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Theme Changer

 Topic: change of name

 (Read 3425 times)
  • 1« Previous thread | Next thread »
  • change of name
     OP - May 09, 2015, 09:15 AM
    Hi,
    Anyone change their name after leaving islam?

    Lena
  • change of name
     Reply #1 - May 09, 2015, 11:44 AM
    Hi Lena. I think if you do a search you'll find one or two threads on this topic Smiley
  • change of name
     Reply #2 - May 09, 2015, 02:09 PM
    Thanks  Smiley  How do you do a search?   I can't see a search box or anything.
  • change of name
     Reply #3 - May 09, 2015, 03:08 PM
     Smiley
    http://www.councilofexmuslims.com/index.php?topic=19171.0

    http://www.councilofexmuslims.com/index.php?topic=12649.0

    http://www.councilofexmuslims.com/index.php?topic=11323.0

    http://www.councilofexmuslims.com/index.php?topic=10573.msg278815#msg278815

    http://www.councilofexmuslims.com/index.php?topic=7493.0

    http://www.councilofexmuslims.com/index.php?topic=7720.0

    http://www.councilofexmuslims.com/index.php?topic=16103.0

    http://www.councilofexmuslims.com/index.php?topic=6467.0

  • change of name
     Reply #4 - May 09, 2015, 04:12 PM
    Ah thanks Happymurtad, hope it didn't take you ages to get all the links.    thnkyu
     
  • change of name
     Reply #5 - May 09, 2015, 11:01 PM
    Sorry if this is a stupid question but are you required to change your name to something Arabic sounding when you convert to Islam? Cat Stevens changed his name to Yusuf Islam and it seems like every Muslim I meet seems to have a "Muslim" name. I haven't ever met any Muslim just named like Steve Smith.
    "I moreover believe that any religion that has anything in it that shocks the mind of a child, cannot be a true system."
    -Thomas Paine
  • change of name
     Reply #6 - May 10, 2015, 07:26 AM
    I didn't change my name, and most of the converts I knew didn't.
    "The healthiest people I know are those who are the first to label themselves fucked up." - three
  • change of name
     Reply #7 - May 10, 2015, 08:12 AM
    Well, my legal name was never a Muslim name. I adopted a Muslim name because I hate my parents and the name they gave me reminds me of them because it's linked in my brain to the incredibly horrific crap I went through as a kid. So I don't use my legal name. Most of my IRL friends don't even know my legal name, or that the Islamic name I adopted wasn't the name I was given at birth. So changing my name from the name that all my friends know me by is just confusing and besides, I don't even know what I'd want to change it to.
    Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for I have a sonic screwdriver, a tricorder, and a Type 2 phaser.
  • change of name
     Reply #8 - May 10, 2015, 08:14 AM
    Quote from: justperusing on May 09, 2015, 11:01 PM
    Sorry if this is a stupid question but are you required to change your name to something Arabic sounding when you convert to Islam? Cat Stevens changed his name to Yusuf Islam and it seems like every Muslim I meet seems to have a "Muslim" name. I haven't ever met any Muslim just named like Steve Smith.


    You aren't required to do it by Islamic law. It just lends you more legitimacy in the eyes of the Ummah if you do.

    There is a rule though. If you are black, then your Islamic name has to be Bilal  Cheesy
    He's no friend to the friendless
    And he's the mother of grief
    There's only sorrow for tomorrow
    Surely life is too brief
  • change of name
     Reply #9 - May 10, 2015, 10:28 AM
    Naw you don't have to change your name, just another brain washing tactic to make converts lose their identity that messes them up for the rest of their life lol.. Luckliy i had a first name already that was both Islamic, Jewish and western so i didn't need to change it, and if i didnt i would have kept my original name !
  • change of name
     Reply #10 - May 10, 2015, 10:50 AM
    Well according to the notorious Salafi/wahabbi site "Islam Q&A" - it is strongly encouraged:

    http://islamqa.info/en/23273

    23273: How important is it for a new Muslim to change his name? (Ed: Very important or very, very important?  grin12)

    Upon becoming muslim, how important is it to change your name?and what is the differance between an arabic name and a muslim name?.

    Praise be to Allaah.  (Most High & Very Tall)

    Names carry meanings, and every person will be influenced by (the meaning of) his name, in most cases. Man is required to call himself – or his children – by good names with good meanings, so that they will be influenced positively by their names.

