📝 A rant on Minajael’s name & etymology.
Minajael is a complete nothing-burger of a name. It holds absolutely no meaning, and it is evident they just came up with it from Jasmine’s name (Minajael’s Disney counterpart). Minajael -> Jasmine
I am disappointed in this, as they could’ve used an already existent Arabic/South-Asian name instead of whatever this monstrosity is. Jamil Viper was already bad enough, but his first name, Jamil, is a widespread name of Arabic origin. At least it actually exists and means something. (Handsome. It means ‘Handsome’, to those of you that are calling him chopped.)
Kalim Al-Asim? Absolutely fine, an actual Arabic name with meaning and history. Kalim and Jamil, both equally satiating names. But ‘Minajael’? I am shaking my head real hard.
An alternative I propose to that, is Minhajul (written as منهاج). Similar sounding, and a name that actually exists.
The name itself is predominantly in both Middle-Eastern & South-Asian cultures, with it holding Arabic origins as well as Bangladeshi and other South-Asian countries.
Its Arabic counterpart most commonly is translated to “The path of guidance”. In Islam, it is associated with the importance of seeking God’s guidance to following the right path. And it is definitely a name with strong religious connotations. In more South-Asian households, people state it can mean “The lord provides”, but I am not sure on this one myself as it is from a single Indian source. Minhajul is a name that is also present in Islamic poetry, with it appearing in ones holding themes of moral guidance.
But keep in mind! Writing the name as ‘Minhaj’ is more advised, as the ‘ul’ manifests to replace ‘Al-‘ if ‘Al-‘ is present after ‘Minhaj’. This is a common mistake I see many people making! Shortening it to ‘Minhaj’ will change the meaning to simply ‘path’ or ‘way’, as ‘Minhaj’ is a root noun. In simpler terms, Minhaj + 'Ul' from the 'Al' of the NEXT word.
For his last name, Tealrajah, I simply have no comments to provide for this one. It is very obvious they put little thought into it merely combining ‘Teal’ (a color) and ‘Rajah’ (meaning, ‘king’ or ‘ruler’) together.
I have a simple alternative to this, and that is ‘Al-Rajah’. Most of you may be familiar with the ‘Al-‘ already, and it is used as ‘Son of’. For example, if I put ‘Rashid’ after it, it would translate to ‘Son of Rashid.’
So with ‘Rajah’, it would mean ‘Son of Rajah’. With the more literal translation being, ‘Son of (the) King’. Which is also quite literally, what Minhajul (Minajael) is.
In summary, I propose ‘Minhaj Al-Rajah’ as an alternative to Minajael Tealrajah, as it is more appropriate and holds less orientalism. Orientalism is a major thing that plagues everything inspired by Aladdin in TWST, as Aladdin itself was very much orientalist of South-Asian and Swana cultures.
TIP: Minhaj Al-Rajah would be more accurate pronounced ‘Minhaj AR-Rajah’ as the ‘L’ is silent with the Arabic writing system. You are completely fine writing it as ‘Minhaj Ar-Rajah’ too. For more info on how the 'L' is silent, check the comments.
Thank you for coming to my ted-talk. I am very much open to discussions as well as additions & corrections in the comments! As long as you hold manners and are polite.
