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It is a common act seen across many cultures that women change their surname from father’s to their husband’s surname after marriage. This is widely practiced throughout the world and Muslims have also adopted it. But, how many of you are aware that it is not permissible for a woman (after marriage to change her surname from her father to that of her husband? Example, before marriage she was “Fatima maqsood Ali” and after marriage to Sajid Siddique, she changes to “Fatima Sajid Siddique” or just “Fatima Sajid”.
It is not permissible for a woman to take her husband’s name or his family name because that is attributing oneself to someone other than one’s father, and imitating the kuffaar from whom this custom was adopted.
Allah says in Surah Ahzaab, ayah 5:
ادْعُوهُمْ لِآبَائِهِمْ هُوَ أَقْسَطُ عِندَ اللَّـهِ ۚ فَإِن لَّمْ تَعْلَمُوا آبَاءَهُمْ فَإِخْوَانُكُمْ فِي الدِّينِ وَمَوَالِيكُمْ ۚوَلَيْسَ عَلَيْكُمْ جُنَاحٌ فِيمَا أَخْطَأْتُم بِهِ وَلَـٰكِن مَّا تَعَمَّدَتْ قُلُوبُكُمْ ۚ وَكَانَ اللَّـهُ غَفُورًا رَّحِيمًا ﴿٥﴾
“Call them (adopted sons) by (the names of) their fathers, that is more just with Allaah…” [al-Ahzaab 33:5]
There are some very stern warnings regarding this from Allah and his Prophet (pbuh). Read below:
“(وقال النبي صلى الله عليه وسلّم : مَنْ انْتَسَبَ إِلَى غَيْرِ أَبِيهِ .. فَعَلَيْهِ لَعْنَةُ اللَّهِ وَالْمَلائِكَةِ وَالنَّاسِ أَجْمَعِينَ (رواه ابن ماجة ,كتاب الحدود,2707 وهو في صحيح الجامع 6104”
The Prophet (pbuh) said: “Whoever calls himself by other than his father’s name (or attributes himself to someone other than his father), will be cursed by Allaah, the angels and all the people.” (Reported by Ibn Maajah, Book of punishments, 2707)
Further more,
It was narrated that Sa’d ibn Abi Waqqaas and Abu Bakrah said: The Messenger of Allaah (pbuh) said: “Whoever claims after having become Muslim to belong to someone who is not his father, knowing that he is not his father, Paradise will be forbidden to him.” [Bukhaari 4072 and Muslim 63]
A related hadith that supports this argument although referring to male:
روى البخاري (3508) ومسلم (61) عَنْ أَبِي ذَرٍّ رَضِيَ اللَّهُ عَنْهُ أَنَّهُ سَمِعَ النَّبِيَّ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ يَقُولُ : لَيْسَ مِنْ رَجُلٍ ادَّعَى لِغَيْرِ أَبِيهِ وَهُوَ يَعْلَمُهُ إِلَّا كَفَرَ وَمَنْ ادَّعَى قَوْمًا لَيْسَ لَهُ فِيهِمْ فَلْيَتَبَوَّأْ مَقْعَدَهُ مِنْ النَّارِ
Narrated from Abu Dharr (ra) that he heard the Prophet (pbuh) say: “Any man who knowingly attributes himself to someone other than his father is guilty of kufr. Whoever claims to belong to a people when he has nothing to do with them, let him take his place in Hell.” [Bukhari 3508 and Muslim 61]
It is not permitted for anyone to claim to belong to anyone other than his father. Imitating the kuffaar by dropping the wife’s surname and giving her the husband’s name is prohibited (haraam); it is also a form of falsehood, and humiliation of the woman. There is no blood tie between the husband and wife, so how can she take his surname (or name) as if she is part of the same lineage?
Moreover, she may get divorced, or her husband may die, and she may marry another man. Will she keep changing her surname every time she marries another man? Furthermore, there are rulings attached to her being named after her father, which have to do with inheritance, spending and who is a mahram, etc. Taking her husband’s surname overlooks all that.
The husband is named after his own father, and what does she have to do with the lineage of her husband’s father? This goes against common sense and true facts. The husband has nothing that makes him better than his wife so that she should take his surname, whilst he takes his father’s name.
In many cases it has been seen that the woman is not ready to change the surname and the husband forces her to do so. Who doesn’t love his or her own name given to us by our father?
Anyone who has done this must repent to Allaah and put it right by going back to her father’s name. Please revert back to your fathers lineage or fathers name! Each one of us are accountable for our actions on the Day of Judgement! Don’t obey others to disobey Allah (even if it be your parents or your husband).
May Allah guide us to the right path! Ameen!
Allah knows best!
The following is the Fatwa of Standing committee (IFTA):
Translation of the above Fatwa from IFTA:
Is it permissible for a woman to change her lineage or surname after marriage to her husband’s name or his lineage?
Question: It is common in some countries that a Muslim woman changes her lineage after marriage to her husband’s name or his lineage. For example, If Zainab marries Zaid, then is it permissible for her to write her name as “Zainab Zaid” or is it from culture which must be avoided and she must be warned of it?
Answer: It is not permissible for a human to attach lineage other than his father. Allah says “Call them (adopted sons) by (the names of) their fathers, that is more just with Allah”, and stern warning has come regarding changing the lineage to other than father. And based on this, it is not permitted for a woman to change her lineage after marriage to her husband as is done among the Kuffaar and those who imitate them from amongst the Muslims. With Allah is guidance and peace and blessings of Allah be upon our prophet.
The Permanent committee of Scholarly Research and Ifta: Shaykh Bin Baaz, Shaykh bin Uthaymeen and Shaykh Naseerudding Al Albani.
Here we also present to you an answer given on Dr Farhat Hashmi’s site:
***Start of Answer***
“In our eagerness to copy the West, we Muslims have adopted many of their practices which have no basis in the Sharee’ah. And among them is the practice of a woman changing her family name to that of her husband after she gets married.
The fact is that Islam does not require woman to change her name at marriage and there is nothing in the Sunnah to indicate that a woman should take her husband’s name after she gets married.
Actually, the Ulama tell us that this is an innovated practice that is not approved of in Islaam. Now, I know some people will say…“ Oh, come on…What is the big deal?!!” So read on and you will know what I mean….
