{"id":2695,"date":"2013-05-06T18:05:12","date_gmt":"2013-05-06T18:05:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.bakkah.net\/en\/?p=2695"},"modified":"2020-12-04T20:36:16","modified_gmt":"2020-12-05T00:36:16","slug":"common-mistakes-replacing-the-fathers-name-or-the-family-name","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bakkah.net\/en\/common-mistakes-replacing-the-fathers-name-or-the-family-name.htm","title":{"rendered":"Common Mistakes: Replacing the Father’s Name or the Family Name"},"content":{"rendered":"

In the Name of Allaah, the Most Merciful, the Ever Merciful…<\/em><\/p>\n

A common mistake made in the West is\u00a0when new Muslims are instructed\u00a0to change their family names, or to change, replace, or abandon their fathers’ names. For example, a new Muslim named “Joe Smith”, whose father’s name is Michael,\u00a0may be advised to change his name to “Abdullaah Muhammad al-Amreekee”. Often, without the right guidance,\u00a0a new Muslim may\u00a0be inclined against\u00a0his family’s name and want to\u00a0free himself of it.\u00a0He may even feel this is required or encouraged in Islam!<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

In reality, from the most basic human needs preserved in all the\u00a0divine religions\u00a0throughout history\u00a0is the preservation of the people’s ancestry.\u00a0Islam, as the culmination of all previous revelations, gives this matter the utmost urgency, as our Lord\u00a0orders us:<\/p>\n

\u0627\u062f\u0652\u0639\u064f\u0648\u0647\u064f\u0645\u0652 \u0644\u0650\u0622\u0628\u0627\u0626\u0650\u0647\u0650\u0645\u0652 \u0647\u064f\u0648\u064e \u0623\u064e\u0642\u0652\u0633\u064e\u0637\u064f \u0639\u0650\u0646\u0652\u062f\u064e \u0627\u0644\u0644\u0651\u064e\u0647\u0650<\/h2>\n

“Call them by their fathers’ <\/strong>(names), it is\u00a0more just with Allaah” <\/strong>[33:5]<\/p>\n

A Muslim is required to keep his father’s\u00a0name, as well as\u00a0his family name. This\u00a0Islaamic manner of naming is so important that the Messenger of Allaah (may Allaah raise his rank and grant him peace) warned those who replace their fathers’ names with a\u00a0very serious consequence:<\/p>\n

\u0645\u064e\u0646\u0650 \u0627\u062f\u0651\u064e\u0639\u064e\u0649 \u0625\u0650\u0644\u064e\u0649 \u063a\u064e\u064a\u0652\u0631\u0650 \u0623\u064e\u0628\u0650\u064a\u0647\u0650\u060c \u0648\u064e\u0647\u064f\u0648\u064e \u064a\u064e\u0639\u0652\u0644\u064e\u0645\u064f \u0623\u064e\u0646\u0651\u064e\u0647\u064f \u063a\u064e\u064a\u0652\u0631\u064f \u0623\u064e\u0628\u0650\u064a\u0647\u0650\u060c \u0641\u064e\u0627\u0644\u0652\u062c\u064e\u0646\u0651\u064e\u0629\u064f \u0639\u064e\u0644\u064e\u064a\u0652\u0647\u0650 \u062d\u064e\u0631\u064e\u0627\u0645\u064c<\/h2>\n

“Whoever ascribes himself to someone other than his <\/strong>(real) father, knowing that he is not his <\/strong>(real) father, Paradise is forbidden for him!”<\/strong> [al-Bukhaaree and Muslim]<\/p>\n

We see clearly that changing one’s\u00a0name\u00a0in a way that replaces\u00a0the father’s and\/or family’s names with other names is absolutely forbidden, and\u00a0we must not mislead new\u00a0Muslims into\u00a0major sins that\u00a0harm\u00a0their family relationships and\u00a0alienate\u00a0them from\u00a0their parents and immediate family members<\/strong>. Accepting Islaam within a non-Muslim family\u00a0often comes with\u00a0a long list of very difficult personal challenges. A new Muslim often opposes the core religious views of his closest family members. In the middle of this, an unnecessary and impermissible name just makes matters more difficult and misrepresents the Religion.<\/p>\n

