Mu' meneen Brothers and Sisters,

As Salaam Aleikum wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuh. (May Allah's Peace, Mercy and Blessings be upon all of you)

One of our brothers/sisters has asked this question:

As-salam-oalikum,
pls sort out this part of my life am very disturb..

Am an engineer and i joined my office around 16 months back...Here there was my male collegue,he was very friendly and good i too was as normal as rest with him..one fine day he told me that his mother married a mulim man and is converted to islam just after his fathers death..
he has 2 younger brothers.when he was 10yr old his mom married his step dad who is a muslim and she too is a muslim now..but all his brothers and himself have hindu names in thr respective certificates...
he lived with his maternal grnama whole his life now she is dead, he said tht he want to send his parents for hajj and all tht.i said u can do it now too...

but suddenly after few days he proposed to me and said he wants to convert to islam and wanted my help in it cos he was hesitant to tell his parents bout this...

i was impressed by his loyalty in islam and respected his emotions and with great difficulty made my mother agree for it...later now his parents are happy, they ame to see me and agreed for wedding too..

my problem started now when his brothers came here for job...i realised now that they too have hindu names and he too have been practising the same name..

they go for namaz once in blue moon and he too goes for namaz once in a while...i am very regular in my prayers and my family has a very clear cut reputation in our community..i always tell him to change his name as per his affidavit so that we can lead our lives normarrly as muslims,,,,he gets annoyed by my talks...he tells your relatives wont come to work place and ask name, and i cant force everyone to call me by my muslim name as all r set to my old name...yesterday he said money is important than reputation...i told him to leave job.he tells i should not interfere in his career...am very depressed..i cry lots in my prayers but i have lot of hope over allah that he will workout something...my mother is very old and wants me to get settled fast if i refuse to get marry with him she will get hurt emotionally cos all my relatives know that am marrying him...but none know that he is born hindu becaus my mom has only told them that his mom is a hindu...am very depressed.

i want to know that whtr this wedding is valid in islam and if yes then some solution to my problem as soon as possible...

i left my career because of him,i supported him so much in his low times now hwn am telling good he is mistaking me...am very depressed..his dad tells me to adjust but somehow am worried bout my future will be islamic am worried if someone points finger over my mom cos of me...am very confused and depressed..

thank u

Allah hafiz 

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Answer:

Revert with hindu name

In the name of Allah, We praise Him, seek His help and ask for His forgiveness. Whoever Allah guides none can misguide, and whoever He allows to fall astray, none can guide them aright. We bear witness that there is none worthy of worship but Allah Alone, and we bear witness that Muhammad (saws) is His slave-servant and the seal of His Messengers.

Dear and beloved Sister in Islam, first and foremost, a name is but a sign of recognition of that individual….and unless one has a name which denotes ‘shirk’ or ‘kufr’ (like Abdul-Laat, Abdul-Uzza, or Ramdaas, etc.), or the name has an inherent evil meaning…..one is not required or obliged to change their name when one reverts to Islam. One does not become a ‘muslim’ by changing one’s name, but one becomes a muslim if one declares one’s belief in the Absolute Oneness of Allah Subhanah and the appointment of His Last and Final Messenger, Mohamed ar-Rasool Allah (saws).

Thus sister, if the brother who has proposed marriage to you has declared his belief in Islam but has a ‘hindu’ name, and that name itself does not denote ‘shirk’ or disbelief, nor does the name have an inherent evil meaning….there is absolutely no harm if the brother wishes to hold on or keep his assigned name.

The truth sister is that most of the noble companions who accepted the call of the Messenger of Allah (saws) and reverted to Islam kept their assigned maiden names; Umar, Uthmaan, Hudaifah, Zayed, Ammar, Yaasir, Bilaal, etc….....these were names that were assigned at birth by their disbelieving parents and they kept their assigned names even after they accepted Islam.

Your Question: ….i want to know that whtr this wedding is valid in islam and if yes then some solution to my problem as soon as possible...

As long as the brother who has proposed to you has declared the ‘shahaadah’ or testification of faith in the Absolute Oneness of Allah Subhanah and the appointment of Prophet Mohamed (saws) as the Last and Final Messenger of Allah….that person will be a legal muslim in the Sight of Shariah Law, and all the rights that are due to a believer will be accorded to him in full.

Provided all the obligatory conditions of an Islamic ‘nikaah’ are honored, the marriage itself will be legal, lawful, and valid in the Sight of Shariah Law.

Al-Tirmidhi Hadith 3090 Narrated by Abu Hurayrah

Allah's Messenger (saws) said, 'When someone with whose religion and character you are satisfied asks your daughter in marriage, accede to his request. If you do not do so, there will be temptation on earth and extensive corruption.'

Although it would technically be legal and lawful to marry a non-practicing ‘muslim’, one who chooses to do so puts oneself and one’s salvation in the Hereafter in a severe trial! Beloved Sister, as much as you might have agreed to accept the proposal of marriage from the revert brother in good faith, if you are not completely satisfied with his character and his practice of the deen of Islam….perhaps it would be best if you broke the ‘engagement’ and sought to marry a person with whose character and religion you are completely satisfied with.

Whatever written of Truth and benefit is only due to Allah’s Assistance and Guidance, and whatever of error is of me alone. Allah Alone Knows Best and He is the Only Source of Strength.

Your brother and well wisher in Islam,

Burhan