The wives of the Prophet (Sal Allaahu Alaiyhi wa Sallam) are the Mothers of the Believers, and the Prophet (Sal Allaahu Alaiyhi wa Sallam), is the noblest of people and the best example. And yet when we look at their example, we will realize that when the Prophet(Sal Allaahu Alaiyhi wa Sallam) married any of his wives, NOT ONE of them took his name. On the contrary, each one of them kept her father’s name even if her father was a kaafir. Similarly, the wives of the Sahaabah and those who came after them did not change their names.
Did you ever think why they didn’t do that?
Surely, if it was a good thing, the wives of the Prophet(Sal Allaahu Alaiyhi wa Sallam) would have done it and the Prophet(Sal Allaahu Alaiyhi wa Sallam) would himself have instructed it and encouraged them to do it. That is because it is Allaah’s order to keep your father’s name as an indication of your lineage.
“Call them (adopted sons) by (the names of) their fathers, that is more just with Allaah…” [al-Ahzaab 33:5].
And the Prophet (Sal Allaahu Alaiyhi wa Sallam) said: “Whoever calls himself by other than his father’s
name, will be cursed by Allaah, the angels and all the people.” (Ibn Maajah -Saheeh by al-Albaani).
And he (Sal Allaahu Alaiyhi wa Sallam) also said: “Whoever knowingly claims to belong to anyone other than his father, Paradise will be denied him.” (Ahmad, al-Bukhaari, Muslim).
Now some might argue….“But the woman is not claiming that her father is someone else. She is just honoring her husband or she doesn’t mean it that way. She just wants to belong to her husband out of love for him.”
To those people I say….If it was a matter of honor to have the husbands name attached to the wife’s, wouldn’t our Ummahaat have done that??
Isn’t it the biggest honor in the WORLD to have the name of the Prophet(Sal Allaahu Alaiyhi wa Sallam) attached to yours?? And yet the wives of the Prophet(Sal Allaahu Alaiyhi wa Sallam) didn’t do that. Ever wonder why??
And if it was a matter of expressing love for the husband, no relationship between a husband and wife on the face of this earth was better than the relationship between the Prophet(Sal Allaahu Alaiyhi wa Sallam) and his wives. And yet none of the Mothers of the Believers expressed their love for the Prophet (Sal Allaahu Alaiyhi wa Sallam) by changing their last names.
It doesn’t make any sense. The last name is an indication of the father of the person and represents the person’s lineage.
Shaykh Bakr Abu Zayd said: “This is one of the beauties of Sharee’ah, because calling a person by his father’s name is more appropriate for knowing who is who and telling people apart…..” (Tasmiyat al-Mawlood, 30, 31).
Originally, the woman is ‘the Daughter of So and so’, and NOT ‘the wife of So and so’. Since there is no blood relationship between the husband and wife, how can she take his last name as if she is part of the same lineage?
And surely, she is not claiming that he is her father!!!!
Also what happens if she gets divorced, or her husband dies, and she marries another man? Will she keep changing her surname every time she marries another man?
In addition to this, there are rulings attached to the woman being named after her father, which have to do with her inheritance, spending and who is her mahram, etc. Taking her husband’s last name overlooks all that.
Also, if you think about it, the husband is named after his own father, and what does she have to do with the lineage of her husband’s father? This goes against common sense and true facts.
Besides, the husband has nothing that makes him better than his wife’s father. So why should she give up her father’s name and take her husband’s last name??
And why does the man get to keep his father’s name and not the woman??!!
It just doesn’t make any sense.
So, all you single females out there, don’t be in such a hurry to change your maiden name after you get married. And those of you who have already done that, it is never too late. Take back your maiden name and reclaim your identity. It is part of the Sharee’ah.”
***End of Answer***
Sheikh Muhammed Salih Al-Munajjid said:
“On the basis of the above, there is no blood tie between the husband and wife, so how can she take his surname as if she is part of the same lineage? Moreover, she may get divorced, or her husband may die, and she may marry another man. Will she keep changing her surname every time she marries another man? Furthermore, there are rulings attached to her being named after her father, which have to do with inheritance, spending and who is a mahram, etc. Taking her husband’s surname overlooks all that. The husband is named after his own father, and what does she have to do with the lineage of her husband’s father? This goes against common sense and true facts. The husband has nothing that makes him better than his wife so that she should take his surname, whilst he takes his father’s name. Hence everyone who has gone against this and taken her husband’s name should put matters right. We ask Allaah to put all the affairs of the Muslims right.” (source:http://islamqa.info/en/6241)
Aameen!
noted bhai,,
Something new to learn about
I was shocked thank God i m not yet married else i would have fallen in this trap
Plz correct and inform others also about it..
According to my small knowledge I think all these hadees referenced here are taken in wrong sense. I accept it may be a part of Hindu culture which is wrong to change the woman’s name after marriage but it may not be haraam. I believe nobody is attributing that she belongs to her husband after changing her name. It is just a part of culture to convey that she has married to so and so man which is logically wrong as you explained above. But still her fathers name remains there in “fathers name”column everywhere. We have adopted so many such wrong cultures which we have to get corrected according to Islam. But we have to be very careful before stating them “Haraam”. Please correct me if I am wrong, I apologies if I hurt anybody.
Unless we don’t discuss this with ulema we cant declare as haraam or kufr…may be we are taking it in other way..lets clear it first with kaamil e hadees or mufti then come to the conclusion. ..
Dear brother Parvez,
Quran and Ahadith has to be understood in the way it has been explained by Prophet (pbuh) and the Sahahbah. It should not be taken as per our common sense and how we perceive it to be. This is where we generally go wrong. We try to take out meaning ourselves inclining towards certain mindset which leads to a similar result causing division in Islam. The real Islam is to understand the texts of Shariah as per how Prophet (pbuh) or Sahahbah explained….Now, how do you define something that is haram in Islam? Any act which holds us responsible on the Day of Judgement comes under Haraam. So any act for which you are entitled for punishment from Allah is a Haraam act………..Now, in simple words, how do we identify such acts? It is very simple,,,,,Any command given by the prophet (pbuh) from his tongue, commanding us to do it, that becomes an act for which there is accountability. Why? Because Allah says “the Prophet does not speak of his own desire but that it is a Wahi sent to him…” (surah 53,3-4)…..And in several other places Allah confirms that Prophet (pbuh) does not say anything in Islam except what he has been commanded. This is precisely why obeying Prophet (pbuh) is obeying Allah.
