Islamic marriage advice and family advice

Conversion to Islam and changing name.

I am a hindu teen age girl living in India. I want to convert to Islam but my parents would never allow me to do that. I also don't know the procedure of converting to Islam. My name means unique and my pet name in an Islamic name so will I have to change my name and surname to convert to Islam.

Please help,

xyz.


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29 Responses »

  1. As-salamu alaykum dear xyz,

    The procedure for converting to Islam is very simple. You simply say,

    "Ash-hadu an-laa ilaha il-Allah; wa ash-hadu anna Muhammadan Rasul-ullah."

    "I testify that there is no God except Allah; and I testify that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah."

    After that you should begin to study and learn the basic practices of Islam, beginning with the daily prayers (Salat).

    Although your parents may be against it, your obedience to Allah must come first. Islam teaches us to honor and respect our parents, but our loyalty to Allah is first. No one can stand between you and the truth.

    It's not required to change your name unless your name has an un-Islamic meaning. Since your name has a good meaning (unique), it's not required to change it unless you choose to do so. Also, we do not change the surname, as it is the family name and Islam emphasizes the importance of family ties.

    I hope you'll write back here and let us know when you have converted to Islam, so we can welcome you into this beautiful religion, Insha'Allah (God willing).

    Wael
    IslamicAnswers.com Editor

  2. Assalam o alykum wr wb, its indeed a great blessing for you that Allah swt -All mighty gave u the wisdom to understand his religion and to accept the truth and live the truth. Because if you understand Islam u will live it nor leave it .I understand u as am half Indian. We are here to always guide u to the right path and prevent u from the vice, infact we are choosen the best among people because we muslim have this characteristic to promote virtue and prevent vice .You will be in great reward beleive me , becuase when islam started those who understood were in position like you .

    There is no big procedure to convert in Islam unlike Christianity which requires baptism, or reading any mantras like in Hinduism you just need to read out the kalima in arabic which is written below and from that instant time you are Muslim.SUBHANALLAH.

    * "lā ilaha illa Allahu, Muhammad ur-rasul Ullah"

    English rendering:

    * There is none worthy of worship but Allah, Muhammad [peace be upon him] is the messenger of Allah.

    ELHAMDULILAH AFTER READING THIS YOU ARE A MUSLIM 🙂

    coming over to your second query "Yes" you have to change your name ,but surname no need because the name of your father will be with you till you die , and in islam the women after marriage do not change there surname like usually people in the world do tag there husband surname to them.

    looking really forward for your reply !!

    • Nabeel, thanks for your comment. It's actually not required to change the name unless it has an un-Islamic meaning.

      Wael
      IslamicAnswers.com Editor

      • If something is not classified as haram (prohibited) in the Deen (religion/way of life of a Muslim), then it is halal (permitted). Retaining a name that (1) does not identify itself with/contain anything Islamically forbidden and (2) is not a Name of Allah , has not been declared haram.

        It is according to sunnah (the examples of the Prophet's life what he said, did, implemented, how he implemented), to change a bad name (whether it is an arabic name or any other language) immediately, and it is permissible according to sunnah to exchange a name for a better one.

        BUT THIS USUALLY IMPLY FOR THE NAMES OF MUSLIM AND SECONDLY as she said that her name is unique corresponding to that menaing in arabic (فريدة) "FAREEDA" i hope that she doesnt bear this name..

        so she should change her name ,it would be better if she says her real name, so that we could give her the ruling. Inshallahu taala!

        Hayakallah for giving me a chance to convey the message.

        and awaiting for our REVERT SISTER TO REPLY .

        • Salaams,

          Since this sister indicated that her parents will have some difficulty accepting her conversion, I think it's better that she hold off formally changing her name for now. As Wael said, it’s not necessary. She is only a teenager, so if she wants to do something like that later on, it would be better once she is out on her own (married etc). If she changes her name now, as you suggest, it may cause her parents to give her more trouble, and this can be avoided by letting her name stay at it is.

          -Amy
          IslamicAnswers.com Editor

          • She can neither change her name formally ,legally without her guardians consent , she has to change her name becuase her name is not Islamic (we have to wait until to hear that what is her islamic name) ,if its not islamic then she has to change it a must and keep it to her and her freinds etc,,

            Marriage is another far away aspect ,we have to deal what is in our hand now ,so she start carrying out acts of worship as soon as she can , and remember her acts of worship carry more reward ,entails more sawaab then us .

