Ahmad (a name of the Prophet, and a personal name)

Ahmad is one of the names of the Prophet and a personal name used by Muslims. It is an elative of hamd, "praise", and the Qur'an links it with the announcement by Jesus of a messenger named Ahmad.

Formally Ahmad is the elative of Mahmud or Hamid, meaning "more, or most, worthy of praise". As a personal name it is distinct from related forms such as Muhammad. The basis of its use in Islam is a verse of the Qur'an in which Jesus, son of Mary, announces a messenger after him whose name is Ahmad. There is no obvious parallel in the New Testament. Some suggested that Ahmad is a corruption of the Greek paraklētos, "the Paraclete" of John's Gospel, but the article judges this impossible on textual grounds. Muslims did apply the prophecy of the Paraclete to Muhammad before the middle of the second century AH, while the names Mahmud, Hamid and Humayd were in use in the first century. The use of Ahmad as a personal name appears only from about 125/740, and the hesitation over the name is explained by its form as an elative. ¹