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:

Assalam-alaikum, I was a non muslim before marriage and i converted to islam as i had to perform nikah with my muslim husband to get married. The cleric advised me to get my name changed while changing the religion and i changed my name completely to a muslim name including my first name which was a non-muslim name. now i am having difficulty with my present name as my previous name is recorded in all my educational and jobs, including my bank documents and other legal documents. i have to produce the conversion certificate everytime to prove my previous name. is it possible in islam to preserve the first name(which is non-muslim) and add the last name of my husband in my name? does islam has any restrictions in such a case? please provide me an answer in full detail for this question.

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Answer:

Revert change 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.

A name assigned to each individual is no more than a sign or recognition of that person; and there is absolutely no obligation or compulsion in Shariah that a believer is obliged or required to keep a ‘traditional’ Islamic or ‘muslim’ name. One is at complete liberty to assign any good wholesome name to their off-spring in absolutely any language they will or please.

The only names which Islam prohibits from assigning to a believer are names which connote or denote polytheism or disbelief (Abdul-Lat, Abdul-Uzza, (slaves of the pagan gods like Lat and Uzza, etc.) or names like Ramdas (slave of the Hindu god Ram), etc.; or names which have an inherit evil or vile meaning.

Other than names which connote polytheism and disbelief, or names which have an inherently evil meaning….Islam has allowed the believers the complete freedom to chose and assign any good wholesome name in any language they will and please.

Most of the companions of the Prophet (saws) who accepted Islam kept the names assigned to them by their disbelieving parents, and the Prophet (saws) did not change them or order them to be changed unless and until the name had an inherent evil meaning or was associated with ‘shirk’ or disbelief.

Your Question: ….is it possible in islam to preserve the first name(which is non-muslim) and add the last name of my husband in my name? does islam has any restrictions in such a case?

Thus my respected sister, if the maiden name assigned to you at birth does not connote shirk or disbelief, or does not have an inherent evil meaning…..you are at absolute liberty in Islam to be called and recognized by that name. Thus for example if your maiden name assigned to you at birth was something like ‘Kavita’, or ‘Kiran’, or ‘Rani’, etc….there is absolutely no harm and no restriction whatsoever in Islam if you chose to keep and be recognized by your maiden name.

Your Question: ……and add the last name of my husband in my name?

Allah Says in the Holy Quran Chapter 33 Surah Ahzaab verses 4-5:

4 Allah has not made for any man two hearts in his (one) body: nor has He made your wives whom ye divorce by Zihar your mothers: nor has He made your adopted sons your sons. Such is (only) your (manner of) speech by your mouths. But Allah tells (you) the Truth and He shows the (right) Way.

5 Call them by (the names) of their fathers: that is juster in the sight of Allah but if ye know not their father's (names call them) your ‘Brothers in faith’ or your ‘maulas’. But there is no blame on you if ye make a mistake therein: (what counts is) the intention of your hearts: and Allah is Oft-Returning Most Merciful.

Respected Sister in Islam, Islam guides that one always be recognized and called by the name of their biological father, absolutely regardless of whether their father is a believer or a disbeliever. A wife in Islam is neither supposed to nor allowed to add her husband’s name to her own, for she has the right to maintain the identity she was born with.

There could have been no bigger fortune or honor for the noble and chaste wives of the Prophet Mohamed (saws) to be recognized by their husband’s (saw’s) name; but Hadrat Aisha (r.a.) was, is, and will always be called by her father’s name Aisha (binte) Abu Bakr (r.a.), Hadrat Hafsa (a.s.) was, is, and will always be recognized as Hafsa (binte) Umar (r.a.), etc.

To add her husband’s name to her own after marriage is a part of the pagan culture and absolutely alien and prohibited for a believing woman who sincerely fears Allah and the Last Day.

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