Wife's Surname and Child's Surname - Whats the Islamic way?

Lifestyle Relationships
1

In the western world alot of muslim ppl I know adopt the husbands surname, i’m not sure why - maybe it is easier for paperwork such as banking/mortgage/everyone is seen as a ‘family’ because they have the same surname etc etc or is the the normal way of things.

However I have also heard that a muslim married women has no islamic obligation to change her surname and shouldn’t - because she is always recognised as lets say ‘Silsila’ daughter of XXXX

In regard to the child, some parents give the baby the father’s surname and other’s the father’s first name…because the husbands surname is his father’s surname? Am I making any sense.

So for e,g

Lets say Usman Khaliq …has a baby and he names it …Idris Usman…so he is Idris…son of Usman? In the Islamic sense I mean.

Have I made any sense? Sorry!

Plus has anyone any guidance on this.

2

Re: Wife's Surname and Child's Surname - Whats the Islamic way?

Islamically you are not obligated to change your name, in fact women are encouraged to keep their maiden names. You are and will remain silsila "daughter of ____" till the judgment day..because you are your father's daughter..and that is your birth identification. Your husband is your spouse, and your children's father who will therefore take his name.
Name change is a Christian tradition. When Christian women got married, they changed their names because they could not "by law" hold property etc. Whatever they inherited, became their husband's automatically "by law". In Islam it is the opposite. When a woman gets married and has inherited property its hers and hers alone, her husband cannot claim it as his...which is why it is encouraged that a woman should keep her identity, she has rights and is her own person.

*for children it is common to take the father's surname (family name), and not the given name.

for example Mehtab Khan's children will be Sarah Khan and not Sarah Mehtab...but naming her Sarah Mehtab is not wrong either.

3

Re: Wife's Surname and Child's Surname - Whats the Islamic way?

thanks, my mum told me that we dont have a requirement to change our name, even after i had my UK registry I have kept that identity because u are always recgonised by ur father. but does the child take the husbands first name, surname or full name - islamically?

4

Re: Wife's Surname and Child's Surname - Whats the Islamic way?

by judging from the arabic texts, it is Ayesha Bint Abu Bakar not Ayesha Bint Siddique (?)
it depends on you, i dont think there are any restrictions..(except when you adopt a child, you are not allowed to change his/her name----the adopter cannot attach his name to the adopted)

5

Ya traditionally how it was done in Arabic was using "bint" -daughter of- or "ibn"/"bin" -son of, not the system of "last names" as we have it now. Like you have Umar bin Khattab, which means Umar the son of Khattab, Khattab being his father. And then Umar's son is Abdullah ibn Umar, Abudullah the son of Umar. Etc. So the child is named from the father, but as far as I know, there isnt any real obligation to take the first name. So if your husband's name is Hassan Yusuf and you have a son named Ali, there is nothing wrong with naming him just Ali Yusuf. Now I am starting to see some people go back to the traditional way, like naming him Ali bin Hassan Yusuf. But as far as I know there is no real obligation to do it like that

[QUOTE]

by judging from the arabic texts, it is Ayesha Bint Abu Bakar not Ayesha Bint Siddique (?)

[/QUOTE]

Yes, but Siddique wasnt his last name, it was his title "The Truthful"

6

Re: Wife's Surname and Child's Surname - Whats the Islamic way?

adopting the husband's last name is indeed a western ideology which by the way they themselves are shunning for the sake of holding on to their own individuality. actually in islam there isn't any concept of last names. islam is very clear about adoption of a child and its NOT allowed to protect one's right of inheritence. one can raise a child but can NOT give his last name. so its abundantlyclear that adopting husband's last name is NOT islamic. thank you

7

if you google around, you will find text from the quran i believe discouraging women from taking their husband's name as their last name after marriage. and in my family, and from most people i know, we have our father's first name as our surnames. eg ayub abdullah has a son and names him hassan ayub.

8
  • Agree that women are encouraged to keep their father's name

*Agree that children get father's name

*Disagree that 'last names' are 'western ideology' not used in the Prophet's time. They were used---they originated as tribe or clan names or indicated the town the family was from. So for example, Fatima bint Muhammad was not simply Fatima bint Muhammad, but Fatima bint Muhammad al Qureishi, and 'al Qureishi' would help distinguish her outside her immediate circle and especially outside the clan. Over time as tribal or clan structures became less important, professions, castes, etc., replaced some of the tribal last names as last names. Even in the West, most of our last names originated in the same way----my maiden name is the clan name for my father's Scottish ancestors and I know anyone with the same name was originally from the same clan hundreds of years ago. So I think using either the father's last or first name is acceptable.