If a person has no knowledge of something being haraam, then he is pardoned by Allah till he comes to know about it. The moment he learns it is haraam, then he must abstain. Now the action of haraam is still haraam even if we did not intend it the way it has been described to be Haram. For example, Prophet (pbuh) commanded that the lower garment of men should be above the ankle. In one hadith he said it is haraam because it is sign of takkabbur. In another hadees he also said that even if a person is keeping lower garment below the ankles not because of takkabbur, then also it is haraam. So here we understand that the very action is prohibited, irrespective of our intent. Your Intention does not necessarily make an action Halaal. We cannot say “I drink alcohol at night since i don’t get sleep easily and that i can sleep on time by getting drunk and get up for Fajr”. Here your intention is so good that is to sleep early to get up for Fajr. But this does not make a haraam act halaal
Similarly, even if our intention in changing the name of our wives is not to change the lineage, yet the action remains haraam (as explained above). Moreover, no country in the world makes it obligatory for a woman to change her name as per husbands surname. So, what benefit does she have by doing so? If there is no greater benefit which supersedes this haram act, then one cannot do it. Why doesn’t husband change his surname to wife’s surname? why only vice-versa?? Both logically and Islamically, this act is wrong and Islamically it is haraam, something which is accountable on the Day of Judgment as explained by Prophet (pbuh). All the Salaf of the past, unanimously agree to it being haraam, derived from the above mentioned hadees.
Lastly, We cannot follow a particular thing from the culture if it goes against Islamic Rulings. We are only allowed to follow those aspects of our culture which is according to Islam.
Hope that answers your doubt. And feel free to ask questions, differ or argue, anything done in an Ahsan way is encouraged. Our intention is only to do Dawah with proper Baseerah (sure knowledge)!
Dear Brother Syed Rizwan,
The above ruling is the ruling given by all the Kibair Ulema, kindly check the fatwa above…..And mashallah, nice to know your approach about confirming things from Ulema. May Allah help us achieve that always.
Thanks for such a nice explanation. My argument is not to prove it right. I also accept it to be wrong . It is just not be called as haraam is my argument unless it is proved to be. I agree with you the final action which remains haraam or halal no matter what your intentions are. But you have opened so many other threads here. Anyways I will study in details first inshaAllah.
I am curious to know what do you mean by “attributing ” or ” belongs to” here. I believe neither we call woman with her husband name nor we attribute her to her husband by changing her name. It is just a part of culture which assigns husband name to her to be identified as she is wife of so and so. Even if sometime when we call her with her husbands name like Mrs. So and so. We interpret it as wife of…. Do you mean I can not call a woman as wife of so and so…I am sorry if my argument is irrelevant or fictitious.
Dear brother Parvez,
Sorry if we confused you, however it is proved haraam act from shari texts, hence it is being called as Haraam. There is no doubt in it inshallah.
See, calling “wife of so and so” is entirely different….Here we are talking about changing her lineage name which is referred to as surname. In our culture, we don’t use ibn nor bint,,rather we straight away right the name of father in the end as surname of the woman. Here the idea is to keep intact the family name,,surname of the woman,,connected to her father. If we go by culture, there are many things that can be made halaal in Islam which in reality are not halaal. So our source shall be shari texts, not culture. If something has been commanded, we take it as it is and follow it. This is the real meaning of “Wa samiana wa ataana”,,,that is,,”and we hear and we obey”.
We are not going to argue saying “no actually prophet (pbuh) meant like this,,not like this”. To say this,,we must have evidence from either his life or lives of Sahabah. Since we don’t have anything in this case, we take his command as it is.
Although reasoning can be given to support this command of Prophet (pbuh), we shall not do so because we listen and we obey. The shari text on this are crystal clear. If it wouldn’t have been clear, we would then go into Qiyaas (analogy),,which is next step in Shari ruling. But when command of prophet (pbuh) or Allah is clear infront of us (without there being any text against it or nullifying it), we shall not do Qiyaas in it. Hope explanation is clear,,inshallah
Anyways thanks for sharing…May Allah show us the right path…and give us wisdom to understand it in right way. Ameen…In fact I am shocked after knowing it to be haraam as you mentioned. Because in India it is very common for Muslims as well. Fortunately my wife’s surname is also shaikh which pulled me to be innocent otherwise I would have committed this sin unknowingly.
I came to know about this few years after I had changed my wife’s surname to my family name in her passport. Changing the name again in passport means going thru lot of trouble & formalities in India as well as in the country we live presently. Will it be acceptable if my wife leaves the name as it is in passport and address everywhere else with father’s name? This is a topic which is making me restless for long.
jazak Allah khairan for this information. …which was really new to me especially the word “haraam”
May allah saves us from this unknowingly things,which we suppose to take note of.
Jazak Allahu-Qairan….4 sharing this Information….!!! Truly it was very new to learn…. Need to Follow and create lot more awareness on this….!!!
AS Salaamu Alaikum,
This is avery good article to educate Muslim women,also many women keep two names,example.Latifa Fatima.as per Islamic ruling,the first name is given name,second name should be father name,third name should be grand father name,fourth name should be family name.
It should be Latifa bint……….bin…………Al………..(family)
other wise it will give meaning Latifa bint Fatima bint………Al….. family.That means Latifa born to adulterous Fatima,who do not have marriage.
So Many muslim women contain names having two consecutive women names.
The first name person born to a woman,she don’t know who is her father.
As per your ruling if woman takes husband name beside her,it is also wrong,not only wrong,it gives other meaning.Ex.Fatima Sajid Siddique means Fatima born to Sajid Siddique.Is that she wants. Then what happen to her children? what relationship will be given?
Al Hamdulillah Islam give beautiful meanings to every issue.please fallow the Islamic shariya.
May Allah SWT guide us to fallow his deen and His prophet Muhammed (PBUH)…ameen.
