Praise be to Allah.
‘Uzayr is a Jewish name but it is mentioned in the Qur’aan in the context of condemning the Jews, when Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning):
“And the Jews say: ‘Uzayr (Ezra) is the son of Allaah, and the Christians say: Messiah is the son of Allaah. That is their saying with their mouths…” [al-Tawbah 9:30]
Al-Haafiz ibn Katheer (may Allaah have mercy on him) said in al-Bidaayah wa’l-Nihaayah: “The well known view is that ‘Uzayr was one of the Prophets of the Children of Israel.” On this basis there is nothing wrong with calling him ‘Uzayr, so long as there is no inclination of the heart towards the Jews, and so long as one is not influenced by them because of being their neighbour. The scholarly differences as to whether ‘Uzayr was actually a Prophet or not are well known.
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