WOMEN TAKING THEIR HUSBANDS

Many sisters in our community have taken the names of their husbands

without realizing that they should have kept their father’s name.

Should they change their name back to the father’s name or is it

allowed to keep the husband’s name?



It is a common custom in the west and also among muslims that after

marriage, women drop their father’s name and take up their husband’s

surname. However in Islam this is haraam and is not allowed in

sharee’ah, because it is not permissible for anyone to claim to belong

to anyone other than his or her father.



Allaah says: “Call them (adopted sons) by (the names of) their

fathers, that is more just with Allaah…” [al-Ahzaab 33:5].



The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “Allaah

has cursed the one who claims to belong to someone other than his

father.” (Reported by Imaam Ahmad and others)



Why a woman should not take her husband’s surname



The effects of imitating the west in naming ourselves are many. One of

them the habit of women taking their husband’s surnames.



Originally, the woman is So and so the Daughter of So and so, not So

and so the wife of So and so! Allaah says (interpretation of the

meaning):



“Call them (adopted sons) by (the names of) their fathers, that is

more just with Allaah…” [al-Ahzaab 33:5].



As it is in this world, so it will also be in the Hereafter, as the

Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said:



“On the Day of Resurrection, each betrayer will have a banner raised

beside him, and it will be said, this is the betrayer of So and so the

son of So and so.” (Narrated by al-Bukhaari, 5709, and Muslim, 3265).



Shaykh Bakr Abu Zayd (may Allaah preserve him) said: This is one of

the beauties of sharee’ah, because calling a person by his father’s

name is more appropriate for knowing who is who and telling people

apart. The father is the protector and maintainer of the child and his

mother both inside and outside the home. This is why the father mixes

with people in the marketplaces and takes risks by travelling to earn

a halaal living and strive for their sakes.



So the child is given the name of the father, not of the mother who is

hidden away and who is one of those whom Allaah commanded

(interpretation of the meaning):



“And stay in your houses…” [al-Ahzaab 33:33]



(Tasmiyat al-Mawlood, 30, 31).



On the basis of the above, there is no blood tie between the husband

and wife, so how can she take his surname as if she is part of the

same lineage? Moreover, she may get divorced, or her husband may die,

and she may marry another man.



Will she keep changing her surname every time she marries another man?

Furthermore, there are rulings attached to her being named after her

father, which have to do with inheritance, spending and who is a

mahram, etc.



Taking her husband’s surname overlooks all that. The husband is named

after his own father, and what does she have to do with the lineage of

her husband’s father? This goes against common sense and true facts.

The husband has nothing that makes him better than his wife so that

she should take his surname, whilst he takes his father’s name.



Hence everyone who has gone against this and taken her husband’s name

should put matters right. We ask Allaah to put all the affairs of the

Muslims right.



-Please share this with your Muslim sisters- —



Why do you think Aisha (r) is called Aisha binte Abu Bakr and NOT

Aisha Muhammad ? or why is it Fatimah(r) binte Muhammad and not Fatima

Ali(r)?



None of the Sahabias were called by their husbands name after

marriage…Don’t you think Aisha (r) would have loved to have her

surname as Muhammad?