Abdullah Bin Ramchandra bin Limba ReddyBaddam
Dear Brother Abdullah Reddy Baddam,
Yes, so True….However, we would like to point out that a woman can have two names as “First name second name”. The example of this is the name of Prophet’s daugther “Fatima Zahra”. Her complete name was “Fatima Zahra” which is her first name and second name. So if anyone asks her, what is your name, she would say “Fatima Zahra”. If the name is only “Asma”, then she would say “Asma” only. Whatever is before bin, is her own name. That can be two names also. However, the idea of dropping fathers name which is considered as family name or lineage name is dropped and husbands name is put in place. This is wrong.
Allah knows best!
Thanks for giving such a great information.
But I have a question that in India many girls bear name as ‘Khatoon’ and after marriage she becomes ‘Begum’, Is this also haraam? Plase clarify.
Assalamualaikum, Dear Brother Sohail
The name of a woman can be changed or she might change it any time if she thinks that the meaning is not good or if she wants a better name. What we are talking about changing lineage name or family name. What is prohibited is the changing of family name or lineage name or removing fathers name. As for woman’s own name, it can be changed to anything. Because we find few instances in which Prophet (pbuh) changed the name of others because either name was not good etc. So this proves it that changing womans own name has not issues. Hope that answers your question.
Jazak Allah, I got it.
One more question brother. Is joining lineage name is compulsory?
Dear Imran Ali: Asalam o Alaikum
What is your faith about Hazrat Mohammad PBUH as Last Prophet of Allah. Mirzai do not believe that Mohammad PBUH is the last Prophet of Allah. Pl. let me clear, is your institution believe that Mohammad SAW is the last Prophet of Allah?. I am sorry to say that lot of Mirzai websites are destroying Muslims faith by disguising.
Pl. reply me by return mail.
Dear Brother Sohail,
Yes, in the light of the Shari texts, it is important join the lineage name. It is important to identify oneself as to which family he or she belongs to. This has been ordered by prophet (pbuh) to us in the above ahadith. The stern warning against changing the lineage name itself means it is important part of our name.
Jazak Allah Khairan.
Very well elaborated, Jazaak’Allah.. I would surely not gonna change my sir name , no matter what.
Dear Brother Syed Badar,
Our Dawah Organisation is based on the first pillar of Islam “There is no God by Allah, and Muhammad is the slave and messenger of Allah”. Moreover, we have several articles on our site that talk about Prophet Muhammad (pbuh), his life, his seerah. Then what made you believe that we don’t follow him?
How can there be Islam without Prophet (pbuh)? We have also quoted ahadith in our article above. Why would we quote sayings of Prophet (pbuh) if we din’t believe in him.
We believe in Allah and his Prophet (pbuh) and strive to follow the teachings to its core!
Aoa, my nana name is m.sharif, now see, my mother name is tahira mashhood, my mamu name is anjum zaka shahid and khala name is kushnood akhtar…. Father ke colum main m.dharif hi hai or marriage ke baad yahi name rahay. Ye naam nana ne rakhy… Aap batain agar shadi ke baad change hota naam to kia hota? Jahan tak quran main jo likha hai wo mughe yaad aata hai ke Nabi (pbuh) ne hazrat zaid ko adopt kia tha or apna naam dia tab Allah ne farmia ke baap ka naam badla nai ja sakta…. Father ka naam shadi ke baad bi rahta hai magar baat hai last name ki jo ke aksar logo apne bachon ke sath nai lagty jesy ooper main ne kaha or cousin main ie zulifqar is father and daughter name is nida fatima…. Any suggestion?
Walaykumassalam, Dear Usman bhai,
Please go through the above article once again, particularly read what Prophet (pbuh) said in these ahadiths. That should inshallah give answers to your question.
asak,
want to clarify if a girl changes her name completely after marriage like ex. her name was nida fatima and she changed to aliya zahra is it allowed to change her name as she is not changing her lineage name here as it is not there in her name anyway.
secondly if someone converts to islam then he or she changes name completely to muslim name.clarify.
jzk
ASAK,
Thanks for sharing the information which not only will make us eager to know more about Islam(in this particular topic) but also help us in following Islam more correctly.
I have following doubts; hope you can help me with:
1. Is it really about “lineage” I feel giving family surname is more like a culture/custom of person to person and place to place like in some place people add fathers name just to address that so and so is “daughter/son of” or in some place (like in west) they use surname as family “lineage/clan” or even there are cases where son/daughters have completely different surnames not belong to either father or grandfathers?
So why suddenly it becomes compulsory to add lineage as surname which cannot be changed after marraige, in that case even parents who are not giving family lineage name to their children name is also “Haraam”? if its Haram them Prophets PBUH daughter name should have family lineage name as well but as we know Hazrat Fatima’s full name was Fatima Az-Zahra.
Hence if family lineage name is not compulsary to add to name then why it is such a big crime (Haraam) to change it later after marraige?
2. Check below Quran ref:
“Remember when the wife of Imran said: “O my Lord! I have vowed to You what (the child that) is in my womb to be dedicated for Your services (free from all worldly work; to serve Your Place of worship), so accept this, from me. Verily, You are the All-Hearer, the All Knowing.”
Then when she delivered her (child Mary), she said: “O my Lord! I have delivered a female child,” and Allah knew better what she delivered, – “and the male is not like the female, and I have named her Mary, and I seek refuge with You (Allah) for her and for her offspring from Satan, the outcast.”
So her Lord (Allah) accepted her with goodly acceptance. He made her grow in a good manner and put her under the care of Zechariah. Every time he entered Al-Mihrab (a praying place or a private room), he found her supplied with sustenance.
He said: “O Mary! From where have you got this?” She said: “From Allah. Verily, Allah provides sustenance to whom He wills, without limit.”
(Al Quran 3: 33-37)
In Holy Quran mother of Maryam is addressed as “wife of” and not “daughter of” this means that even husband can be used to identify their wives.
3. Anything new coming in religion with such strong words like “Haraam” for things which is not even compulsory to be used in the first place is sure to create differences and groups, which is obviously even bigger issue for us.
Hope Almighty Allah grant us wisdom and help us to see and practice the path of truth.
ths is a simple daawah 4 eveyone, may Allah bless these people who ar try to guide us on the rateous
its a good thing. The rule is best policy for whose need gender equality.This rule gives preference the womens inviduality.
slamalaycom. brod and sis.im coverted to islam.my passport family name my husband cristian.we are legally separation cos he dont want to convert islam . if im getting married muslim man.most change the passport family name? and i put my father surname? but my father cristian. my islam name now is noor. how to make change my name passport my father is cristian.
