Hashim, name meaning in Islam

Hashim (هَاشِم) is an Arabic name for boys. It means one who breaks bread for others. He was called Hashim because he broke bread into broth to feed the pilgrims in a year of hunger.

Meaning and root

In Arabic, words are built from a root of usually three letters. Hashim comes from the root ه ش م, and words from the same root share its core meaning. Similar names from the same family of words are listed below.

Is Hashim in the Quran?

No. Hashim is not a word in the Quran. A name does not need to be in the Quran to be a good Muslim name: what matters is that its meaning is good. The Prophet ﷺ changed names with bad meanings and kept names with good ones.¹

How to say and write Hashim

Say it HAA-shim. The capital letters show the stressed part. In English it is also spelled Hashem. In Arabic it is written with 4 letters, from right to left: ه ha + ا alif + ش shin + م mim.

Choosing Hashim

Hashim is a name with a good meaning, which is what the Sunnah asks for. The Prophet ﷺ said: "The most beloved of your names to Allah are Abdullah and Abdur-Rahman",³ and after these, any name with a good meaning is a sound choice. With the father's name it becomes Hashim bin (and the father's name): see what bin, bint and abu mean.

Famous people named Hashim

• Hashim ibn Abd Manaf, great-grandfather of the Prophet ﷺ

Names like Hashim

• Hisham
• Abbas
• Hamza

1. Sahih Muslim 2139, the Prophet ﷺ changing a name with a bad meaning.
2. Sahih Muslim 2315.
3. Sahih Muslim 2132.
4. Meanings follow classical Arabic usage and the standard name dictionaries; our teachers will check each one.

Our teachers will check the Arabic spelling and meaning on this page before launch.