A man has named his child "Aysar." Is this permissible? If not, should he change it or keep it?
Answer:
All perfect praise be to Allah the Lord of the Worlds. May His peace and blessings be upon our Prophet Mohammad and upon all his family and companions.
It was mentioned that the Prophet (Peace and blessings be upon him) forbade using a group of names close to the name "Aysar." This is attested to in the following narration: Samurah b. Jundub reported the Messenger of Allah (May peace be upon him) as saying: "Do not call your servant Yasar (wealth), Rabah (profit), Nijih(prosperous) and Aflah (successful), for you may ask; Is he there? And someone says: No. Samurah said: These are four (names), so do not attribute more to me." {Related by Muslim}.
Based on this narration, scholars have concluded that it is reprehensible (Makruh) to give a child one of the names of Tazkiyah (It is an Arabic-Islamic term alluding to "tazkiyah al-nafs" meaning "sanctification" or "purification of the self").
An-Nawawi (May Allah have mercy on him) said: "Our fellow scholars (Shafies) said that it is reprehensible to give a child any of the names mentioned in the above narration and even names that have the same meaning. However, this reprehensibility (Karaha) isn`t specific to those names for this is Makruh Tanzih (An abominable matter that is almost lawful). The Illah (Legal cause) of this reprehensibility, as clarified in the words of the Prophet (Peace and blessings be upon him), is that those names could cause some people to be pessimistic." {Shareh Muslim, V.14:119}.
We (Iftaa` Department) are of the view that it is Makruh to name a child "Aysar" just as the case with the name "Yasar." We recommend that the above questioner change his child`s name into a good one, however, there is no sin in keeping the name "Aysar."
Al-Shirbini {May Allah have mercy on him} said: "It is recommended to change ugly names as well as names of Tazkiyah into good ones." {Moghni Al-Mohtaaj, v.6: 141}. And Allah the almighty knows best.