Assalamu alaikum wa rahmatullaahi wabarakathuhu
While I know that dropping the fathers name and adding on the husbands name is haraam, my question is:
Is it haraam to add your husbands name after your fathers name. For example if Fatima Abdullah gets married to Muhammad cassim, is it wrong of her to refer to her self as Fatima Abdullah Muhammad cassim?
Walaykumassalam wa rahamatullahi wa barkatahu,
Yes brother, it is wrong to add anything in the real name of the woman. The real name of woman includes her name and her fathers lineage. Nothing new can be added as you can understand from the above answer.
Walaykumassalam wa rahmatullaahi wabarakathuhu,
It is it prohibited to add anything new. A woman’s name includes her name and her fathers lineage only. The same goes with a man’s name.
It’s written in fatawa book. Ap ke masail or un ka hal. Writer sheikh yousuf ludhyanwi. That there’s no problem in writting a womans name with her husband name its only an English way. And beside what’s in the hadees it’s about making ur nisbat to some one else other than ur father.and every one while calling a married woman knows that it’s her husband name and not her fathers
Thanks for your comment.
The opinion of the scholar you cited here, although we haven’t checked, but yet if it is correct than it is his single opinion on it. On the other hand, when you read the sharah of above mentioned ahadeeths of all the muhaditheen, it is not permitted to do so in any language because here in the ahadeeth the question is not about language rather it is about how it should be irrespective of the language. So we go by the major and strong opinions of muhaditheen than one scholars opinion.
Jazakallah kher for your guidance. B
Well I don’t see the sharah of all the muhaditheen as you told. It’s only sheikh ibn baaz sheikh Albani and one more. And the jamia. And about the scholar which I mentioned he’s from jamia alama yousuf binnoria which is well known all over pakistan and in other countries as well.
Can you please clarify the nationality of Mr. Abu isaam imran Ali and is this his original name.
Logically it makes sense that girls may not change their names after marriage. The reason being that if she gets divorced she will have to revert to her original name and if she gets married again she will have to change her name again. It can practically become a nightmare. However, calling it haram is something new to me. I must I do not have enough knowledge but must study more than one author to confirm or otherwise.
When a women add name of her husband as a suffix she does not claim that he is her father. If she add Binte then she is attributing as her father. Islam is a simple way of life, pl. do not confuse pople and make it difficult for them. According to my little knowledge and commonsense I see nothing wrong with a woman using her spouse name, The whole matter is wrongly interpreted!
Asslam-o-Alaikum,
Please take some time out and answer me with patience.
taking the hadiths in too literal sense in this explanation. I have my reservations regarding the explanation given.
No where in Islam, it says that the surname of someone must be of his/ her father. For example my friend has name Moizem Butt. Does that mean the name of his father is Butt??? My susar jee’s (and ur khaloo jee) name is Zafar Iqbal. However, Iqbal is not the name of his father. So was he named wrongly??? Is his name Unislamic because he is not being referred to his father by his surname?? By not being referred to someone’s father means that if someone changes the name of his/ her father in the column of Father Name. This is the case with adopted children. You may give them your last name but you can never write your name in place of their father. You have to be referred to as a guardian.
“However, as far as Islam is concerned there is nothing wrong if the wife uses or be referred to with the surname of her husband.
In this context, Dr. Muzammil H. Siddiqi, former President of the Islamic Society of North America, states:
“There is no specific tradition of last name among Muslims. Sometimes the people take the last name of the family (Qurashi, Hashimi), sometimes they take their last name from their profession (Qassab, Najjar), sometimes they take their last name from the city in which they are born (Makki, Madani, Shami, Masri) and many other ways. The proper way in Islam is that the person should be known by his/her name and the name of his/her biological father. It is not required for a woman to take the name of her husband, but it is also not forbidden if she is recognized as the wife of so-and-so.”
Dr. Siddiqi further adds:
“It is permissible for a woman to change her last name after marriage. A woman can introduce herself or others can introduce her as the wife of so and so. In the ahadith, we see that the Prophet’s wives were sometimes referred to with the names of their fathers and sometimes as “wife of the Prophet”. These things are more based on cultural practices and whatever is convenient can be done. What is forbidden in Islam is that a person refers to him/herself as the son or daughter of someone other than the real biological father. Allah says in the Qur’an, “Proclaim their parentage; that is more equitable in the sight of Allah.” (al-Ahzab: 5) The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said, “Whosoever will claim the name of anyone other than his father will not even get the smell of Paradise.” (Reported by Ibn Majah)” ”
A few more examples from Islam: Name of our Holy Prophet’s (SAW) wife was Umm-e-Salma (RA). Now, we know her by this name. But what was her real name?? Her real name was Hind. But she is known by the name of her Son i.e.e Salma. So what does this imply?? She is known being referred to her son and not by her father. However, her father’s name was changed.
Similarly, what do surnames of Hazrat Umer Farooq (RA) and Hazrat Usman Ghani (RA) tell us?? Farooq and Ghani were not name of their fathers. Their fathers were Khatab and Affan respectively. So In Islam surname does not necessarily mean it’s father’s name. Father’s name has to be categorically mentioned rather than just assuming from surname.
Hadiths mentioned in the link provided cannot be applied to surnames literally. These have to do with the father’s name and yes that must not be changed. “What is forbidden in Islam is that a person refers to him/herself as the son or daughter of someone other than the real biological father.”
I think you will be able to think rationally by looking at three examples from Prophet’s (SAW) era: Holy Prophet’s (SAW) wife Umm-e-Salma (RA), Hazrat Umer Farooq (RA) and Hazrat Usman Ghani (RA). I am sure Hazrat Umar (RA) and Hazrat Usman Ghani (RA) were more aware of Islam than you & me and any other person and had more knowledge of interpreting hadiths more than us. If they had no problem in changing their surnames, neither should we.
Where in all these three hadiths, is it mentioned that it is haraam to change surname???? Now plz be very specific while answering because I am looking for word “surname” that surname changing is haraam.
