Question
Alḥamdulillāh my husband, our families and I were blessed with a son. We came home yesterday from the hospital and are all doing well Alḥamdulillāh.
We have named our baby Ṣāleḥ ʿAbdallāh ʿAlī (Righteous Servant of Allāh) but we wanted to ensure that we have the correct spelling which goes hand in hand with the meaning. We know that the name could also be spelled Ṣāleḥ ʿAbdullāh. Is there a difference in pronunciation or does a certain spelling alter the meaning?
We ask that you keep us all in your duʿāʾs in-shā Allāh. Looking forward to your response.
Answer:
In the Name of God, Most Merciful, Most Compassionate
Jazāk Allāh Khayr/ Thank you for your question. Mabrūk / Congratulations on the birth of your son.
I am extremely happy for you and your family. I pray your son brings endless joy, happiness, blessings and barakah in your lives through the grace of the Almighty. May he be protected from all evil. Āmīn.
The preferred spelling should be Ṣāleḥ ʿAbdullāh.
According to the Arabic grammatical rules “Abdallāh” would not be appropriate since there is no grammatical agent causing the accusative case (المنصوب al-manṣūb) on the word. The default of any Arabic word is that it is in the nominative case (المرفوع al-marfūʾ). (See: Hidāyat Al-Naḥw, Naḥw Al-Mīr)
And Allāh Knows Best