If “Joe Smith” wants to be called “Abdullaah” – that’s fine!\u00a0 He can simply call himself ‘Abdullaah Smith, or ‘Abdullaah ibn Michael Smith al-Amreekee. But he is not allowed to hide or change the name of his father.<\/strong><\/p>\n

NOTE: <\/strong>Calling himself “‘Abdullaah al-Amkreekee” sometimes does not mean that\u00a0he is hiding his family name or his father’s name.\u00a0The problem is when he tells people not<\/strong> to\u00a0call him “Smith” or “ibn Michael”. Now he stands in opposition to\u00a0Allaah’s Legislation.<\/p>\n

Question:<\/strong> What if the father’s name has a meaning that is against Islaam, or he is not happy with the history and heritage of his family?<\/p>\n

Answer:<\/strong> We have the best guidance in the Messenger of Allaah (may Allaah raise his rank and grant him peace), whose grandfather, ‘Abdul-Muttalib,\u00a0was THE name<\/strong> in polytheism. Idol worship at the Kabah in Makkah was widely referred to as “the religion of ‘Abdul-Muttalib”.<\/strong><\/em> Our Messenger (may Allaah raise his rank and grant him peace) hated polytheism\u00a0and freed himself of\u00a0it from the beginning of his mission to his last moments, yet his name remained, as he used to say openly:<\/p>\n

\u0623\u064e\u0646\u064e\u0627 \u0627\u0644\u0646\u0651\u064e\u0628\u0650\u064a\u0651\u064f \u0644\u0627\u064e \u0643\u064e\u0630\u0650\u0628\u0652\u060c \u0623\u064e\u0646\u064e\u0627 \u0627\u0628\u0652\u0646\u064f \u0639\u064e\u0628\u0652\u062f\u0650 \u0627\u0644\u0645\u064f\u0637\u0651\u064e\u0644\u0650\u0628\u0652<\/h2>\n

“I am the Prophet, no lie; I am the (grand)son of ‘Abdul-Muttalib.”<\/strong> [al-Bukhaaree and Muslim]<\/p>\n

Shaykh ‘Abdul-‘Azeez ibn Baaz<\/strong> (may Allaah have Mercy on him) was asked about a person whose father had an objectionable name, and he replied that the name of the father remains as is (as part of\u00a0the son’s name). [Click here for Arabic audio and transcript.]<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

Question:<\/strong> But I thought Muslims are to change bad names to good ones…!?<\/em><\/p>\n

Answer:<\/strong> Yes, this is an established Islaamic manner. However,\u00a0let’s make a difference between your name and other people’s names. You are allowed – maybe even recommended or obliged in some cases – to change your name.\u00a0However, your father is another person.\u00a0If he is alive, perhaps you could convince him to change his own name.\u00a0However, if he has passed or refuses to change his name, then you continue to ascribe to him as he is\/was known.\u00a0 The proof is again the example of our Messenger (may Allaah raise his rank and grant him peace), who continued to refer to himself Ibn ‘Abdil-Muttalib, while names of ta’beed<\/em> (“Abdul-___”) are not permissible except with Allaah’s Names,\u00a0by established scholarly consensus.<\/p>\n

Question:<\/strong> What\u00a0if the new Muslim had been born out of wedlock (from fornication or adultery)?<\/p>\n

Answer:<\/strong> If his mother\u00a0was a married woman at the time of his birth, then he is ascribed to her husband, whether he is the “biological” father or not.\u00a0 This is the verdict of the Messenger of Allaah (may Allaah raise his rank and grant him peace), when he said:<\/p>\n

\u0627\u0644\u0648\u0644\u062f \u0644\u0644\u0641\u0631\u0627\u0634<\/h2>\n

“The child belongs to the bed<\/strong> (i.e. the mother’s husband)“<\/strong> [al-Bukhaaree and Muslim]<\/p>\n

Similarly is the case of\u00a0a\u00a0woman who\u00a0got married with a false\u00a0and invalid marriage contract (thinking it to be correct at the time).\u00a0This child is considered to be from his mother’s husband as well. Rules of naming, inheritance, maintenance, etc. are all based on this, according to the majority of the scholars.<\/p>\n

