Re: Is it okay if you give ur child a english name: though u are a muslim/pakistiani?
For all the "non-conformists" here, how many of you would dare to name your kid Saddam or Zarqawi?
And then send him off to a school populated mainly by Shi'as.
See what happens then.
What if, what if.............. it is easy to bring up extreme examples. With the way so many in the West despise Muslims in the West you'd think Mohammed would be one of the most recognisable Muslim names possible. Some people might not want to give their child the name of the Prophet, but I bet you many others will give their sons that name.
I know a kid called Osama and he is living a normal life, the way some people have responded you would think the kid would have been murdered by other children or bullied to the point of suicide.
The last poster mentioned Muslim name books, there is a reason for these books, people buy them to give their children a name linked to Islam. That doesn't necessarily mean the name was designed specifically for Muslims but for various reasons many names have come to be used by Muslims.
Yet, I'm sure at least a few posts in this thread have stated there is no such thing as a Muslim name.
You could say the people giving their kids western names are the ones not conforming to tradition, if you look at it the way you have pictured it then everyone giving their child a 'Muslim' name is a non conformist. Are people who wear asian dress also non conformist, is visiting a masjid non conformist? As in not conforming to Western ways of life, if you don't go to the pub or to a nightclub are you a non conformist?
The west is supposed to be the land of freedom, as they paint it, so now you're saying it's best not to practice any freedoms which mark you as even a teensy weeny bit different? Should all rastafarians cut off their dreadlocks? Maybe the Sikhs should get rid of their beards and turbans, and not let their children have top-knots, since they might be teased.
I wish all the best to anyone naming their kids a western name, an African name, Chinese name, whatever. I just wouldn't do that myself, and I was trying to point out why I wouldn't. Some of the reasons given for not giving a child a Muslim name aren't really very good reasons at all.
Name your kid whatever you want but be honest, just say you like that name, but if you go down that road I bet you will name all your children in that manner, not just one, because then he or she will stand out from his/her brothers or sisters.
The reasons such as the kids will be attacked, tormented etc etc aren't very realistic.
At the end of the day no matter what you name your kid he will still have BROWN skin and therefore stand out to some degree.
Actually, maybe the cosmetics industry will invent a magic drug to make our skin white some day, and we'll dye our hair blonde and finally, we can truly fit in. That means only eating pizza, pasta and burgers, in case they spot you doing 'outsider' type things, and it'll be skirts for all the girls and strictly jeans for the boys, no asian/arab dress either.
LOL this thread was an interesting one, I'm off to get some sleep.
:)