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Wikipedia / Ahmad

Ahmad () is an Arabic male given name common in most parts of the Muslim world, since it is one of the well-known names of prophet Muhammad. Other English spellings of the name include Ahmed, Ahmmad. It is also used as a surname.

Lexicology

The word derives from the root (ḥ-m-d), from the Arabic (), from the verb (ḥameda, "to thank or to praise"), non-past participle ().

As an Arabic name, it has its origins in a Quranic prophecy attributed to Isa (Jesus) in the Quran speaking about another Abrahamic prophet with an Arab name of Ahmmad (The Praised One) following him, which most Islamic scholars agree is about Muhammad. It also shares the same Arabic roots as Mahmud, Muhammad, Hamed, and Hamad. In its transliteration, the name has one of the highest number of spelling variations in the world.

Some Islamic traditions view the name Ahmad as another given name of Muhammad at birth by his mother, considered by Muslims to be the more esoteric name of Muhammad and central to understanding his nature. Over the centuries, some Islamic scholars have suggested the name's parallel is in the word 'Paraclete' from the Biblical text, although this view is not universal considering translations, meanings and etymology.

Traditional Islamic sources, such as Sahih al-Bukhari, Sahih Muslim, and others contain hadith in which Muhammad personally refers to himself as Ahmad.

Christian orientalists such as W. Montgomery Watt, however, claim that the use of Ahmad as a proper name for "Muhammad" did not exist until well into the second Islamic century, previously being used only in an adjectival sense. Watt concludes that the development of the term being used as a name in reference to Muhammad came later in the context of Christian-Muslim polemics, particularly with Muslim attempts to equate Muhammad with the Biblical 'Paraclete', owing to a prophecy attributed to Jesus in the Quranic verse 61:6.

Interpretations and meanings of Ahmad

Development

Regarding Ibn Ishaq's biography of Muhammad, the Sirat Rasul Allah, Islamic scholar Alfred Guillaume wrote:

Ahmad passage

Here are two translations of the passage in question in Surat 61 verse 6:

The verse in the Quran attributes a name or designation, describing or identifying who would follow Jesus. In his Farewell Discourse to his disciples, Jesus promised that he would "send the Holy Spirit" to them after his departure, in John 15:26 stating: "whom I will send unto you from the Father, [even] the Spirit of truth... shall bear witness of me." John 14:17 states "[even] the Spirit of truth: whom the world cannot receive; for it beholdeth him not, neither knoweth him: ye know him; for he abideth with you, and shall be in you."

Regarding verse 61:6 in the Quran:

Contrary to the above claim that Ibn Ishaq and Ibn Hisham did not mention Ahmad and the respective passage, there is Ibn Ishaq's work with the title Kitab al-Maghazi and Ibn Hisham who mention and connect the words Mohammad & Ahmad with the Paraclete. Additionally it has been documented that there was an attempt to connect the respective quranic verse with the Paraclete even earlier than Ibn Ishaq. Moreover, a later interpolation of this passage to the Quran, just to serve as an ex eventu prove for the early Muslim scholars, has also been refuted in modern Islamic Studies. This is supported by the fact that the earliest as well as the later manuscripts of the Quran contain the exact passage and wording in Surah 61.

Scholarship regarding the Greek translation

"Early translators knew nothing about the surmised reading of periklutos for parakletos, and its possible rendering as Ahmad… Periklutos does not come into the picture as far as Ibn Ishaq and Ibn Hisham are concerned. The deception is not theirs. The opportunity to introduce Ahmad was not accepted – though it is highly improbable that they were aware of it being a possible rendering of Periklutos. It would have clinched the argument to have followed the Johannine references with a Quranic quotation."

"Furthermore the Peshitta, Old Syriac, and Philoxenian versions all write the name of John in the form Yuhanan, not in the Greek form Yuhannis… Accordingly to find a text of the Gospels from which Ibn Ishaq could have drawn his quotation we must look for a version which differs from all others in displaying these characteristics. Such a text is the Palestinian Syriac Lectionary of the Gospels which will conclusively prove that the Arabic writer had a Syriac text before him which he, or his informant, skillfully manipulated to provide the reading we have in the Sira."

"Muslim children are never called Ahmad before the year 123AH. But there are many instances prior to this date of boys called 'Muhammad.' Very rarely is the name 'Ahmad' met with in pre-Islamic time of ignorance (Jahiliya), though the name Muhammad was in common use. Later traditions that the prophet's name was Ahmad show that this had not always been obvious, though commentators assume it after about 22 (AH)."

"It has been concluded that the word Ahmad in Quran as-Saff 61:6 is to be taken not as a proper name but as an adjective… and that it was understood as a proper name only after Muhammad had been identified with the Paraclete."

"Note that by the middle of the 2nd century AH, Muslims already identified Muhammad with the Greek word "Paracletos" (Counsellor / Advocate) or the Aramaic translation "Menahhemana."

Transliterations

Ahmad is the most common transliteration. It is used commonly all over the Muslim world, although primarily in the Middle East. More recently, this transliteration has become increasingly popular in the United States due to use by members of the African American community.

Ahmed is the most common variant transliteration, used especially in the context of the Ottoman Empire. This transliteration is also used throughout the Muslim world.

Ahmet is the modern Turkish transliteration. Modern Turkish uses a Latin-based alphabet, and most Arabic-derived names have standardized Turkish spellings.

The less common transliterations of Ahmad, Akhmad are used by Muslims outside the Middle East proper, such as in Indonesia and Russia.

For Bashkirs and Tatars, the name is Ahmat/Akhmat (Әхмәт, Äxmät / Əxmət).

Achmat is the fairly standard transliteration used by South Africa's Muslim community, and its pronunciation shows evidence of the influence of Afrikaans: the <ch> which represents ح [ħ] is pronounced as an Afrikaans <g> [x] (i.e. closer to the Arabic خ); and the د [d] is realised as a [t] (closer to the Arabic ت) which follows Afrikaans Final-obstruent devoicing principles.

People with the given name

Ahmad

Ahmed

Ahmet

Other spellings

People with the surname

Ahmad

Ahmed

Other variants

Fictional characters

See also

References