Assalamu Alaikum,
Let me tell you, at the risk of sounding like a sexist, that I think this is only meant for Men. Allay does say, “And the male is not like the female”.
I mean, in the Qur’an or Hadiths, if it is attributed to a woman, it will be done so, like “She should or should not..”. And if it is directed toward both men and women, it will be said “‘Anyone’ who does so and so…”.
I have read about something like this before, when i read the Qur’an meaning book, but that too mentioned changing a boy’s name.
Dear Admin..
It is indeed a very informative discussion, but there is one serious clarification against the hadees quoted above which raises serious concerns about the way we are going to interpret the meaning of this hadees, can you clarify to the following:
Md Atif
October 10, 2013 at 7:21 am
Mr. Atif reply is found to be quoting verses directly from Quran, if we are to understand those verses then the word “Haram” which is being used over here nullifies.
Further more , if you carefully read the translation and understand its meaning phrase by phrase its says:
The Prophet (pbuh) said: “Whoever calls himself by other than his father’s name (or attributes himself to someone other than his father), will be cursed by Allaah, the angels and all the people.”
Back in the times when this was quoted by Muhammad (PBUH), at that time people use to change there father name so that they can inherit there wealth which is obviosly haram n illegal and due to some other wrong reasons.
Furthermore, please read carefully again:
Narrated from Abu Dharr (ra) that he heard the Prophet (pbuh) say: “Any man who knowingly attributes himself to someone other than his father is guilty of kufr —
(Explanation phrase by phrase:)
‘attributes’ himself other then his father is guilty — obviously there has to be reason y he is attributing, there would have been a case or a situation to which this hadees is referring to. it’s not just a random hadees which is to be mis-quoted or mis-interpreted
“Whoever claims to belong to a people when he has nothing to do with them, let him take his place in Hell.” [Bukhari 3508 and Muslim 61] — a wife and a husband, it is a sacred relation (both husband and wife over here are relevant to each other).
By no means it is directed towards the gender of woman, for a wife there is an arabic word “زوجة” and for woman the arabic word is” النساء “, and i don’t see both of these words used in hadees mentioned above.
Our ISLAM is not that incomplete religion that it will leave open meanings to the teachings and sayings of our beloved Muhammad (PBUH) and specially when it comes to such sensitive matters.
Dear Admin, it is your utmost responsibility to take care of such sensitive matters..people may seek advice and come down on this page, but before you reply them with a quotes of hadees, kindly make sure under which circumstances that hadees was quoted and exactly for which situation it has to be taken into account.
Kindly correct me for my sense of understanding if i am wrong, because as much as i have learned over the years, i have always known that any hadees and quran verses haven’t came UN-necessarily, they came for the guidance of the whole nation and had a reason behind them.
Assalam o Alaikum.
The hadeeth mentioned above are being wrongly interpreted. I am explaining each below. Please refer to the arabic words.
1. The first hadeeth is referenced as from Ibn Maja 2599. That is incorrect. Please look in to book of Ibne Maja. Hadeeth 2599 is in Chapter 18 كتاب اللقطة (Book of Lost Property). Here is the actual hadeeth and the translation:
حَدَّثَنَا مُحَمَّدُ بْنُ بَشَّارٍ، حَدَّثَنَا يَحْيَى بْنُ سَعِيدٍ، حَدَّثَنَا أَبُو حَيَّانَ التَّيْمِيُّ، حَدَّثَنَا الضَّحَّاكُ، خَالُ الْمُنْذِرِ بْنِ جَرِيرٍ عَنِ الْمُنْذِرِ بْنِ جَرِيرٍ، قَالَ كُنْتُ مَعَ أَبِي بِالْبَوَازِيجِ فَرَاحَتِ الْبَقَرُ فَرَأَى بَقَرَةً أَنْكَرَهَا فَقَالَ مَا هَذِهِ قَالُوا بَقَرَةٌ لَحِقَتْ بِالْبَقَرِ . قَالَ فَأَمَرَ بِهَا فَطُرِدَتْ حَتَّى تَوَارَتْ ثُمَّ قَالَ سَمِعْتُ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم يَقُولُ “ لاَ يُئْوِي الضَّالَّةَ إِلاَّ ضَالٌّ ”
It was narrated that Mundhir bin Jarir said:
“I was with my father in Bawazij and the cows came back in the evening. He saw a cow did not recognize it. He said: ‘What is this?’ He said: ‘A cow that joined the herd.’ And he issued orders that it be driven away until it disappeared from view. Then he said: ‘I heard the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) say: “No one gives refuge to a stray animal but one who is also astray.”
2. Closely read the arabic of second hadeeth. It points at Rajal ” لَيْسَ مِنْ رَجُلٍ” which is rightly translated as men. It has no reference to Al-Nisa or women. When talking get about women none of Quran or hadeeth just mention Rajal. they also mention nisa if it’s applicable to both.
In the times of jahalat slaves would take the name of their masters as their surname upon being freed. (practice done in American slavery of Africans too). This was prohibited. Hz. Abu Hudaifah had a slave Hz. Salim who had taken his name upon being freed by him after both of them accepted islam. Later prophet sw. told them that you are like brothers and not like father and son. The second situation in which this is applicable is in adoption laws. When a kid is adopted, he or she should still be called by the Fathers name, if it is known.
This is also mentioned in Quran. Surah Ahzab. translation is: “Call them by [the names of] their fathers; it is more just in the sight of Allah . But if you do not know their fathers – then they are [still] your brothers in religion and those entrusted to you. And there is no blame upon you for that in which you have erred but [only for] what your hearts intended. And ever is Allah Forgiving and Merciful.” 33:5
3. Im posting the arabic of the third hadeeth which was not written in the article:
حَدَّثَنِي عَمْرٌو النَّاقِدُ، حَدَّثَنَا هُشَيْمُ بْنُ بَشِيرٍ، أَخْبَرَنَا خَالِدٌ، عَنْ أَبِي عُثْمَانَ، قَالَ لَمَّا ادُّعِيَ زِيَادٌ لَقِيتُ أَبَا بَكْرَةَ فَقُلْتُ لَهُ مَا هَذَا الَّذِي صَنَعْتُمْ إِنِّي سَمِعْتُ سَعْدَ بْنَ أَبِي وَقَّاصٍ يَقُولُ سَمِعَ أُذُنَاىَ مِنْ رَسُولِ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم وَهُوَ يَقُولُ “ مَنِ ادَّعَى أَبًا فِي الإِسْلاَمِ غَيْرَ أَبِيهِ يَعْلَمُ أَنَّهُ غَيْرُ أَبِيهِ فَالْجَنَّةُ عَلَيْهِ حَرَامٌ ”
The correct translation is: It is reported on the authority of Sa’d b. Abi Waqqas:
Both of my ears heard the Messenger of Allah saying this: He who claimed the fatherhood of anyone else besides his real father knowingly (committed a great sin) ;Paradise is forbidden to him. Abu Bakra asserted that he too heard it from the Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him ).