            Inshallahu taala

    • Salaams,

      You said, "she has to change her name becuase her name is not Islamic".

      Brother, she said her name, regardless of the ethnic origin, means "unique". That is not a bad or haraam name meaning. I have to say I find your logic offensive, considering I still go by my name Amy, which means "beloved" in its European roots. Sometimes I will tell other Muslims my name is Jamylah to cause less confusion (being a convert, I don't "look Muslim" per se even though I cover as I should), but as you can see I still spell it with my birth name in the middle. I really like my name (Amy) and it's meaning, and no one has ever tried to force me to change it in all the 9 years I've been Muslim. Even if I decided to, I think it would be problematic for my family (none of whom are Muslim) as well as coworkers and other associates. Why suggest someone to borrow trouble unnecessarily?

      Not only that, there are many, many western converts who don't change their name for a plethora of reasons. Like Wael said, name changing is only incumbent upon those whose names have a evil or ANTI Islamic derivation. Being named "unique" or "beautiful" or "beloved" or "noble" etc in ANY language still speaks to the same attributes, and all of these attributes are reflections of Allah. Based on the reasoning you seem to be following, we should also be advised to cease speaking in our native tongues and only speak arabic, cease eating our local fare and only eat food that is served in Arabia, and decorate our homes with Eastern style.

      As YOU said, brother: If something is not classified as haram (prohibited) in the Deen (religion/way of life of a Muslim), then it is halal (permitted). Retaining a name that (1) does not identify itself with/contain anything Islamically forbidden and (2) is not a Name of Allah , has not been declared haram.

      -AMY
      IslamicAnswers.com Editor

      • Salaam sister, your reply was good and i learnt something today, i wanted to ask i am thinking of names for my daughter to be, can i use any name as long as the meaning is right, such as alyssa which means noble and kind.

      • PS:

        I love the name AMY. It has a lovely meaning, its also my niece Amina's nick name.

        Keep it comin' in twin,
        SisterZ ;O)
        x

  3. Dear sister xyz,

    Congradulations !

    Alah has blessed you and i pray he continues his blessing upon you and your loved ones.

    Dear sister, many muslims may not understand the sensative situation that you are in and i think in their good hearts thye mean well but we all make mistakes.Ms.Amy (jamylah ) i think you can learn something from her as she is correct as is wael. You absolutely do not have to change your name to become muslim.NO.
    In fact it is haram for Mr.Nabeel to tell you to do so considering the volitile and sensative situation you are in,becouse this would put you in harms way,and it is haram to put a muslim in harms way.
    My step son one time in a large group of Christians at his grandmothers church decided to stand up on his own free will and say ," i am not a christian, I am a muslim." and his grandmother slapt him in the face for saying this.He was 7 years old at the time
    In fact considering the sensative nature of your being muslim and your parents ,you may conceal your faith and do obey your parents so far as they do not tell you to deny Allah and his beloved messenger sallallahu alayhi wa sallam.
    Learn what you can where you can.Allah has guided you till now,..will he stop now ? No,..he loves you and will guide you to the finish.
    ^asiya was the daughter of faroah,and she had to canceal her faith from her father for fear of him.You dear sister to can conceal it,and insha'Allah we will be praying for you Oh unique one.By the way is a beautiful name.Mr.Nabeel is correct the arabic correlated name is fareedah.But never mind that now dear sister,..for now you must stay unique and remember Allah in your heart much and say as much prayer on Prophet if you like too.
    May Allah give you best of blessings and guide your blessed family with the guidence.Blessed becouse of many things but most of all becouse they have you.

    forever in your service
    bashir

  4. @Bashir first and foremost I would like to correct you an important GRIEVOUS MISTAKE WHICH YOU HAVE COMMITTED ASIYA (MAY ALLAH BE PLEASE WITHHER ) she was the wife of pharaoh not THE DAUGHTER, How in earth can you forget this basic thing? I am so disappointed to hear this..

    AND SHE IS ONE of the four best women the world has ever seen and will never see like them..
    1)khadijah(r.a)
    2Fatima(r.a)
    3Asiya (r.a)
    4maryam bint e imran(r.a)

    Coming over to the issue i never said to DECLARE HER RELIGION please i dont want anywant to develop fallacy , even when islam was naive prophet saws for many years propagated the teachings of Islam hiding even they used to offer salah hiding ,, even in dar e arqam.

