Ahmad
| Pronunciation |
/ˈɑːmæd/, or /ˈɑːmɛd/. Arabic: [ˈ(ʔ)aħmad]. Egyptian Arabic: [æħmæd] Turkish: [ˈahmet]. Persian: [ˈ(ʔ)æhmæd]. Urdu: [ˈɛɦməd̪]. |
|---|---|
| Gender | Male |
| Language(s) | Arabic |
| Meaning | Highly praised |
| Variant form(s) | Achmad, Achmat, Achmed, Achmet, Ahmat, Ahmet, , , Ahmot, Amadu |
Ahmad, Ahmed or Ahmet are the principal transliterations of an Arabic given name, أحمد.
The word derives from the root ح م د (ḥ-m-d), from the Arabic أَحْمَدَ (ʾaḥmad), from the verb حَمِدَ (ḥamida, “to thank or to praise"), non-past participle يَحْمَدُ (yaḥmadu).
As an Arabic name, it has its origins in a Quranic prophecy attributed to Jesus in the Quran 61:6. It also shares the same roots of Mahmud, Muhammad and Hamid. 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.
Its use as a personal or given name for Muhammad during his own lifetime and in the early period of Islam has been questioned by Islamic historians such as William Montgomery Watt. Watt argues 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. He 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.
According to the New Encyclopedia of Islam, and the older Encyclopaedia of Islam, the word Ahmad has no etymological attachment to the word Muhammad, but instead has been defined and understood according to its form and likeness to the word Muhammad.
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