His colleagues call him by a nickname he does not like
Fatwa No: 157405

Question

Assalamu alykum,i am a high school student,and i once heard about a hadith stating that which ever name one is called in the worldly life,with that name shall one be called with in the hereafter,and in my school,my friends use to call me by a nickname which all my friends make fun of,and if to say that i should tell them to stop,it will cause social problems between them and i,and i am also thinking that all these will last only for some time,so why not leave them to continue since we'll soon graduate and part. So i am seeking advice from you,should i tell them to stop calling by that name i should allow them to continue? Jazakumu-Allah

Answer

All perfect praise be to Allaah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah, and that Muhammad is His slave and Messenger.

A Muslim will be called on the Day of Judgment with the best names which he used to be called in this worldly life as in the Hadeeth reported by Imaam Ahmad on the authority of Al-Baraa’ Ibn A’zib . This is a clear evidence that a person will not be called by the nicknames which he does not like.

On the other hand, it is not permissible for a Muslim to mock his Muslim brother or to call him with nicknames which he does not like as we clarified in Fataawa 115714 and 86381.

Anyway, you should not let your colleagues call you by this nickname which you do not like unless you consider that there is a preponderant benefit in keeping silent about this matter.

Allaah Knows best.

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