    Islam came to the Arabs and the non-Arabs, and it is not essential for a new Muslim to take an Arabic name, rather what is required is that he should not have a name that is ugly or carries a meaning that goes against Islam. Many Persians and Byzantines embraced Islam and kept their names, and did not change them. Indeed many of the Prophets had names that were not Arabic because they were not Arabs.

    Shaykh ‘Abd al-‘Azeez ibn Baaz (may Allaah have mercy on him) was asked: Does a person who becomes Muslim have to change his name like George or Joseph etc?

    He replied:

    He does not have to change his name unless it is a name that reflects servitude to someone or something other than Allaah, but it is good to change his name to something better.  So if he changes his name from a foreign name to an Islamic name, that is good, but as to whether it is obligatory, no it is not.

    But if his name was ‘Abd al-Maseeh [= “slave of the Messiah”, a name common among Arab Christians; a similar name in English cultures would be “Christopher” -- Translator] or something of that nature, then he should change it, but if the name does not imply servitude to anything or anyone other than Allaah, such as George and Paul, etc., then he does not have to change it, because these names are shared by Christians and others. And Allaah is the Source of strength.

    Fataawa Islamiyyah, 4/404.

    See also the answer to Question no. 14622.

  • change of name
     Reply #11 - May 10, 2015, 11:20 AM
    If you are a convert and you changed your name  THEN CHANGE IT AGAIN  change as many times as you like  it. But If you are born in Islam and born to Muslim parents and left Islam.. then you need not change  unless there  is a safety  issue/problem ..
     
    Do not let silence become your legacy.. Question everything   
    I renounced my faith to become a kafir, 
    the beloved betrayed me and turned in to  a Muslim     
  • change of name
     Reply #12 - May 10, 2015, 11:50 AM
    I changed my name. For safety. My name is more English now, but previously it was Swedish. I never took a formal Muslim name upon Shahada.
    Don't let Hitler have the street.
  • change of name
     Reply #13 - May 10, 2015, 11:52 AM
    I was actually discouraged by a couple of people when I wanted to change my last name to a more Islamic one. Something about how it could be construed as lying about who your father is, but I've forgotten the details by now?
  • change of name
     Reply #14 - May 10, 2015, 12:32 PM
    My legal name is long and fully Arabic, courtesy of my dad who was a convert. I'd briefly considered changing my last name back to his original family name, but ultimately saw no real point in going through the hassle. I quite like my first name and couldn't imagine going by something else.
  • change of name
     Reply #15 - May 10, 2015, 02:21 PM
    There's a belief, where I come from, that those that were not given "islamic" names would be called last for judgement on the day of judgement. On yaum al qiyamah, everybody will be gathered in this place called the field of mahshar. Then one by one they will be called, and their deeds will be displayed to everyone there, sort of like a movie of every minute of your life on a big screen. It will be very hot over there, with the sun being just above your heads, and some will be swimming in their own sweat, so being called early would be sort of a good thing. But if you had a western name or something that's non "islamic" you will be called later.

    i wonder if any other muslim communities had this belief.
    "we stand firm calling to allah all the time,
    we let them know - bang! bang! - coz it's dawah time!"
  • change of name
     Reply #16 - May 10, 2015, 09:02 PM
    Quote from: justperusing on May 09, 2015, 11:01 PM
    Sorry if this is a stupid question but are you required to change your name to something Arabic sounding when you convert to Islam? Cat Stevens changed his name to Yusuf Islam and it seems like every Muslim I meet seems to have a "Muslim" name. I haven't ever met any Muslim just named like Steve Smith.


    I've heard of him referred to more recently as Yusuf Cat Stevens. He got strict, not playing guitar or anything, then decided 'oh that's okay, the guitar originates from Arabia therefore its Islamic' so he went back to music. This indicates he is less rigid in interpretation now.
  • change of name
     Reply #17 - May 10, 2015, 10:02 PM
    ^
    Of the wierd rules in Islam(atleast the interpretation that was dominant at some point), ban on musical instruments is among them.Where do you think they got it from?
  • change of name
     Reply #18 - May 10, 2015, 10:13 PM
    This is a good link

    Quote
    The above Hadith most likely refers to musical instruments used in drinking parties during the period of “jahiliyaa” (pre-Islamic era) in which even men wore silk clothes and orgies included illegal sexual intercourse. Taken by itself, the Hadith should also ban silk, but that is not the case and silk is permitted for women. That is why it is important to look at all Ahadith and not come to a hasty conclusion. There are other Ahadiths which clearly show that musical instruments are permitted: For example this Hadith:

