LAGOS,
April 3, 2006 (IslamOnline.net) – Abu Bakr, Abdullah and Amina are
few but to mention names that started to top Muslim baby names in
Nigeria, knocking out tribal Yoruba names, Olaleye and Adebimpe.
Over
the past two decades, Muslims tended to give their babies names with
Islamic or Arab connotations in a bid to preserve their identity.
Statistics
registry shows that names of prophets such as Muhammad, Musa, `Isa and
Yahya are much sought-after.
Names
of prominent Muslim scholars such as Busairy, Ghazali as well as
compound names such as "Mohammad Dawud" also appeal to many
couples.
"Nigerian
Muslims are used to seeking help of scholars when they name their
new-born babies since they don't know the meaning or the historical
background of Islamic names," Sheikh Najm Al-Din Omran, director
of the Arabic and Islamic Studies Center in southern Nigeria, told
IslamOnline.net Monday, April 3.
He
said some Muslims spare themselves the hesitancy and name their babies
after their favorite scholars and imams.
Unaccounted
Muslim
leaders have sounded the alarm as many Muslims often go uncounted in
censuses, which is indeed a mammoth task in Africa's most populous
country, because they usually carry names related to the two largest
tribes in the country Yoruba and Hausa.
Nigeria
has never conducted an uncontested census and estimates for its huge
and burgeoning population range between 120 and 160 million of whom
Muslims are believed to constitute 50 percent, Christian 40 and
animists 10.
A
weeklong census, which is basically based on birth certificates, ended
last month, with many people remained uncounted.
Population
plays a key role in shaping the political and economic landscapes in a
country rich in oil reserves.