The woman by changing her name is by no means taking up her husband as her father. Please keep the context of hadeeth in mind when deriving conclusions from there.
i double checked the references with bukhari shreef say ” Bukhari 3508″ dont match exact but translation is more or less is same but in my opinion interpretation is absolutely wrong ,”Bukhaari 4072″ do not match with this Hades . verify ur self.wallah u alim better
Haram is anything which is prohibited and called out specifically by Allah in the Quran and has a direct explanation to it. Like Interest, Alcohol etc.
Abu Isaam Imran Ali, if you have a direct verse from the Quran stating that this is Haram please share that, if you can not come up with any please change the wordings of this article by removing “Allah warned” because if its a command by Allah it will be clearly mentioned in the Quran.
Salaam Alaikum brother
Inshallah you are doing well. I hope Allah Swt forgives me guide me if I am wrong and may he forgive and guide you if you are wrong. I don’t know how much command you have on the Arabic language .
The first hadith has parts missing so it cannot be understood as we donot know the complete hadith and in the second hadith the word رجل is used which is for man. If it meant “MAN” as entire species then the word الانسان would have been used or الذين meaning those people. Since there is only one source that you mentioned which is complete, I would refrain from passing judgment and claiming what’s halal and what’s haram
Also if you look at the Hadith it says. لَيْسَ مِنْ رَجُلٍ he is not a man who..
As in the famous hadith unwan basri it has been narrated.. This is the last part of the whole hadith in which he narrates
أَمَّا اللَوَاتِي فِي الْعِلْمِ: فَاسْأَلِ الْعُلَمَآءَ مَا جَهِلْتَ، وَ إيَّاكَ أَنْ تَسْأَلَهُمْ تَعَنُّتًا وَ تَجْرِبَةً؛ وَ إيَّاكَ أَنْ تَعْمَلَ بِرَأْيِكَ شَيْئًا، وَ خُذْ بِالاِحْتِياطِ فِي جَمِيعِ مَا تَجِدُ إلَيْهِ سَبِيلاً؛ وَ اهْرُبْ مِنَ الْفُتْيَا هَرَبَكَ مِنَ الاْسَدِ، وَ لاَ تَجْعَلْ رَقَبَتَكَ لِلنَّاسِ جِسْرًا!
As for the advice to do with knowledge – firstly, ask the scholars that which you are ignorant of, but do not ask them obnoxiously or testingly. Secondly, do not act based on your own opinion about something, and exercise precaution in all things wherever possible. And thirdly, beware of giving religious decrees and legal opinions as you would beware of a lion, and do not put your neck at stake for people to walk all over.
Inshallah I hope this can help you understand that one has to be cautious in giving decrees before studying and understanding what the Hadith means.
Your brother
Amin
Walaykumassalam, Dear brother,
It is quite surprisingly that you missed the part where you have the image of the unanimous fatwa issued by IFTA that is given above in Arabic. All the senior scholars have issued this fatwa that prohibits this action which has been adopted from Kuffaar. The man source of issuing this fatwa by the ulama is Surah Ahzaab 33:5. If you have doubt about the same, kindly get in touch with the IFTA, Inshallah.
Also, Haraam is what has been prohibited in Islam. If the word Haraam sounds too harsh, then use the english word Prohibited. The rule remains the same though.
The first hadith mentioned in the article above is from Ibn Majah, book of punishments, hadith no. 2707 as per one publisher while some other number as per other. You can simply take the arabic text and search it in hadith websites and you will find the hadith. Instead of reading it in english, kindly study it in Arabic. It is a general hadith for all.
The second hadith mentioned above is a supporting hadith to this ruling. It does refer only man, but when you see the first hadith, the second hadith also includes women. Even if you don’t want to consider women in second hadith, the first hadith yet holds good with everyone. The senior scholars haven’t just given the ruling for the sake of play. They have well verified the evidences and then passed the judgement. Hope its clear.
We appreciate your input though.
Haram is not only what Allah calls in the Quran haram, but haram is also what Rasuallah sallahualahiwasallam made haram. Allah tells in the Quran to obey rasuallah. Quran and authentic Sunnah are the two sources for us to differentiate between Halaal and haraam. Please refer to the verse of Surah Ahzaab 33:5 which is given in the fatwa of the scholars of IFTA above in the image form. hope its clear.
The number might vary depending on which publishers book you refer. Try to check the hadith directly instead of the number. Kindly check hadith in book of punishments, no. 2707 in your publisher. Alhumdulillah it is verified. We have backed our answer with the unanimous fatwa from the senior scholars of IFTA.
Walaykumassalam brother,
Your comment does disprove this ruling anyways. Read the other comments, your doubt has been answered already.
Walaykumassalam, Dear brother,
We appreciate your concern in being careful in quoting the Quran and sunnah. We too agree to the same.
As for as what has been quoted in this answer, we do not understand what has your explanation to do with the ruling? Your argument that these hadith were for certain circumstances holds good for ahadeeth. Every statement made by Rasuallah sallahu alahi wasallam was as per certain circumstance. This doesn’t mean it should be left alone and not followed. The rulings were established in this fashion that as and when incidents happened, rulings were mentioned by him.
hope it is clear.
Walaykumassalam, Dear brother,
First of all thanks for taking out time to comment here.
