Postby grandpakhalif » Wed Jul 31, 2013 12:47 pm
" As for a kunyah, if it is good, it can have an effect on an individual. It also serves as an honor to the one holding it. A poet once said: 'I use his kunya when calling him in order to honor him, and I don't use his laqab (ascription) since that is shameful.'
A kunyah is an appellation that is preceded by either an Abu or an Umm, such as Abu so and so or Umm so and so. A laqab (i.e. nickname) is a term by which one comes to understand a specific description about a person. In most cases, it is used for negative reasons so this is why a kunyah is considered an honorable appellation even for a child.
The prophet (s) referred to Abu Umair by his kunya even when he was young, as he (s) would joke with him saying: 'O Abu Umair, what happened to the nughair?' (al Bukhari).
Umar bin Al Khattab (r) said: "Hasten to give kunyahs to your children before bad nicknames are given to them" (Al-Adaab-Ush-Shar'iyyah of Ibn Muflih (1/480))"
-Taken from "Raising Children in the Light of the Quran and Sunnah" by Abdus-Salam bin'Abdullah As-Sulayman