Comments on: What’s in a Muslim name?

By: williams

williams — Sat, 09 Apr 2011 10:16:51 +0000

I would be surprised if its really ‘islamic’ to change your name. This practice was also present in the Roman Catholic/Christian conversions of ‘pagans’ worldwide.It seems like a game of ‘How many have you got?’ ‘We’ve converted more than you!’ It also places barriers between people, it allows for prejudices to flourish. No one knows who is a true believer of any religion, only God knows.I prefer to aknowledge people for their behaviour rather than simply going by someones name. There are many people named after Prophets who live lives completely opposite to the teachings of these Prophets. Just as there are lots of very decent people who by a stroke of fate named with non religious names. The name of the person does not matter the slightest, what matters is whether they are decent people or indecent people. Stop being pedantic and do not judge a book by its cover!

By: Katie

Katie — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 02:42:30 +0000

Ohh excellent!! thankyou very much for your help! Kind Regards

By: Indigo Jo

Indigo Jo — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 22:30:57 +0000

Hi Katie, the name Katie is short for Catherine, which means pure in Greek, so it’s not un-Islamic in its meaning; the Arabic name Taahir, which was the name of one of the sons of the Prophet (sall’ Allahu ‘alaihi wa sallam) means the same thing (Taahira is the female version).

Louise derives from the German Ludwig, which originally meant “famous warrior”.

By: Katie

Katie — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 13:27:28 +0000

Hi, I’m soo glad I found this blog! I’m soon to convert to being a muslim and the name change seems daunting.. does anybody know if Katie or Louise have any anti islamic meanings?

By: nurina

nurina — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 00:42:15 +0000

Oh dear God. Some Muslims in Malaysia are soooooooooo petty. About things like names….. when God only wanted us to have good meaning names. And yes, ‘they’ require that converts chose a new ‘Islamic’ name (when they is no such thing as an Islamic name since Islam isn’t a language or culture) and put the ‘bin Abdullah’ after the first name. That is so not required by Islam. The ‘bin’ and ‘binti’ comes from the Malays imitating the Arabs who have ibn/i to denote daughter/son of. Muslms with no bin or binti like my kids who were all born abroad are ridiculed at school by these so called alim kids. Gah! Such ignorance. And you’d think at this day and Age of the Internet, people would be more informed.

By: Saggal

Saggal — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 12:56:47 +0000

>both being strict shafi’is, at least historically. I have heard that a lot of the same texts are used for teaching in both countries.

Yes, that’s right and is the main reason for my preference of Malaysian Islam, or rather, Islam as practised by Malays.

I understand Somalis were also influenced by the Qadiriyyah Tariqah but it’s the Shafi’i school that predominates, or used to. Nowadays, Islam in Somalia (esp. the troubled south) has splintered into numerous factions with each faction fighting everyone else:-( You almost feel the end of times will start there (if not Pakistan).

By: bingregory

bingregory — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 11:22:14 +0000

Salams - That’s a very kind thing to say, so I won’t argue :-D Actually Somalis and Malays are very close in religious practice, both being strict shafi’is, at least historically. I have heard that a lot of the same texts are used for teaching in both countries.

By: Saggal

Saggal — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 08:27:49 +0000

Salaams bingregory,

Yes in predominantly Muslim countries it’s easy to forget a name’s association with Arabic. The first I time I heard of a convert sister called Waris, I wondered why she’d chosen a Somali name for herself!

BTW, my husband travels thru’ Malaysia and Indonesia a lot for business and am always saying to him that in case of any doubt/confusion over some aspect/practice of the deyn, he should look to Malaysia for guidance! This is not to say Indonesian society is any less Islamic, but to my mind, Malaysians are stricter.

By: bingregory

bingregory — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 03:43:14 +0000

Many muslim names get used so much in a particular country/culture that they lose their association with Arabic. My son’s name is Ridhwan, after the angel, but it has 20 different spellings and pronunciations and I have had many people, turks in particular, beam with pride and tell me that is a turkish name, not an arabic one.

Although you’re absolutely right that a distinctly islamic first name is not required, I think for men in particular it is a good idea for the same reason as wearing a kufi and beard: enough people doing it makes the public sphere a bit less hostile for everybody, especially our sisters. What grates me is the perception (in Malaysia where I live) that the convert’s last name must be changed, to Abdullah, for arcane reasons.

By: Umm Layth

Umm Layth — Sat, 13 Jun 2009 07:14:56 +0000

as salamu alaykum I pretty much do what you do but I don’t have a name that I could of easily adopted in Arabic. I wanted to change my name legally (only first) but realized it wouldn’t be wise with my family. Alhamdulillah I try to inform everyone I keep in contact with who knows me by my Muslim name that I also have a non Muslim name just in case the need ever came up to know.