Qasim — Name Meaning in Islam

Root: ق-س-م (q-s-m), "to divide, to apportion". Qāsim is the active participle: the one who divides a thing out, who apportions shares — a distributor of what is held in common, and by extension one whose hand is open because what he holds he parcels out.

From the same root: qism (a portion, a section), qisma (an allotted share — the source of the Turkish kısmet), maqsam (a place or point of division), taqsīm (division, apportioning), aqsām (parts), and, in a second branch, qasam (an oath) and aqsama (to swear), since an oath was understood as a share pledged. The Qur'an opens several passages with oaths using this root, and qisma appears in an-Najm 53:22 describing an unjust division.

Who carried it: al-Qasim ibn Muhammad, the eldest son of the Prophet ﷺ by Khadija, born in Makkah before the beginning of revelation and died in early childhood. The Prophet's ﷺ own kunya, Abu al-Qasim, is taken from him, which is why the name is heard so often in Muslim families.

Spellings: Qasim, Kasim, Kasım (Turkish), Qasim or Kasim (Indonesian), Qasim (Urdu), Kacem or Kassem (French and Maghrebi), قاسم.

Pronunciation: QĀ-sim, stress on the first syllable. The opening qāf is not an English k: it is formed further back, against the uvula, and gives the vowel after it a deep, dark colour.

Feminine counterpart: Qasima, uncommon.