Jamila, name meaning in Islam

Jamila (جَمِيلَة) is an Arabic name for girls. It means beautiful. The Asiyah in that hadith is عاصية, "disobedient", not Asiyah (آسية), the righteous wife of Pharaoh.

Meaning and root

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

Is Jamila in the Quran?

No. Jamila 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 Jamila

Say it ja-MEE-lah. The capital letters show the stressed part. In English it is also spelled Jameela and Jamilah. In Arabic it is written with 5 letters, from right to left: ج jim + م mim + ي ya + ل lam + ة ta marbuta.

Choosing Jamila

Many parents choose Jamila to name their child after someone from the early generations of Islam, hoping the child will grow up with the same qualities. With the father's name it becomes Jamila bint (and the father's name): see what bin, bint and abu mean.

Famous people named Jamila

• A daughter of Umar ibn al-Khattab, whose name the Prophet ﷺ changed from Asiyah (disobedient) to Jamilah (Sahih Muslim)

Names like Jamila

• Jamil
• Hasna
• Wasima

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.