Naming children God’s names ‘not appropriate’

Meltem Özgenç ANKARA

Mehmet Görmez, head of the Directorate of Religious Affairs addresses reporters in this photo. The directorate regularly answers questions on its website. AA photo

Naming children God’s names or attributes according to the Islamic religion is not appropriate, as contact eye lenses are not problematic for ablution, recent responses by the Directorate of Religious Affairs to the citizens have said.

The directorate receives and answers religious question on its website regularly.

As there are 99 adjectives and attributes attached to God in the Arabic language, mostly from the Quran, and many are used as people’s names, one question sought whether it was appropriate or not, as the response by the body was negative.

“One of the responsibilities of families is giving their children beautiful names,” the directorate said, adding that giving god’s names peculiar to the god was not good. However the Arabic prefix of “abdül,” which translates to “slave of god,” would be acceptable.

Another response said calling god “Tanrı” in Turkish, a word rooted from the historic Central Asian Turkish language, instead of the Arabic world, “Allah,” was not problematic.

Another inquiry pertained to whether or not one could wear contact lenses while performing religious ablution, which requires washing the entire body, was answered positively, as the code does not include washing the inner parts of the eye.