حَبِيبَة
Girl Arabic origin Ḥabība
Female Companion“Beloved, dear to the heart”
Umm Habiba Ramla bint Abi Sufyan, Mother of the Believers, took her kunya from her daughter Habiba. Among the female Companions, Habiba bint Sahl, of the Ansar of Medina, transmitted hadiths. The Prophet ﷺ said: “Two words beloved (habibatan) to the Most Merciful, light on the tongue, heavy in the balance: Subhan Allah wa bi-hamdih, Subhan Allah al-ʿAzim” (al-Bukhari 7563).
Habiba is the feminine of habib, “loved, beloved”, from the root ḥ-b-b of love (hubb, mahabba). The word means both the woman one loves and a dear friend, and it remains an everyday term of affection in Arabic (habibati, “my darling”). The name is widespread in the Maghreb, West Africa and Turkey (Habibe); it also recalls the kunya of Umm Habiba, Mother of the Believers.
The name Habiba does not appear as such in the Quran, but its root (ح ب ب) occurs 95 times. Examples:
قُلْ إِن كُنتُمْ تُحِبُّونَ ٱللَّهَ فَٱتَّبِعُونِى يُحْبِبْكُمُ ٱللَّهُ وَيَغْفِرْ لَكُمْ ذُنُوبَكُمْ وَٱللَّهُ غَفُورٌ رَّحِيمٌ ٣١
Say, [O Muḥammad], "If you should love Allāh, then follow me, [so] Allāh will love you and forgive you your sins. And Allāh is Forgiving and Merciful."
أَنِ ٱقْذِفِيهِ فِى ٱلتَّابُوتِ فَٱقْذِفِيهِ فِى ٱلْيَمِّ فَلْيُلْقِهِ ٱلْيَمُّ بِٱلسَّاحِلِ يَأْخُذْهُ عَدُوٌّ لِّى وَعَدُوٌّ لَّهُۥ وَأَلْقَيْتُ عَلَيْكَ مَحَبَّةً مِّنِّى وَلِتُصْنَعَ عَلَىٰ عَيْنِىٓ ٣٩
[Saying], 'Cast him into the chest and cast it into the river, and the river will throw it onto the bank; there will take him an enemy to Me and an enemy to him.' And I bestowed upon you love from Me that you would be brought up under My eye [i.e., observation and care].
وَإِنَّهُۥ لِحُبِّ ٱلْخَيْرِ لَشَدِيدٌ ٨
And indeed he is, in love of wealth, intense.
All the words of the root ح ب ب in the Quran (95 occurrences)
كَلِمَتَانِ حَبِيبَتَانِ إِلَى الرَّحْمَنِ، خَفِيفَتَانِ عَلَى اللِّسَانِ، ثَقِيلَتَانِ فِي الْمِيزَانِ سُبْحَانَ اللَّهِ وَبِحَمْدِهِ، سُبْحَانَ اللَّهِ الْعَظِيمِ "
No text or scholarly opinion concerns the name Habiba 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.