    “Volume 6, Book 61, Number 568:
     Narrated Abu Musa:
     That the Prophet said to him’ ‘O Abu Musa! You have been given one of the musical wind-instruments of the family of David .’”


    https://controversialislam.wordpress.com/music-banned-in-islam/

    MORE IN LINK
  • change of name
     Reply #19 - May 10, 2015, 10:18 PM
    So music in orgy and drinking party situations is haram; but in celebrations it is okay, marriages, funerals, holy days. I think that means then that music during sex with a wife or with a slave one on one would be okay. I think that ties in with the "each wife should have own bed" thing.
  • change of name
     Reply #20 - May 10, 2015, 10:27 PM
    Usually,its Salafists and deobandis who say that musical instrument except a certain type of tambourine during wedding is prohibited. Historically this was the opinion of the four schools,though its been abandoned over modern times.The Zahiris didn't see any restriction on musical instruments, ironically partly because of their literalism.

    Though thats not what I meant.
  • change of name
     Reply #21 - May 10, 2015, 10:29 PM
    This is what I meant
    http://www.councilofexmuslims.com/index.php?topic=26947.msg817132#msg817132
  • change of name
     Reply #22 - May 11, 2015, 07:37 AM
    Essentially,if the stories in the sahih hadith are unreliable, then the likely origin of the ban on music is in judaism.
  • change of name
     Reply #23 - May 11, 2015, 07:45 AM
    Ahh yup!
  • change of name
     Reply #24 - May 11, 2015, 09:20 AM
    Quote from: Hassan on May 10, 2015, 10:50 AM
    Praise be to Allaah.  (Most High & Very Tall)

  • change of name
     Reply #25 - May 16, 2015, 02:41 PM
    The reason why I started this thread is because I have been thinking about changing my surname to my husband's surname now that I am no longer a muslim.  It will mean that I share the same name as my children too.

    My surname is a typical muslim bengali surename and my husband's is a common hindu surname.

    My dilemma is that if I change my name, people will assume that I am Indian and hindu.   Is this enough of a reason to keep my Muslim name?
  • change of name
     Reply #26 - May 16, 2015, 02:47 PM
    People are going to make assumptions about you no matter what. Unless it can lead to real consequences, you shouldn't pay too much attention. If I were you, I'd change my name to whatever I wanted and whatever felt right to me. It's your personal decision to make, so go with what makes you happy.
  • change of name
     Reply #27 - May 16, 2015, 08:10 PM
    I worked with a guy who changed his name after he got married (not to his wife's name). He didn't like his dad, but was very proud of one of his maternal uncles (a famed archaeologist); so he nabbed that name. So that was the name he bestowed upon his kids.

    [My real last name, also, is possibly Mitteleuropean; it seems to have changed when an ancestor moved to England. I've been meaning to get a DNA test to see if that's the case, in which case I might end up altering my name too...]

    What you *could* do, lena, is find out if you have cousins with less-obviously Muslim names but with Bengali names. That would maintain your personal links with your people, but not with their religion.
  • change of name
     Reply #28 - May 17, 2015, 02:05 AM
    Quote from: lena on May 16, 2015, 02:41 PM
    The reason why I started this thread is because I have been thinking about changing my surname to my husband's surname now that I am no longer a muslim.  It will mean that I share the same name as my children too.

    My surname is a typical muslim bengali surename and my husband's is a common hindu surname.

    My dilemma is that if I change my name, people will assume that I am Indian and hindu.   Is this enough of a reason to keep my Muslim name?



    I think you should change your name to whatever you want it to be, if you want to change it at all. I am so accustomed to my name being mispronounced that I do not bother correcting anyone about it. Everyone assumes I am Christian, as well, though my name has nothing to do with that. In the area I live in, people without visible vice are assumed to be Christian. If there is any danger to your person or family from changing your name, then maybe you should worry. Otherwise, pick something you like.
    Don't let Hitler have the street.
  • change of name
     Reply #29 - May 17, 2015, 05:43 AM
    Quote from: lena on May 16, 2015, 02:41 PM
    My dilemma is that if I change my name, people will assume that I am Indian and hindu.   Is this enough of a reason to keep my Muslim name?


    Depends. Do you care that much what other people think, especially when you can simply correct them?
    `But I don't want to go among mad people,' Alice remarked.
     `Oh, you can't help that,' said the Cat: `we're all mad here. I'm mad.  You're mad.'
     `How do you know I'm mad?' said Alice.
     `You must be,' said the Cat, `or you wouldn't have come here.'
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