[poRmawayncmop]

asalaamu 'alaikum brothers and sisters,

my name is Steven Bird and I am a muslim revert living in the UK,

I want to change my name for Allah(swt) to Abdullah but I am unsure about a few things:

Firstly it is my understanding that we must keep the names of our fathers, well my biological father is David James, but it is also my understanding that if we have a christian name then we should change it.

So, my first question is do I adopt my fathers first name or surname? i.e: become Abdullah (ibn) David or Abdullah James?

And secondly, both David and James are christian names, so do I have to change them or keep them?


Thanks in advance for any help.

Salaam

[Bromikka]

Assalamu alaykum

Brother Abdullah
May Allah make it easy for you

http://www.askamufti.com/Answers/Vie...uestionId=2526

[voksveta]

asalaamu 'alaikum brothers and sisters,

my name is Steven Bird and I am a muslim revert living in the UK,

I want to change my name for Allah(swt) to Abdullah but I am unsure about a few things:

Firstly it is my understanding that we must keep the names of our fathers, well my biological father is David James, but it is also my understanding that if we have a christian name then we should change it.

So, my first question is do I adopt my fathers first name or surname? i.e: become Abdullah (ibn) David or Abdullah James?

And secondly, both David and James are christian names, so do I have to change them or keep them?


Thanks in advance for any help.

Salaam

I wouldn't say Steven, David and James are Christian names, per se (they don't carry any meaning that is exclusively Christian). So I don't think there would be anything wrong with you remaining Steven. However, if you want to change your name to Abdullah (which is a beautiful name), that's even better.

As far as keeping the name of your father goes, that doesn't necessarily mean it has to be your legal name that appears on documentation. I think it has more to do with acknowledging your lineage. If you were to change your name to Abdullah, you would be Abdullah ibn David.

James is the family name or surname. As far as surnames go, some Arabs use their tribe name as their last name. Usually the tribe name is the name of the great-grandfather from a few generations back. So if the tribe is beni Fulan, then a person named Zayd would put his legal name as Zayd Fulan.

So you can make your legal name Abdullah James. Or you could make it Abdullah bin David, but then David wouldn't really be your last name. However, I don't think Abdullah David would make much sense (without the "ibn" there).

[Paiblyelaxy]

Walaikum Asalaam Warhmatullah,

Brother James, I am not exactly qualified to properly answer your question, but I would like you to welcome you to Islam!

Masha'Allah, if you have some time and feel comfortable doing so, please post a bit of your story about how you came to find and accept Islam (in a separate thread Insha'Allah).

Secondly, I would like to point out that many "Christian" names are really just "English/Biblical" versions of authentic Muslim names, such as "David" comes from Prophet Dawud's (peace be upon him) name. I'm not sure if "James" fits in this category, though I don't think so.

I do however often see revert Muslims with all sorts of last names... from all sorts of "biblical" names to Chinese to African to you name it, so Insha'Allah it should be fine.

Insha'Allah some more knowledgeable brothers will shed some light on this for us.

JazakAllah and please keep us all in your dua's!

[18holesin]

wa `alaykum as-salaam,

Congratulations on your entering into Islam, and we ask Allah to increase you and us in all that is good.

Firstly, you are not obligated in Islam to change your name, as long as it does not have a bad meaning. It is not a sunnah (practice of the Messenger of Allah, prayers and peace be upon him) nor is it considered a recommended act. However, it does give one a sense of Muslim identity, so it can be a good thing - but don't think it is necessary that you do so.

Secondly, you are correct - it is part of the Islamic tradition that we preserve our nasab (i.e. a person's lineage), and in doing so, keeping your family name would be a good thing to do. Keeping your surname (as opposed to changing your name to Ibnu David, or Ibn Dawud) would suffice.

Thirdly, as previously mentioned by some of the other brothers who have commented, those names would not be considered intrinsically 'christian', in the sense that they carry any religious connotations. A 'christian name' and a name popular amongst English people are two different things!

To note: it isn't necessary that you 'change your name' by Deed Poll (or by law). You can simply tell people that your name is Abdullah and you would like to be known as such, this is a much easier and more natural approach to take.

I hope this answers your questions, and I personally think that Abdullah Bird is a pretty slick name!

[poRmawayncmop]

Thank you brothers you have cleared this issuse up for me, so from now onwards please call me Abdullah James (Legally) or Abdullah ibn David


I don't get much time on the computer because I don't own a PC or a laptop right now so I have to use my local libary whenever I access the internet, however I will try my best to stay active on the forum and I will insha'Allah tell my story of how I came to islam soon.

Thanks again for all the help and quick responses

Salaams

[JANALA]

now that your query has been answered would you like to share the story of your journey to Islam with us?
Wassalam

[Liaiskelile]

Bismillah
Please go through the link below. It has useful guides for reverts/converts or anyone starting to find deen and also small part on naming convention
http://www.sunniforum.com/forum/show...one-help/page2

[ReggieRed]

Masha-Allah you have a kunya now ya Ibn David

[Theateetetuig]

David is definitely not christian name, it is anglicized version for muslim name Dawud which is the name of muslim prophet of Allah Dawud a.s, who inturn is also revered by christians and jews.

[DagoIgnog]

James son of Zebedee was one of the Twelve Hawary/followers of Isa/Jesus.

But I don't know the Arab form of the name...

EDIT: James is one of the variants of the name Jacob/Ya'qub. I forgot about the Scottish Jacobite Rebellion which was named after King James.

[aceriscoolon]

asalaamu 'alaikum brothers and sisters,

my name is Steven Bird and I am a muslim revert living in the UK,

I want to change my name for Allah(swt) to Abdullah but I am unsure about a few things:

Firstly it is my understanding that we must keep the names of our fathers, well my biological father is David James, but it is also my understanding that if we have a christian name then we should change it.

So, my first question is do I adopt my fathers first name or surname? i.e: become Abdullah (ibn) David or Abdullah James?

And secondly, both David and James are christian names, so do I have to change them or keep them?


Thanks in advance for any help.

Salaam

The "ibn" isn't necessary. You should keep your fathers name in the middle as most Muslims do,it is definitely encouraged to change your first name to an Islamic name but it isn't obligatory...you should also keep your last name.

So if I was you I'd go with Abdullah James Bird if you want to change your first names to Abdullah.

[DailyRingtone]

You could go a lot of ways with it. You could be 'Abdullah ibn Dawud, or 'Abdullah ibn Dawud Ya'qub, or Abdullah Bird, or all sorts of things like that. There's not really a wrong way to do it.

It's pretty common with converts to just go with the format "Muslim first name/given last name" like Aisha Bewley, Abdassamad Clarke, or in my case Isma'il Marshall. Abdullah Bird has a good precedent.

Also, the proper term is convert, not revert. There is a video by Shaykh Abu Yusuf Riyadh ul-Haq called "Commonly Misunderstood Verses of the Qur'an" that will shed light on this.

[aceriscoolon]

Doesn't he need to have his fathers name in his name?

[JANALA]

Dawud Beale