A: It is not permissible to declare a person to be an 'Abd (slave) to other than Allah (Glorified be He). Abu Muhammad ibn Hazm, the famous Imam, said: "They (scholars) are agreed that all names which indicate servitude to other than Allah such as 'Abd 'Amr and 'AbdulKa'bah and so on, are Haram (prohibited) except 'AbdulMuttalib." It is not permissible to give names that indicate worshipping other than Allah, such as 'AbdulNaby, 'AbdulKa'bah, 'Abd 'Aly, 'Abdul Hasan
'AbdulHusayn and the like. As for 'AbdulMuhsin, it is permissible, since AlMuhsin (The Beneficent) is one of the Beautiful Names of Allah (Glorified and Exalted be He). The names liked most by Allah are 'Abdullah (Slave of Allah) and 'AbdulRahman (Slave of the Most Merciful) and the truest are Harith (i.e. cultivator, plowman etc) and Hammam (energetic, spirited etc). It was reported on the authority of Ibn 'Umar, as a Hadith Marfu' (a Hadith narrated from the Prophet with a connected or disconnected chain of narration) that:
The dearest names to Allah are ' Abdullah and ' AbdulRahman.
(Related by Muslim, Abu Dawud and AlTirmidhy) Ina narration by AlTabarany on the authority of Ibn Mas'ud, he said:
The dearest names to Allah are those that indicate servitude to Him and the truest names are Harith and Hammam.