If he was born to an unwed, divorced [conceived after the finalization of the divorce], or widowed woman [conceived after the death of her husband], then he is not to be ascribed to the biological father, rather he ascribes himself to his mother.<\/p>\n

The Permanent Committee of Scholars<\/strong> in Saudi Arabia, headed by Shaykh ‘Abdul-‘Azeez ibn Baaz<\/strong>,\u00a0stated:<\/p>\n

What is most correct from the positions held by the scholars is that a child (of fornication) does not ascribe to the fornicator (the biological father), unless the intercourse took place based upon a valid contract (which would not be fornication), or an invalid one (that was thought to be valid at the time), or a mistakenly assumed marriage…<\/p>\n

…In such cases the lineage is established through the father, and they mutually inherit from one another. Otherwise, when the intercourse was (purely) fornication, the illegitimate child is not considered the son of\u00a0the fornicator (the\u00a0biological father), nor does he ascribe to him. Thus, he does not inherit from him either.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Source:<\/strong> Fatwaa<\/em> Collection of the Permanent Committee (20\/387). In another similar verdicts, they stated clearly that the child born out of wedlock is ascribed to his mother. (20\/389,\u00a020\/391).<\/p>\n

Additional Encouragement<\/strong><\/h2>\n

When we hear of a Muslim named “‘Abdullaah Smith”<\/strong> we rejoice, because it is a sign that Islaam is spreading.\u00a0It is great news that every Muslim loves to hear. So don’t be ashamed of the non-Muslim family names and hide them, instead use them to spread good news to your brothers and sisters!<\/p>\n

Recommendation for Official Documents<\/h2>\n

It can be very confusing when a person from the West\u00a0travels to the Middle East where the Islaamic naming system is in place, and people named ‘Abdullaah Muhammad are understood to be ‘Abdullaah, the son of Muhammad.\u00a0 In the West, there exists a “middle name” which is\u00a0usually not the name of the person’s\u00a0father. As Muslims, we can use this middle name in an Islaamic way, by naming our children according to the Islaamic system of naming. How is that? ‘Abdullaah ibn Michael Smith can name his son:<\/p>\n

FIRST:<\/strong> ‘Abdur-Rahmaan
\nMIDDLE:<\/strong> Ibn-Abdillaah (or “Bin-Abdillaah”)
\nLAST:<\/strong> Smith<\/p>\n

He could also name his daughter:<\/p>\n

FIRST:<\/strong> Aaishah
\nMIDDLE:<\/strong>\u00a0Bint-Abdillaah
\nLAST:<\/strong> Smith<\/p>\n

However, for the purpose of international travel, he should change his name on his official documents, lest he is asked, “So Joe<\/strong>, where is Abdullaah, the father of your wife’s children?”<\/em><\/p>\n

It is hoped that this information is beneficial and it\u00a0helps\u00a0keep the Muslms properly implement the Islaamic system of names in their lives.<\/p>\n

And Allaah knows best.<\/p>\n

Written by: Moosaa Richardson<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In the Name of Allaah, the Most Merciful, the Ever Merciful… A common mistake made in the West is\u00a0when new Muslims are instructed\u00a0to change their family names, or to change, replace, or abandon their fathers’ names. For example, a new … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[93,85,87,134,96,64,180],"tags":[444,447,446,457,456,458,201,448,459,445,455],"class_list":["post-2695","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-family-life","category-fiqh-islamic-rulings","category-general-reminders","category-inheritance","category-islamic-manners-behavior","category-original-articles","category-questions-answers","tag-changing-names","tag-child-of-zinaa","tag-common-mistakes","tag-fornication","tag-illegitimate-children","tag-inheritance-2","tag-islamic-names","tag-name-changes","tag-naming-children","tag-new-muslims","tag-out-of-wedlock"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bakkah.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2695","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bakkah.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bakkah.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bakkah.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bakkah.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2695"}],"version-history":[{"count":24,"href":"https:\/\/www.bakkah.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2695\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2710,"href":"https:\/\/www.bakkah.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2695\/revisions\/2710"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bakkah.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2695"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bakkah.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2695"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bakkah.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2695"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}