خَلِيل
Boy Arabic origin Khalīl
In the Quran“Intimate friend”, one whose love penetrates the heart
The word as it is recited in the Quran: Mahmoud Khalil Al-Hussary, An-Nisa 4:125.
The Quran says: “Allah took Ibrahim as an intimate friend (khalilan)” (4:125). The Prophet ﷺ said: “If I were to take an intimate friend (khalil) from my community, I would take Abu Bakr; but he is my brother and my companion” (al-Bukhari 3656). The word occurs four times in the Quran, including a verse recalling that friends of this world will be enemies on the Last Day, except the righteous (43:67).
Khalil comes from the root kh-l-l: khulla is the most intimate friendship, whose love penetrates (takhallala) the depths of the heart and leaves room for nothing else. Khalil Allah, “the intimate friend of Allah”, is the title of the prophet Ibrahim, hence the Arabic name of the city of Hebron, al-Khalil, where tradition places his tomb. Halil is widely borne in Turkey, often in Halil İbrahim.
Yes: the word Khalil appears in the Quran 4 times, in 4 surahs.
وَمَنْ أَحْسَنُ دِينًا مِّمَّنْ أَسْلَمَ وَجْهَهُۥ لِلَّهِ وَهُوَ مُحْسِنٌ وَٱتَّبَعَ مِلَّةَ إِبْرَٰهِيمَ حَنِيفًا وَٱتَّخَذَ ٱللَّهُ إِبْرَٰهِيمَ خَلِيلًا ١٢٥
And who is better in religion than one who submits himself to Allāh while being a doer of good and follows the religion of Abraham, inclining toward truth? And Allāh took Abraham as an intimate friend.
وَإِن كَادُوا۟ لَيَفْتِنُونَكَ عَنِ ٱلَّذِىٓ أَوْحَيْنَآ إِلَيْكَ لِتَفْتَرِىَ عَلَيْنَا غَيْرَهُۥ وَإِذًا لَّٱتَّخَذُوكَ خَلِيلًا ٧٣
And indeed, they were about to tempt you away from that which We revealed to you in order to [make] you invent about Us something else; and then they would have taken you as a friend.
ٱلْأَخِلَّآءُ يَوْمَئِذٍۭ بَعْضُهُمْ لِبَعْضٍ عَدُوٌّ إِلَّا ٱلْمُتَّقِينَ ٦٧
Close friends, that Day, will be enemies to each other, except for the righteous
يَٰوَيْلَتَىٰ لَيْتَنِى لَمْ أَتَّخِذْ فُلَانًا خَلِيلًا ٢٨
Oh, woe to me! I wish I had not taken that one as a friend.
All the words of the root خ ل ل in the Quran (13 occurrences)
" وَلَوْ كُنْتُ مُتَّخِذًا مِنْ أُمَّتِي خَلِيلاً لاَتَّخَذْتُ، أَبَا بَكْرٍ وَلَكِنْ أَخِي وَصَاحِبِي "
No text or scholarly opinion concerns the name Khalil 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.
