Assalammualaikum. My wife just gave birth to a baby boy. I wanted to name him 'Haq'. Is it permissible not to include 'Abd'?

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, sallallaahu ʻalayhi wa sallam, is His slave and Messenger.

There is no harm in naming your son Haqq, meaning "truth", as it is permissible to use names that are common to both Allaah and human beings, such as ʻAli, Rasheed, Badee‘, Raheem and the like. Ibn ʻAabideen said, “Evidently, it is permissible (to use such names) even if the definite article "Al-" is added to them (for definiteness).” Al-Haskafi said, “The meaning of these attributes with reference to human beings is different from their meanings with reference to Allaah The Almighty.”

It is prohibited to use the divine names and attributes that are exclusively used in reference to Allaah The Exalted, such as Al-Khaaliq (the Creator), Ar-Rahmaan (the specially Merciful), Al-Quddoos (the Holy), Al-Awwal (the First), Al-Aakhir (the Last), Al-Baatin (the Latent), and the like.

However, the majority of the jurists held that it is recommended to use names in which "ʻAbd" (slave) is used genitively, such as ʻAbdullaah (slave of Allaah), ʻAbd Al-Kareem (slave of the Generous), ʻAbd Al-Ghafoor (slave of the very Forgiving), and ʻAbd Al-Haqq (slave of the Truth). It has been narrated on the authority of Ibn ʻUmar that the Prophet, sallallaahu ʻalayhi wa sallam, said: “The dearest of your names to Allaah are ʻAbdullaah and ʻAbdur-Rahmaan.” [Muslim] Abu Daawood reported a Hadeeth to the same effect on the authority of Abu Wahb Al-Jushami.

Allaah Knows best.