Mubarak (name)

For the Hebrew name, see Barak (given name).

Mubarak (Arabic: مبارك‎‎, Mubārak) is an Arabic given name. A variant form is Baraka or Barack (Arabic: بارك‎‎, Bārak), analogous to the Hebrew name Barak— ברךּ— meaning "knee" or "kneeling" derived from common Semitic roots for the concept of kneeling in praise/to receive a blessing.^[1] Mubarak and Barack are thus the Arabic and Hebrew equivalent in meaning of the Latinate word "Benedict" (from Benedictus (disambiguation) "blessed" or, literally, "well-spoken").

Etymologically, the name is from the consonantal root B-R-K, meaning "knee", and verbally "to prostrate oneself", and hence "to receive blessing". The feminine noun barakah (بركة) means "blessing". In Islam, and specifically within the Sufi tradition, it has a meaning similar to "charisma". The Hebrew cognate is berakhah.

The Biblical name Baruch is the Hebrew cognate; see Book of Baruch for an instance of the name.

The name is sometimes written differently in different countries; for example, the last name of singer Shakira (a Lebanese-Colombian) is Mebarak.

When an Arabic name is used in other languages, the patronymic is often rendered as a last name. In other contexts, Mubarak is a proper last name (e.g., cricket player Jehan Mubarak).

Given name

• Mubarak Awad (21st century), Palestinian-American psychologist
• Mubarak Begum (21st century), Indian film singer
• Mubarak Ali Gilani (21st century), Pakistani Sufi
• Mubarak Khan (died 1321), regent of Khilji Dynasty
• Mubarak Al-Sabah (1837–1915), ruler of Kuwait
• Mubarak Hassan Shami (born 1980), Kenyan-born Qatari long-distance runner
• Mubarak Shah (circa 1252–1266), Chagatai khan

Surname

• Ahmad Awad Bin Mubarak (born 1968), prime minister of Yemen
• Alaa Mubarak (21st century), Egyptian businessman
• Ali Pasha Mubarak (1823–1893), Egyptian public works and education minister
• Gamal Mubarak (born 1963), Egyptian politician
• Hosni Mubarak, the former president of Egypt
• Jehan Mubarak (born 1981), American-born Sri Lankan cricketer
• Suzanne Mubarak (born 1941), former first lady of Egypt
• Shakira Isabel Mebarak Ripoll, known as Shakira, an entertainer
• Wakaso Mubarak, Ghanaian footballer
• Muntaka Mohammed Mubarak, Ghanaian Member of Parliament (April 2005-)

See also

• Barak (disambiguation)
• Barakah
• Baraka (disambiguation)

References

1. Murtonen, Aimo (1986). "The List of Roots". In Hospers, J. H. Hebrew in Its West Semitic Setting: A Comparative Survey of Non-Masoretic Hebrew Dialects and Traditions. One. Leiden: E. J. Brill. p. 121. ISBN 9789004088993. OCLC 642924284. Retrieved 2 June 2013.