Shia claim that the first and second Caliphs attacked the house
of Fatima (r) whereas we know that Ali (a) named some of his issues after the
Caliphs. This shows that the Caliphs are exonerated from these allegations.
Does anyone name his children on his enemies?
Names are never related to any particular person. In the same
way, names like Umar, Abu Bakr and Uthman were not limited to these persons and
numerous other people were also named as such.
That is why names like Abu Bakr, Umar and Uthman were common
names and numerous persons during the time of the Prophet were known by these
names.
Thus, overlooking the replies that follow, it cannot be said that
selection of these names was due to attachment and friendly relations between
His Eminence and the Caliphs, because it is possible that His Eminence had
attachment with other people having the same names.
Especially with regard to naming one of the sons of Amirul
Momineen (a) on the name of Abu Bakr; if it was as some have claimed, Abu Bakr
was an agnomen (Kunniyat) and not a name, His Eminence should have named
his son after one of the real names of Abu Bakr: That is Abdul Kaaba, Ateeq,
Abdullah or his other names (with attention to differences, which exist with
regard to his names) and he would not chosen his Kunniyat.
Another point is that: What attention to the fact that Abu Bakr
is a Kunniyat and not a name, and Kunniyat is chosen by a person
himself according to the circumstances of his life and it is not selected by
the father of that person. From this aspect, if we say that Amirul Momineen (a)
named one of his sons as Abu Bakr it would be a false and baseless statement.
Finally: According to a report the real name of this son, whose Kunniyat
was Abu Bakr, was Abdullah and he was martyred at Kerbala aged twenty-five
years. Since his real name was Abdullah and from the aspect that he had a son
named Bakr they referred to him as Abu Bakr.
Abul Faraj Isfahani writes:
Abdullah bin Ali was twenty-five years of age when he was
martyred in Kerbala.[1]
On the basis of this, the birth of Abdullah occurred during the
early period of the Caliphate of His Eminence, Ali (a) and the Imam during that
period severely condemned the Caliphs preceding him. This is another proof of
the absence of relation between these names with that, which is publicized by
the objection makers.
With regard to naming of a son of Amirul Momineen (a) as Umar:
1- Firstly: One of the habits of Umar was that he used to change
the names of people. Thus, according to historians, he changed the names of many
people.
Balazari has written in Ansabul Ashraf:
Umar bin Khattab named the son of Ali after himself.[2]
In the same way, Dhahabi has written in Seer Alaamun Nubla:
A son was born to Ali (a) during the period of Umar bin Khattab
and the latter named the child after his own name.[3]
For further emphasis, I would present the example of three other
persons, whose names were changed by Umar:
Abdur Rahman bin Harith was named by his father as Ibrahim, whose
name Umar changed to Abdur Rahman.[4]
Umar bin Khattab changed the name of Ajda bin Malik to Abdur
Rahman.[5]
The name of Mualla was Thalaba; Umar changed it to Mualla.[6]
2- Supposing we don’t accept the previous statement as was also mentioned
in the beginning, can it be said that this naming was due to the attachment of Amirul
Momineen (a) to Umar bin Khattab and only his name was Umar?
Ibne Hajar has mentioned in Isabah, ‘Chapter of those
named as Umar’, twenty-one persons among companions of the Prophet who
were named as Umar.[7]
How and according to which evidence was this naming due to the
attachment to Umar bin Khattab?
[1] Maqatilut
Talibiyyin, Vol. 1, Pg. 22, Abul Faraj Ali bin Husain Isfahani (d. 356).
[2] Ansabul
Ashraf, Vol. 1, Pg. 297, Ahmad bin Yahya bin Jabir Balazari (d. 279 A.H.).
[3] Seer
Aalamun Nubla, Vol. 4, Pg. 134, Shamsuddin Muhammad bin Ahmad bin Uthman
bin Qaimaz Dhahabi, Abu Abdullah, (d. 748), Mausisatur Risala, Beirut, 1413,
Ninth edition, Edited: Shuaib Arnaut, Muhammad Naeem Arqasusi.
[4] Al-Isabah
fee Tamizus Sahaba, Vol. 5, Pg. 29, Ahmad bin Ali bin Hajar Abul Fazl
Asqalani Shafei, Edited: Ali Muhammad Bajawi, Darul Jeel – Beirut , First edition, 1412 – 1992.
[5] Al-Isabah
fee Tamizus Sahaba, Vol. 1, Pg. 186, No. 425, Ahmad bin Ali bin Hajar Abul
Fazl Asqalani Shafei, Edited: Ali Muhammad Bajawi, Darul Jeel – Beirut, First
edition, 1412 – 1992.
[6] Al-Ansab,
Vol. 1, Pg. 250, Abul Manzar Salma bin Muslim bin Ibrahim Sahari Autabi (d. 511
A.H.)
[7] Al-Isabah
fee Tamizus Sahaba, Vol. 4, Pg. 587-597, Ahmad bin Ali bin Hajar Abul Fazl
Asqalani Shafei (d. 854), Edited: Ali Muhammad Bajawi, Darul Jeel – Beirut,
First edition, 1412 – 1992.