We are aware of the answer given by Dr Siddique. But his explanation is very vague and lacks evidences. For example, his statement that sometimes wives of prophet were referred by their fathers name and sometimes by the term “wife of prophet”. The ruling given here has nothing to do with someone being called as “Wife of so and so”. The ruling here is specific to any woman taking husbands name after her name without clearly specifying that it is her husband. Like the example given in the answer above. If a woman’s name was Arshia siddiqui. She changes it after marriage by removing siddiqui and putting her husbands NAME, say, Sajid. So it now becomes Arshia Sajid. Here, the name doesn’t specify that Sajid is her husbands name because nothing is in between Arshia and Sajid. This is what is prohibited. But there is nothing wrong making them name “Arshia wife of Sajid”. This perfectly allowed.
Similarly, the statement about Umer Farooq or Usman Ghani. These titles were approved by Rasuallah sallahu alahi wasallam himself. What he approves becomes shariah. We cannot approve something after he has gone. The titles “Farooq” and “Ghani” were their attributes and that is what Rasuallah assigned and called them with. How can Dr Siddiqui compare this with a woman keeping her husbands name?
There is much to mention about Dr Siddiqui’s fatwa on this issue. But we would rather leave it as his opinion with all due respect to him. He is doing good work in North America and may Allah reward him immensely for it.
Hope its clear.
dear sister, Islam is not based on your commonsense and logic. It is based on evidences. let us give you a small example. Celebrating birthday is disallowed in Islam. But one may say what is the proof? So ulama say that it is because it has been borrowed from kuffaar and they celebrate birthday to depict the birth of Jesus. But a person who only goes by his logic and common sense says “What is wrong with celebrating birthday”? Is there any direct verse in Quran or hadith that prohibits it. By logic we are only getting happy on the day of our child’s birth. Hence that person makes celebrating birthday Halaal.
Islam is not based on logics and those who have used it have deviated from the correct path. Islam is about submission to what Allah and his Rasul commanded and following it as per the understanding of the Salafus saliheen (whether it fits our common sense or not)
Hope it is clear.
Shaykh Abu Isaam Imran Ali’s name is “Mir Imran Ali”. He is originally from India but lives in Madinah.
You have rightly identified one of the cons of this system. May Allah bless you with immense knowledge and hikmah.
When we say Muhaditheen, we don’t mean the contemporary ones. We mean the early ones like Ibn Hajar, Imaam Hakim etc. It is their sharah that one needs to read before passing judgements. The IFTA scholars do exactly that.
What about the hadis saying if sajda to a person was allowed for muslims, Allah would have asked a wife to do sajda to her husband? The above hadis mentioned by the author are on the ruling of denying the existence of one’s parents n calling other person their fathers. When a women is called by husbands surname, Mrs. Is used indicating she is the wife of that person not daughter. As husband n wife are the foundations of new family this is only logical that she is identified with her husband’s name as their children would also be identified with the name of same person. Rest Allah knows better.
Dear All,
This will be the final comment reply from us and any further doubts can be clarified by getting in touch with the senior Scholars of “The permanent committee of scholarly research and Ifta”.
We have seen that though many of you are genuinely wanting to clear your doubts, there are some who are coming with an adamant behavior with prejudice and biasness in them. We have deleted those comments hence you will not notice them here. But such a behavior is highly denounced. When a good intellectual discussion goes on, there are few who come in between and spark harshness by the use of words like “Stop being egoistic” or “Stop being biased” and much harsher words. Such statements have no place in an Islamic discussion. No one has peeped in to the hearts of others to know who is egoistic or not. It is a text communication then how can you judge if someone is being egoistic or not? We discuss with each other with a belief that none of us have any ego or pride while doing so. So lets refrain from using such words particularly for us.
The above answer has been given by Shaykh Abu Isaam Imran Ali who is studying Shareeah in Al Madinah Al Munawwarah from the senior scholars there. He has based his answer on the unanimous fatwa of the senior scholars of the IFTA and their evidences.
For better understanding, we have appended the above answer of his with more information from other sources. Kindly go through them as well.
Regarding the Ahadeeths cited above are the same ahadeeths used by eminent scholars like Shaykh bin baaz, Shaykh bin Uthaymeen and other senior scholars of IFTA to make this act of name changing impermissible. If one wants to know the sharah of these ahadeeths, he or she may refer to the books of Salaf or get in touch with the scholars who are closest to your vicinity and ask them to show you the sharah of these ahadeeths.
Regarding those who are bringing in the view of other people, there might be disagreement by some on many issues. Ikhtilaaf exists among the scholars regarding many issues of Islam. If you do not like or do not understand our view point or evidences, you are free to reject them. Isn’t this how a well behaved Muslim must be? However, a Muslim must stick to evidences only in arriving to a decision, rather than scholarly love or logic or self proclaimed common sense. Hope everyone agrees to this as this is more just in the sight of Allah. If you find strong evidences with those scholars who allow such a change of name, then you go along with it.
Regarding those who want to belittle the senior scholars of IFTA, let us not get into the argument of who is better scholar and who is not. The evidences being presented are the ones you should analyze and if you don’t like it leave it. There is no need to criticize the replies being presented.
Regarding those who said that we must quote an Asian scholar only because everyone here commenting are asians, well we can go on quoting asian scholars who agree to this view point like Shaykh Wasiullah Abbas, Shaykh Arshad Basheer, Shaykh Mohd Hussain, Dr Abdullah Jolam, Shaykh Aneesur rahman, Dr Saeed Madani and many more. Is our criteria to know the truth only that scholar should first be from our own land? The criteria to know Shareeah is the presentation of evidences from Quran and authentic Sunnah and then one who does that, we follow that scholar. Several scholars have cited their answers on this issue without backing their claim with any evidence. Their answers can well be refuted by any student of knowledge who follows evidences only. Please refrain from showing disagreement on a shari matter just because a scholar is not from among our race. Please see the evidences of any scholar on any topic and then decide whether to accept it or not. We hope this is clear.
Regarding our stand, we find the evidences given by the scholars of IFTA much more stronger than any other scholars evidence “IN THIS MATTER”! Hence we go by the prohibition.
Read the answer, analyze the evidences and then be just in your decision. Allah knows the affairs of everyone and we only pray that Allah guides all of us to the right path!
Thanks all of you for your comments and continue reading our site pointing out any mistakes that you see so that we correct ourselves! 🙂
Any further comments on this page shall be deleted. This thread is now closed for comments.
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Admin.