2023-04-23 19:17:27
AToday, due to cultural mixing, invading modernism, galloping globalization, parents prefer to choose first names that rhyme well with Arab and Western societal values. Most traditional African first names are considered especially in Muslim circles as non-Muslim first names, so they are only good in the trash. Would there really exist Muslim first names, first names which by their dress are above the others?
The circles most affected by this phenomenon of the abandonment of traditional African first names in Africa are notably Muslim circles, where many often confuse the Muslim religion with Arab culture. However, the two are different.
In Muslim baptism ceremonies, we often hear imams encouraging the abandonment of traditional African first names in favor of Arab first names which they call Muslim first names. Do you know, for example, that the first name Aboubacar or Abou Bakr means “little camel”? Do you still know that the first name Abdul or Abdoul means “servant of Allah”? Hassan, means “beautiful”, “pretty”? Do you also know that the Arabic first name Ibrahim means “father of the crowd” or “father of the people”, the first name Jamal means “beautiful”? Do you know that the equivalent of the first name Jamal among the Malinkés, for example, is Gnouma, which also means “beautiful or beautiful”?
How do these Arabic first names, which some pompously call Muslim first names, really differ from those of the great cradle of humanity? In what way are they better or more resplendent than ours?
An old saying teaches us: “Ignorance is darker than darkness. Do you know that Khalil means “greatness and superiority”, Omar means “one who has a long life”? Do you know that Said means “lucky” and “happy”, Mohamed means “the one who deserves to be praised”? Do you also know that Fatima means “unique” or “singular young girl” in Arabic? Do you also know that the name Aïcha means “living”?
Do you know, for example, that among the Malinkés Tounko is a first name given to a girl born after the death of her father? Do you know that Gnamakoro translates the docile and patient personality like the land of a child named so? Do you know that among Fulani brothers the first name Samba means “second son”? Do you know that Gnalen or Sira in Malinké circles means the first daughter of the family?
Black in skin, tormented in spirit, lost in humiliating foreign values, this is what we are.
Guineans are embarrassed today to wear local first names like Kéyan, Farankouma, Nassady, Makoto, Kolonkan, Sounoukoun, Kamba, Gnamakoro… Sadly, we prefer to give Arab and Christian first names to our children.
In the past, given names to children often reflected their day of birth. The circumstances of this birth influence the choice of parents.
The Islamization of Guinean regions has resulted in the gradual disappearance of traditional Guinean first names. Today, only Guinea-Forestière remains attached to this value in Guinea. There at least, the names of the terroir are still preserved and combined with those of Christianity. They don’t mind at all, in that sense, and have never given up on that. In the name “Fara Gilbert Kamano” for example, the first “Fara” is the name of the land, which means the fourth son and “Gilbert” is Western, therefore a Christian baptismal name. This is the case with all Christian Foresters in Guinea.
Paradoxically, among the Malinké, the Peul and the Soussou, the local first names are abandoned in favor of those of the Arabs. Yes, most Muslim parents these days are inclined to choose Arabic names for their children.
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