWW: J. Mittleman, 1998).
http://www.panix.com/~mittle/names/daud/arabic-naming/

[3] Mustapha al-Muhaddith ibn al-Saqaat, "Arabic Pesonal Names from the
Futuwwah", ed. Arval Benicoeur and Avelina of the Bridge (WWW:
J. Mittleman, 1999). 
http://www.s-gabriel.org/names/mustapha/futuwwah.html

[4] Juliana de Luna, "Andalusian Names: Arabs in Spain" (WWW: J. Mittleman,
2001). 
http://www.s-gabriel.org/names/juliana/andalusia/

[5] Roded, Ruth, _Women in Islamic Biographical Collections: From Ibn Sa'd
to 'Who's Who'_ (Boulder Col., Lynne Rienner Publishers, 1994).