A Saudi cleric has come under fire on social media for saying that giving children foreign "un-Islamic" names is unacceptable in Islam.

Earlier this week, Abdullah Al Maneh was asked on television on the Islamic position of giving children foreign names.

"This is a matter that should not happen, it is unacceptable. This is the result of a feeling of inadequacy. A Muslim should feel proud, proud of himself and his religion, proud of his society."

The cleric added, "he should name his children names of people that have benefited Islam like Abu Bakr, Umar, Uthman, Ali, Aisha, Zaynab, Roqaya and so forth. Or they can be names that are native to his country and known."

"If parents give their child a foreign name, it will have a negative effect on their child, and their child will feel compelled later on to change it to a name they can be proud of," he said.

The video sparked controversy online

Is Islam specific to only Arabs? Are the names of non-Arab Muslims unacceptable in Islam?

You can only use the term 'unacceptable' if it has been forbidden in the Quran or Sunnah (teachings of the prophet)

Till when will ignorance persist in our society, everything is unacceptable. (Bring forth your proof if you are truthful), where is your Islamic evidence to the statement? Those who have nothing to do practise passing judgements

When there’s nothing else to talk about…

Earlier in the year, Saudi Arabia's Civil Status Department barred a father from naming his daughter Ivanka - after the American president's daughter - explaining that the authority bans names it deems unacceptable under Islamic Sharia or "socially unacceptable" in the kingdom.