عَاصِم
Boy Arabic origin ʿĀṣim
CompanionIn the Quran“The protector”, one who preserves and holds back from harm
The word as it is recited in the Quran: Mahmoud Khalil Al-Hussary, Hud 11:43.
ʿAsim ibn Thabit al-Ansari led the ten Companions sent on a scouting mission who fell into an ambush: refusing to surrender to unbelievers, he prayed “O Allah, inform Your Prophet of what has befallen us” and was killed. When Quraysh sent for part of his body, a swarm of bees protected it (al-Bukhari 3045). Later, ʿAsim ibn Abi al-Najud was the Quran reader whose reading, transmitted by Hafs, is the most widely recited today.
ʿAsim is the active participle of ʿasama, “to hold back, to prevent, to preserve” (root ʿ-ṣ-m): it means one who protects and keeps safe from harm. The same root gives ʿisma, “protection, sinlessness”, which the scholars attribute to the prophets, and iʿtisam, “holding fast”: “Hold fast, all together, to the rope of Allah” (3:103). The Quran uses ʿasim three times, to say that none can protect against Allah’s command: “There is no protector today from the command of Allah” (11:43).
Yes: the word Asim appears in the Quran 3 times, in 3 surahs.
قَالَ سَـَٔاوِىٓ إِلَىٰ جَبَلٍ يَعْصِمُنِى مِنَ ٱلْمَآءِ قَالَ لَا عَاصِمَ ٱلْيَوْمَ مِنْ أَمْرِ ٱللَّهِ إِلَّا مَن رَّحِمَ وَحَالَ بَيْنَهُمَا ٱلْمَوْجُ فَكَانَ مِنَ ٱلْمُغْرَقِينَ ٤٣
[But] he said, "I will take refuge on a mountain to protect me from the water." [Noah] said, "There is no protector today from the decree of Allāh, except for whom He gives mercy." And the waves came between them, and he was among the drowned.
وَٱلَّذِينَ كَسَبُوا۟ ٱلسَّيِّـَٔاتِ جَزَآءُ سَيِّئَةٍۭ بِمِثْلِهَا وَتَرْهَقُهُمْ ذِلَّةٌ مَّا لَهُم مِّنَ ٱللَّهِ مِنْ عَاصِمٍ كَأَنَّمَآ أُغْشِيَتْ وُجُوهُهُمْ قِطَعًا مِّنَ ٱلَّيْلِ مُظْلِمًا أُو۟لَٰٓئِكَ أَصْحَٰبُ ٱلنَّارِ هُمْ فِيهَا خَٰلِدُونَ ٢٧
But they who have earned [blame for] evil doings - the recompense of an evil deed is its equivalent, and humiliation will cover them. They will have from Allāh no protector. It will be as if their faces are covered with pieces of the night - so dark [are they]. Those are the companions of the Fire; they will abide therein eternally.
يَوْمَ تُوَلُّونَ مُدْبِرِينَ مَا لَكُم مِّنَ ٱللَّهِ مِنْ عَاصِمٍ وَمَن يُضْلِلِ ٱللَّهُ فَمَا لَهُۥ مِنْ هَادٍ ٣٣
The Day you will turn your backs fleeing; there is not for you from Allāh any protector. And whoever Allāh sends astray - there is not for him any guide.
All the words of the root ع ص م in the Quran (13 occurrences)
بَعَثَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم عَشَرَةَ رَهْطٍ سَرِيَّةً عَيْنًا، وَأَمَّرَ عَلَيْهِمْ عَاصِمَ بْنَ ثَابِتٍ الأَنْصَارِيَّ جَدَّ عَاصِمِ بْنِ عُمَرَ، فَانْطَلَقُوا حَتَّى إِذَا كَانُوا بِالْهَدَأَةِ وَهْوَ…
No text or scholarly opinion concerns the name Asim in particular: the general rules of Islam apply.
Read the rules for choosing a name
This page is an aid to reflection, not a fatwa. For a personal case, ask a person of knowledge.
