Common name issues addressed

Some common name issues addressed

posted Jun 22, 2017, 1:03 PM by Luqman A. patrln. Thornton   [ updated Jul 5, 2017, 2:11 PM ]

There are sometimes issues, that upon going forward with the way of Islam, are run into, especially when sharply contrasted from a lifestyle of decadence such as regular drug use and larceny in about the past 100 years of American history.  This is an outline of main points in addressing them:

Preservation of family name

For those that intend to follow the way of Prophet Muhammad, prayers and peace upon, with respect to authenticated unanimously agreed upon sayings, (referring to Quran and Hadeeth, the revealed Holy Book to Muhammad and traditions, sayings, narrations respectively) the family name stays the same; the only rare exceptions where he made statement that a name is now something other than what it was, is if the name is to represent something ominous, like ‘the clan of killers’.

Consistency with the sources of guidance

The two poles, Quran and Hadeeth, have substantial guidance on many aspects of naming.  Those that actually follow the way of Islam, uphold these guides.  Needless to say, extraneous information and direction ‘under color of Islam when not actually’, can be harmful.

On the subject of Anglicization

Some who chose Islam as a way of life, hold the view wherein concerns might arise about Anglicization of a name; there could be inclinations to feel that the original has been distorted from what it once was the result of conformity to religions other than Islam.  Simply put, they might feel or it might be the actual case, that their surname that had been in their family here in America for generations is an offshoot of an earlier name, and far enough distorted that they should do away with it altogether, and therefore ‘change it’ to something that sounds more commonplace in the Middle East Muslim population.

Seeking knowledge

Seeking knowledge of what the name was originally couldn’t hurt, especially given that, that is what it was anyway and who the forebears were.  Seeking knowledge, and seeking knowledge pertinent ancestors is something strongly encouraged in Islam.

As already stated above, changing a name or names is not always necessary, nor the solution for what one might be seeking; sometimes what they are seeking might not even be what they should nor have to.

Refinement

There are cases where youth begin their Islam, and are introduced to numerous concepts, and refine as they go along.  Slight blunders here and there might wind up occurring in the early days in their path of gaining higher knowledge and increased understanding.

Associations with behavior

There are some cases where a name is spelled exactly as some Middle East region Muslim, and because others in mass numbers with the name here in modern day America have behaved in manners ignoble, some followers of Islam are inclined to change it, in some cases not knowing that there is a Muslim down the street that arrived from Eastern Africa or Syria with the same name as the man gone to no good.  Examples of these are Michel or Michael, and Harris.

The ‘American’ some might disdain, might have more to it than they thought

In some cases, the ‘American’ name, currently associated with acting up in immoral activities, might have been the name of a great grandfather that was a morally behaved Muslim, his children and grandchildren got involved with immorality, and the knowledge of how the name came to be was forgotten.  In sequence, the great grandchild comes upon a well-behaved set of Islam adherents and they pressure him or her to change the name from Michel or Harris to something that might be a name ‘thought more appropriate’, for example, popular because it is described as the best names to choose from, is from the list of the Isma’ al Husna, also known as Ninety-nine Attributes of Allah.

Use of Abdul

On the note of the Isma’ al Husna, the concept of naming persons Abdul, should not be taken out of context.  Often Abdul is used when naming a boy or male in combination, of one of the Isma’ al Husna, such as Abdul Rahman, or AbdulRahman and other spelling variations, where Rahman is a well known name of these.  If that be the principle for the system of naming, loosely using Abdul when not appropriate before any name, can wind up awkward.  For example, Prophets in the Quran, Musa, his brother Haroon, Ibrahim, and so on; in a world today of roughly 7 billion people, a third of which are Muslim, it is not often one finds ‘Abdul Musa’, ‘Abdul Ibrahim’, and so forth.  It is often held by Islam adherents that seeking guidance thorough in the naming process is important, respectful, and can help preclude woes in the future.

Different circumstance if one of these names is an established family name.

With respect to surnames

In some parts of the world, where there are very poor, some do not receive a family name or surname.  For example, abandoned children in the streets of India, who no one knows who their parents are, or their parents immigrated seeking asylum and had virtually nothing, and died; the child might be given a name, but not a second name.

In accepted historical accounts about 1930s Turkey, everyone had to take a surname.