    Regarding name as sister amy said //Being named "unique" or "beautiful" or "beloved" or "noble" etc in ANY language still speaks to the same attributes, and all of these attributes are reflections of Allah.// you have taken completely wrong meaning out of it, Think before you speak.

    i agree but its like this for an example : shiva (hindu god ) means unique ok ,in Arabic it means fareedah , so wat u will opt ? fareedah or shiva ?though the meaning is same ? but the name is dissimilar in different roots ? I hope u got ur point and adding to that i also said that even if she changed it she does not need to reveal her name to everyone !

    SO FIRST LET HER GIVE HER ORIGINAL NAME THEN U CAN POST UR FATAWA (OPINION )

    Jazakallah khairan

    • Salaams,

      "@Bashir first and foremost I would like to correct you an important GRIEVOUS MISTAKE WHICH YOU HAVE COMMITTED ASIYA (MAY ALLAH BE PLEASE WITHHER ) she was the wife of pharaoh not THE DAUGHTER, How in earth can you forget this basic thing? I am so disappointed to hear this."

      This is a bit harsh, don't you think? I believe Bashir's mistake was totally unintentional. Truthfully, if he had never relayed the story I would never have even known anything about a woman named Asiya. Sometimes you have to remember that we converts don't hear these stories all our lives, and can get the details of them mixed up by mistake.

      I'm curious, what does a name change amount to if it is not used (or rather, revealed to anyone)?

      I think you should follow your own advice: "FIRST LET HER GIVE HER ORIGINAL NAME THEN U CAN POST UR FATAWA (OPINION )". Not knowing her name didn't stop you from telling her she MUST change her name in order to be correctly following Islam, did it?

      -Amy
      IslamicAnswers.com Editor

  5. subhanaAllah,...i was just coming out of prayer and realized that i had said the ^asiya was faroahs daughter when she was his wife.Yes you are most certainly correct Mr.Nabeel.

    I made a mistake and Allah knows that it was not on purpose,..its a good thing Allah is merciful.Remember brother anger is from shaytaan,

    Also, Just becouse a hindu god is called unique doesnt mean she has to change her name,..if so every mexican and muslim whos name is jesus or ^isa will also have to change their name becouse Christians worship jesus and call him God.I know this becouse i have been raised christian and my father and his father were Christian pastors.

    Alhamdulillah we are glad you now understand that some people must conceal their faith.

    wassalaam

  6. I didnt intend to be harsh ,what i wanted is to verify before what we speak , what if i want there to correct ?what if anyone didnt catch that up? what if that misconception spread?

    Indeed i agree with but you dont understand me again shiva(is representing a god) not a messiah (ayazubillah) ,whereas jesus was a prophet even for the Christians and for Muslims. so isa and jesus(pbuh) means the same! I didnt knew that you people are revert secondly in my second statement only I said wait for her first to disclose her original name and I REPHRASE THE SAME THING ONTO YOU THAT Not knowing her name didn't stop you from telling her she MUST`NT change her name in order to be correctly following Islam, did it?

    Hayakallah

    • Salaams Nabeel,

      In the western world, Jesus/Isa is not merely a prophet to Christians. He is seen as either God incarnate, or a son (offspring) of God.

      And you're right, I didn't wait to hear her name before advising this poster what to do. I have no problem saying that I didn't think that to be necessary, because my answer wouldn't have changed. It was you who made that suggestion, and it was only logical to believe that someone would want to be congruent by following their own admonitions before expecting others to do so.

      -Amy
      IslamicAnswers.com Editor

  7. and i forgot to mention in the book Zaad al-Ma’aad, 2/336. in line to changing names.

    So long as your child will be a Muslim – as will you, in sha Allaah – we hope that you will not make him an object of mockery to others or make him stand out because of his having a name that is different from the names of other Muslims. So it preferable to have a muslim name.

    so we have to wait unless she discloses her real name. so have some patience !

    shukran jazelan

  8. Ibn al-Qayyim said:

    Because names have meanings, it is wise that there should be a proper connection between the meaning of the names and the object that is carrying the name. It should not be the case that the meaning is not suited to the object and there is no connection between the meaning and the object, because this is what is decreed by the Most Wise, and reality testifies to that. Indeed names have a great impact on the objects to which they are applied, and the objects that carry these names will definitely be influenced by these names, whether these names are good or ugly, whether they refer to meanings of lightness or heaviness, kindness or cruelty.”

    Zaad al-Ma’aad, 2/336

    Hence the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) used to change bad names to good ones.

