If a person not referring to himself and not knowing the meaning of what he is saying says my name is avatar, does this constitute kufr.

In the name of Allāh, Most Gracious, Most Merciful

Assalāmu ῾alaykum wa Rahmatullāhi Wabarakātuh

Avatar is a concept adopted by common Hindus. Avatar is a Sanskrit idiom where “Av” means “Down” and “Tr” means “Passover”. Therefore Avatar means to descend down or to tumble down. Avatar in the oxford Dictionary is, “(In Hindu Mythology) the descent of a deity or released soul to earth in bodily form”.

Hindu believes that God comes down to the earth in some bodily form to protect the religion, to set an example or to set the rules for human beings.

On the other hand an avatar is a computer user's representation of himself/herself whether in the form of a three-dimensional model used in computer games, a two-dimensional icon (picture) or a one-dimensional username used on Internet forum and other communities, or a text construct found on early systems. The term "avatar" can also refer to the personality connected with the screen name, or handle, of an Internet user.

However your statement will not constitute kufr as you did not have the intention to commit kufr, other than that, one should refrain from calling himself such gross name.

And Allāh Ta῾āla Knows Best

Wassalāmu ῾alaykum

Ml. Mohammad Ashhad bin Said

Correspondence Iftā Student, Mauritius

Checked and Approved by:

Mufti Ebrahim Desai
Dārul Iftā