9

Re: Wife's Surname and Child's Surname - Whats the Islamic way?

I think in teh end it depends on the family. In my in laws, the wife and child take teh husbands first name as their last name. I haven't legally changed my name, and i don't plan to. its just not an issue for us.

I mean if ur child were to take your husbands last name as his own name, does it make him or her any less Muslim/Islamic?

10

i want to know the same thing, but everyone is giving their own opinions rather than seeking knowledge from a scholar. sorry but all the opinions are way too confusing and id rather just hear it from someone knowledgable and qualified.

11

Re: Wife's Surname and Child's Surname - Whats the Islamic way?

^why do you need a scholar to advise you on an issue that has an open ended solution? its simple, and pretty much has no restrictions whatsoever..depends on your preference and family tradition.

*also, emphasis on last name was heavy during the pagan/pre-Islamic times, when tribal mentality was at its peak in Arabia. It was widely practiced in east and west...but Christianity kept the tradition and incorporated it in its common law.

Timepass-April 2014
12

I thought it was not possible to name your child like that only in the West? I mean dont you have to include husbands (or ur own - which is not islamically) last name as well?

Like for instance: Usman Khaliq has a son .. and they name him Idris .. so Full name would be Idris Khaliq, but you can include first name to so it will be Idris Usman Khaliq ? and not only Idris Usman, anyone?

13

Re: Wife's Surname and Child's Surname - Whats the Islamic way?

hmmmm to the above i know what u mean, which is y i ask, alot of my friends are using the husbands first name as the surname - and it can sound odd, but on my google searches it says u can also use the husbands full name i.e Usman Khaliq son is Idris 'son of' Usman Khaliq. I have also heard on the day of judgement u are called out by ur fathers name too.

14

Re: Wife's Surname and Child's Surname - Whats the Islamic way?

I know what you mean by the first name as surname.. I have seen it lately happening in my family, but mostly its happening in Pak, I didnt know it was the same procedure in west too?..

Getting to know a potential spouse in different cultures
15

Re: Wife's Surname and Child's Surname - Whats the Islamic way?

Last Name ideology is not Western. Many East Asian cultures have it.

At some points, we need to differentiate Arabic culture and Islamic guidance too.

16

Re: Wife’s Surname and Child’s Surname - Whats the Islamic way?

this shud help a few more…

A Wife Taking Her Husband’s Surname

A Wife Taking Her Husband’s Surname

Question: Dear scholars, As-Salamu `alaykum. Concerning names, is a woman supposed to change her family name to her husband’s name after marriage as it is in the West?

Name of Mufti A Group of Islamic Researchers

Content of Reply Wa `alaykum As-Salamu wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuh.

In the Name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful.

All praise and thanks are due to Allah, and peace and blessings be upon His Messenger.

Dear sister in Islam, we commend your pursuit of knowledge and your keenness to seek what is lawful and avoid what is not. We earnestly implore Allah to bless your efforts in this honorable way.

As regards your question, the adoption by a woman of her husband’s family name is a purely cultural practice that has nothing to do with Islam. It should be known that, “the adoption by a woman of her husband’s family name when she marries him is a token of her being subordinate to him. Historically speaking, a woman was in a position of total subordination to her husband. In Islam, she suffers nothing of the sort. She retains her own family name because she is allowed to act independently of him. If divorce takes place, she returns to her own family. In Western countries, even after divorce, she continues to be known by her husband’s family name. This is strange indeed.”

(Source: IslamiCity.com - Islam & The Global Muslim eCommunity)

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)”

Excerpted, with slight modifications, from: PAKISTAN LINK: Largest USA based Pakistani newspaper – Latest News about Pakistan, Breaking News, World News

Allah Almighty knows best.

17

Re: Wife's Surname and Child's Surname - Whats the Islamic way?

it is haram to use anyone's name as your last name or surname other than your father's. this is the opinion of all the fiqh and scholars. some people in my own family has changed their surnames after marriage and that really annoys me.

It's a right that Islam gives to fathers but unfortunately many muslims aren't aware of this.

18

Re: Wife's Surname and Child's Surname - Whats the Islamic way?

^ can you please provide a reference where it says its haram specifically? thanks!

19

Re: Wife's Surname and Child's Surname - Whats the Islamic way?

^“Call them by (the names of) their fathers: that is juster in the sight of Allah. But if ye know not their father's (names, call them) your Brothers in Faith…” (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)"

Super and Permanent Lotay Joining Imran Khan's PTI
20

Re: Wife’s Surname and Child’s Surname - Whats the Islamic way?

^:smack: