3 ms·

thought: when half the country has a "muhammed" appendage to their name, what does it even mean? and might it perhaps be time to just not consider it as such?

tczMUFlmoNk 3y ago
It seems a bit presumptive to me to suggest that entire other cultures change their definition of what a name is just because you don't understand them. If someone tells me their name, I think that it is right to believe them unconditionally. No matter if it starts with Wang (100M people!) or ends with -son/-dottir (~all of Iceland) or contains affixes or other common parts. Names are deeply significant and have more value than just contributing information entropy to a unique identifier.
- redeeman 3y ago
  at no point did I suggest we should not believe someone when they say their name. But what purpose is a complete unit in a name if it is what 1/2 of everyone else in a country has too? the icelandic case is different, as it does after all function as a lastname, just a suffix on the lastname. I see no value in this, its kinda like putting salutation into the name. I would receive NO value in having an additional firstname of "Mr"
smusamashah 3y ago
This is a common prefix among Muslims. It is not serving a calculated purpose. This is appended out of respect of the prophet they believe in. There are certain sects which append or prepend name of some other religious figure important to them. I have been told that some people even use to (and may be still do) add name of their teachers with their names in older times out of deep respect / reverence. Names are part of identity the same way origin is. Can't just ask to purge it because everyone around has some of it in common.
- redeeman 3y ago
  if everyone has it, it ceases to have any significance, and can be ignored. this is why someone might have been called "johnny 1 leg", because he only had one leg. You do not hear things like "2 legs 2 arms 10 fingers 1 heart 1 bellybutton johnny"

tczMUFlmoNk 3y ago

It seems a bit presumptive to me to suggest that entire other cultures change their definition of what a name is just because you don't understand them. If someone tells me their name, I think that it is right to believe them unconditionally. No matter if it starts with Wang (100M people!) or ends with -son/-dottir (~all of Iceland) or contains affixes or other common parts. Names are deeply significant and have more value than just contributing information entropy to a unique identifier.

redeeman 3y ago
at no point did I suggest we should not believe someone when they say their name. But what purpose is a complete unit in a name if it is what 1/2 of everyone else in a country has too? the icelandic case is different, as it does after all function as a lastname, just a suffix on the lastname. I see no value in this, its kinda like putting salutation into the name. I would receive NO value in having an additional firstname of "Mr"

smusamashah 3y ago

This is a common prefix among Muslims. It is not serving a calculated purpose. This is appended out of respect of the prophet they believe in. There are certain sects which append or prepend name of some other religious figure important to them. I have been told that some people even use to (and may be still do) add name of their teachers with their names in older times out of deep respect / reverence. Names are part of identity the same way origin is. Can't just ask to purge it because everyone around has some of it in common.

redeeman 3y ago
if everyone has it, it ceases to have any significance, and can be ignored. this is why someone might have been called "johnny 1 leg", because he only had one leg. You do not hear things like "2 legs 2 arms 10 fingers 1 heart 1 bellybutton johnny"