Is It Acceptable to Wear Clothes With Allah’s Name on It?

Answered by Ustadh Salman Younas

Question: I am a football player. I would love to see my name “Habibullah” written on my jersey.

1. Is it acceptable for me to wear my jersey into the toilet since it has Allah’s name on it?

2. Will I be responsible if others who buys my jersey wear it into the toilet?

Answer: Assalamu alaykum

1. The basic rule is that it would be disliked to enter the toilet, which is defined here specifically as the area where one relieves himself, while wearing something with the name “Allah” or a Qur’anic verse and the like.

This dislikedness is lifted though when one covers the name or verse before entering the toilet. Yet, even here it would be best to avoid entering with such names/verses if reasonably possible.

2. You will not be responsible and such a possibility does not render it impermissible for you to put your full name on a jersey but what you mention is certainly something to keep in mind as any Muslim would not wish to see the name of Allah disrespected.

You can always, for example, choose to simply have the name “Habib” on your jersey as opposed to “Habib Allah.”

[Ibn Nujaym, Bahr al-Ra’iq (1:256); Ibn Abidin, Hashiya (6:361); Ibn Qudama, al-Mughni (1:109)]

[Ustadh] Salman Younas

Checked and approved by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani

Ustadh Salman Younas   graduated from Stony Brook University with a degree in Political Science and Religious Studies. After studying the Islamic sciences online and with local scholars in New York, Ustadh Salman moved to Amman where he spent five years studying Islamic law, legal methodology, belief, hadith methodology, logic, Arabic, and tafsir. He is currently a PhD candidate at the University of Oxford and continues his traditional studies with scholars in the United Kingdom.