The prohibition of using the kunyah Abū al-Qāsim

I say that the ‘ulamā’ differ about the kunyah Abū al-Qāsim. They have three opinions.

The opinion of ash-Shāfi‘ī and those who agree with him is that it is not lawful for anyone to use the kunyah Abū al-Qāsim, whether his name is Muḥammad or not. Among those of our colleagues who narrated this from ash-Shāfi‘ī were the firmly established and reliable ḥāfiẓ Imams who were jurists and scholars of hadith, Abū Bakr al-Bayhaqī, Abū Muḥammad al-Baghawī in his book at-Tahdhīb (at the beginning of the book on marriage), and Abū al-Qāsim Ibn ‘Asākir in Tārīkh Dimishq.

The opinion of Mālik is that it is permissible to use the kunyah Abū al-Qāsim, both for those whose names are Muḥammad and for others. He holds that the prohibition was restricted to the lifetime of the Messenger of Allah .

The third opinion is that it is permissible only for those whose name is not Muḥammad. Imam Abū al-Qāsim ar-Rāfi‘ī says that this view seems to be the most correct, for people have used this kunyah over the ages without reproof. But what the person who took this position said is in open contradiction to the hadith [cited above].

It is true that [many] people consider [giving this kunyah] permissible, and that those who have this kunyah or who have named their children with this kunyah include noted imams and people of substance and standing whose word binds the Muslims (ahl al-ḥall wa-l-‘aqd), ^[2].and people who are taken as models in important matters of the Dīn. All this is an affirmation of the position of Mālik in uncategorically permitting it, inasmuch as they may have understood that the prohibition applied only during his lifetime . What is well-known concerning the reason for the prohibition is that the Jews were adopting the kunyah Abū al-Qāsim and calling each other ‘O Abū al-Qāsim!’ in order to cause annoyance. That reason, however, has ceased to apply. And Allah knows best.