NICKNAME

Arabic nabaz ( نبز‎ ), pl. anbāz . The calling of nicknames is forbidden in the Qurʾān, Sūrah xlix. 11 : “O Believers, let not men laugh men to scorn who haply may be better than themselves. Neither let women laugh women to scorn, who haply may be better than themselves. Neither defame one another, nor call one another by nicknames.” This verse is said to have been given when Ṣafīyah, one of the Prophet’s wives, complained that she had been taunted by the other women with her Jewish origin. Muḥammad answered her, “Canst thou not say, ‘Aaron is my father, Moses is my uncle, and Muḥammad is my husband.’ ” (See al-Baiẓāwī , in loco .) NIFĀQ ( نفاق‎ ). Hypocrisy, or profe ing with the lips to believe and hiding infidelity in one’s heart. ( Kitābu ʾt-Taʿrīfāt , in loco .) NIFĀS ( نفاس‎ ). The condition of a woman after the birth of a child, during which period she is unclean and is not permitted to perform the usual prayers. According to the Sunnīs, it is a period of forty days, but according to the Shīʿahs, only ten. NIGHT JOURNEY OF MUḤAMMAD. [ MIʿRAJ .]