The letter alif opens thirteen surahs, in the letter groups Alif-Lam-Mim (Surahs 2, 3, 29, 30, 31, 32), Alif-Lam-Ra and Alif-Lam-Mim-Sad. The Prophet ﷺ said: “I do not say that Alif-Lam-Mim is one letter: alif is a letter, lam is a letter and mim is a letter”, each worth a good deed (al-Tirmidhi 2910).
Meaning of the name Alif
Alif is the first letter of the Arabic alphabet, a single vertical stroke. In Turkish, “elif gibi” (“like an elif”) describes an upright, slender figure, and Ottoman poets compared the beloved’s stature to an elif; mystics saw in it a symbol of the oneness of Allah, whose name begins with this letter. Elif has long been one of the top girls’ names in Turkey.
In Arabic
أَلِفألف
Transliteration
Alif
Gender
Girl
Origin
Arabic
Is Alif in the Quran?
No: the name Alif does not appear in the Quran. A name can be beautiful and permissible without coming from the Quran.
"Whoever recites a letter from the Book of Allah will be credited with a good deed for it, and a good deed is multiplied tenfold. I am not saying that 'Alif-Lām-Mīm' is one letter, but Alif is a letter, Lām is a letter, and Mīm is a letter."
