بَشِير
Boy Arabic origin Bashīr
Name of the Prophet ﷺCompanionIn the Quran“Bringer of good news”; a quality of the Prophet ﷺ in the Quran
The word as it is recited in the Quran: Mahmoud Khalil Al-Hussary, Al-Baqarah 2:119.
The Quran calls the Prophet ﷺ bashir, usually paired with nadhir, “warner”: “We have sent you with the truth as a bearer of good news and a warner” (2:119; also 34:28 and 35:24); in 33:45 the word is mubashshir, from the same root. Bashir occurs nine times in the Quran, which also uses it of the Quran itself (41:4). The Companion Bashir ibn Saʿd, a veteran of Badr, was the father of al-Nuʿman ibn Bashir.
Bashir comes from the root b-sh-r, which brings together skin (bashara), the human being (bashar) and good news (bushra): lexicographers explain that happy news shows on the skin of the face. The bashir is the one who brings it, the herald. The name is spelled Bachir or Béchir in the Maghreb, Bashir in South Asia and Beşir in Turkey.
Yes: the word Bashir appears in the Quran 9 times, in 8 surahs.
إِنَّآ أَرْسَلْنَٰكَ بِٱلْحَقِّ بَشِيرًا وَنَذِيرًا وَلَا تُسْـَٔلُ عَنْ أَصْحَٰبِ ٱلْجَحِيمِ ١١٩
Indeed, We have sent you, [O Muḥammad], with the truth as a bringer of good tidings and a warner, and you will not be asked about the companions of Hellfire.
وَمَآ أَرْسَلْنَٰكَ إِلَّا كَآفَّةً لِّلنَّاسِ بَشِيرًا وَنَذِيرًا وَلَٰكِنَّ أَكْثَرَ ٱلنَّاسِ لَا يَعْلَمُونَ ٢٨
And We have not sent you except comprehensively to mankind as a bringer of good tidings and a warner. But most of the people do not know.
إِنَّآ أَرْسَلْنَٰكَ بِٱلْحَقِّ بَشِيرًا وَنَذِيرًا وَإِن مِّنْ أُمَّةٍ إِلَّا خَلَا فِيهَا نَذِيرٌ ٢٤
Indeed, We have sent you with the truth as a bringer of good tidings and a warner. And there was no nation but that there had passed within it a warner.
قُل لَّآ أَمْلِكُ لِنَفْسِى نَفْعًا وَلَا ضَرًّا إِلَّا مَا شَآءَ ٱللَّهُ وَلَوْ كُنتُ أَعْلَمُ ٱلْغَيْبَ لَٱسْتَكْثَرْتُ مِنَ ٱلْخَيْرِ وَمَا مَسَّنِىَ ٱلسُّوٓءُ إِنْ أَنَا۠ إِلَّا نَذِيرٌ وَبَشِيرٌ لِّقَوْمٍ يُؤْمِنُونَ ١٨٨
Say, "I hold not for myself [the power of] benefit or harm, except what Allāh has willed. And if I knew the unseen, I could have acquired much wealth, and no harm would have touched me. I am not except a warner and a bringer of good tidings to a people who believe."
All the words of the root ب ش ر in the Quran (123 occurrences)
No text or scholarly opinion concerns the name Bashir 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.
