مُخْتَار
Boy Arabic origin Mukhtār
“Chosen, elect”; al-Mukhtar, an epithet of the Prophet ﷺ
Al-Mukhtar, “the chosen one”, is one of the epithets that tradition gives the Prophet ﷺ, often called al-Nabi al-Mukhtar. The word is not in the Quran, but its verb is: Allah says to Musa, “I have chosen you” (20:13), and “Your Lord creates what He wills and chooses” (28:68). The Prophet ﷺ said that Allah chose him from Banu Hashim (Muslim 2276).
Mukhtar comes from ikhtara, “to choose”, a derived form of the root kh-y-r of good and best (khayr): to choose is to take what is best. The word is both a passive participle, “the chosen one”, and an active participle, “the one who chooses”; as a name it is understood in the first sense. In Turkey and the Levant, the muhtar (mukhtar), “the elected one”, is also the elected head of a village or neighbourhood.
The name Mukhtar does not appear as such in the Quran, but its root (خ ي ر) occurs 196 times. Examples:
وَرَبُّكَ يَخْلُقُ مَا يَشَآءُ وَيَخْتَارُ مَا كَانَ لَهُمُ ٱلْخِيَرَةُ سُبْحَٰنَ ٱللَّهِ وَتَعَٰلَىٰ عَمَّا يُشْرِكُونَ ٦٨
And your Lord creates what He wills and chooses; not for them was the choice. Exalted is Allāh and high above what they associate with Him.
وَأَنَا ٱخْتَرْتُكَ فَٱسْتَمِعْ لِمَا يُوحَىٰٓ ١٣
And I have chosen you, so listen to what is revealed [to you].
وَلَقَدِ ٱخْتَرْنَٰهُمْ عَلَىٰ عِلْمٍ عَلَى ٱلْعَٰلَمِينَ ٣٢
And We certainly chose them by knowledge over [all] the worlds.
All the words of the root خ ي ر in the Quran (196 occurrences)
اللَّهَ اصْطَفَى كِنَانَةَ مِنْ وَلَدِ إِسْمَاعِيلَ وَاصْطَفَى قُرَيْشًا مِنْ كِنَانَةَ وَاصْطَفَى مِنْ قُرَيْشٍ بَنِي هَاشِمٍ وَاصْطَفَانِي مِنْ بَنِي هَاشِمٍ "
No text or scholarly opinion concerns the name Mukhtar 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.