    It was narrated from Ibn ‘Umar that a daughter of ‘Umar was called ‘Aasiyah (disobedient), but the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) renamed her Jameelah (beautiful). Narrated by Muslim, 2139.
    NOW, WILL U KEEP THE NAME AASIYAH ASSUMING THAT SHE WAS ONE OF THE BEST WOMEN EVER EXISTED ON THIS PLANET OR SOMETHING WHICH MEANS GOOD .
    The ruling – changing names to good names – has to do with what is mustahabb and preferable; it is not "obligatory or binding".

    The evidence for that is the report narrated by al-Bukhaari (6190) from Ibn al-Musayyab that his father came to the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) and he said, “What is your name?” He said, “Hazn (meaning rough).” He said, “You are Sahl (meaning easy).” He said, “I will not change the name that my father gave to me.” Ibn al-Musayyab said, “And we have had roughness (in character) ever since.”

    Roughness means being harsh and difficult to deal with.

    Ibn Battaal said:

    This shows that improving names and changing names to something better is not something that is obligatory.

    So i hope you all understood there are many islamic beautiful names and those names will indeed effect on ur personality.

  9. Salaams,

    I am still not clear on what the difference is between changing one's name and not telling anyone the "new" name, and not changing it at all. After all, this is the purpose of a name; it's what we're known by. It seems to me that if someone does change their name, they are changing it with the purpose of having everyone in their circle call them by their new name, no? Otherwise, what's the point?

    -Amy
    IslamicAnswers.com Editor

  10. first and foremost please don't use this abbreviatoin as "salaams" its not right!

    Secondly not making the new name formal means that she should hide for the fear of her parents. but i said she can tell to those who are near to her!!

    • Nabeel, you are getting way too hung up on small, inconsequential things, and are missing the bigger picture.

      Wael
      IslamicAnswers.com Editor

    • Salaams,

      Maybe it's just me, but I suspect if a person changed their name and told their friends that they are now going by a new name (Faridah, for instance), and their friend stops by or phones that person's house asking the parents for "Faridah", that this could cause some familial issues?

      -Amy
      IslamicAnswers.com Editor

      • Walaykum assalam wr wb,

        That`s ridiculous what is the meaning of true friends if they dont understand her , and she will only discolose to those whom she trust and trusted buddies ,people dont mess things up.Now dont bring this point that it might slip away from there tongue?

        secondly why will there friends call her by faridah in first place? as they know that her name in family is xyz?!

        Khallas dont stretch it .

        • Salaams,

          Because people make mistakes, Nabeel, even despite good intentions. We have already seen that's a concept you have a difficult time understanding and/or accepting. Most of us don't live in a world where the right thing is always done and everything goes "as it should".

          By the way, what does "khallas" mean?

          -Amy
          IslamicAnswers.com Editor

  11. Masha'Allah Shaykh you are very learned and qouting big extensive books and citing sunnah.Masha'Allah,honestly if this young sister hasn't already changed her mind becouse extremists ideals that you seem intent on pushing on her,.
    ITS NOT OBLIGATORY AT THIS JUNCTURE NABIL FOR HER TO CHANGE HER NAME.End of story.
    That's the topic and that was the question.But people always want to jump on the stage with 15 names attributed to them and give a two hour lecture on something simple as.,"Do I have to change my name.People have to stop trying to be a mullah all the time and instead think about what's best for this young sister .

    Wassalaam

    • I agree.

      The sister is taking such a big step to convert - that is the most important thing. Name changes etc are secondary and only compulsory if the meaning is not good. Simple as. Period.

      So Nabeel - it'd be much better to quit making Islam seem like such a difficult thing.

      SisterZ
      IslamicAnswers.com Editor

  12. @bashir

    Hayakallah for your response and giving an input ,whats obligatory for her is to understand that whether is obligatory or not .we gave her 2 opinions and we cant make judgement unless she reveals her original name thats it .

    and mullah thinks always for the best 🙂

    jazakallah khairan

  13. Is it just me,. But what NABIL just said It made no sense to me at all,"whats obligatory for her is to understand that whether is obligatory or not .we gave her 2 opinions and we cant make judgement unless she reveals her original name thats it ."
    Nabil,.. THERE IS NO JUDGEMENT TO BE MADE BRO.
    And '"whats obligatory for her is to understand that whether is obligatory or not .we gave her 2 opinions"???

  14. if you like your name you don't have to change it at all however
    you can change your first name if you wish to a good name with a good meaning
    but don't change your surname as its your family name.

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