Salah, name meaning in Islam.

Salah (صَلَاح) is an Arabic name for boys. It means righteousness. Salah (صلاح) is a different word from salah (صلاة), the prayer.

Meaning and root

In Arabic, words are built from a root of usually three letters. Salah comes from the root ص ل ح, and words from the same root share its core meaning. Similar names from the same family of words are listed below.

Is Salah in the Quran?

No. Salah 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 Salah

Say it sa-LAAH. The capital letters show the stressed part. In English it is also spelled Salaah and Salahuddin. In Arabic it is written with 4 letters, from right to left: ص ṣad + ل lam + ا alif + ح ḥa.

Choosing Salah

Salah 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 Salah bin (and the father's name): see what bin, bint and abu mean.

Famous people named Salah

• Salah ad-Din al-Ayyubi, who freed Jerusalem in 1187

Names like Salah

• Salih
• Saliha
• Rashad

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.