Question :
A question was asked regarding [the validity of] a woman assuming her husband’s [last/sur-] name.
Fatwa in Brief: It is not permitted. This
is because a woman’s legal affiliation (nasab)
must primarily be to her father [and not the husband].
To alter this is forbidden (haram).
Permanent Committee, 20/378
Response:
If changing the name of person shifts his/her legal
affiliation [“nasab”, often translated as
“lineage”] away from his/her father, then, it is not
permitted; and there is a severe warning against doing
so. However, the woman who adds her husband’s name to
her name does not deny [the importance of] her father or
family. It is an addition due to marriage, not to
nasab.
Commentary:
Changing names is permitted, if it is done for the
purpose of seeking a better name. However, if changing
the name results in changing one’s nasab, then it
is forbidden. In al-Bukhari, one Prophetic hadith,
said, “The greatest lie is when a man relates himself to
other than his father”.
If a woman adds the name of her husband or his family to
hers, and removes her father’s name, this practice
neither belongs to Islam or to the cultures of the
countries in which Muslims live. For, God says:
“Proclaim their real parentage. That will be more
equitable in the sight of God. And if ye know not their
fathers, then (they are) your brethren in the faith, and
your clients”. (Q. 33:5)
And He also says:
“And Mary, daughter of ‘Imran, whose body was
chaste”. (Q. 66:12)
Thus [we note that], despite his revered status with God
and among the people, the wives of the Prophet (upon him
be peace) did not relate themselves, through their
names, to the Prophet (upon him be peace). [Like Maryam
in the above verse] ‘Aisha was referred to as “‘Aisha
the daughter of Abu Bakr”; while Hafsa was “Hafsa, the
daughter of ‘Umar”; and Zainab was “Zainab, the daughter
of Jahsh”, and so on.
Nowadays, however, if a woman adds her husband’s name to
her own, it does not deny [the importance of] her father
or family. People should know that the name is that of
her husband, and not that of her father. Thus, it is an
addition due to marriage, and is unrelated to the matter
of nasab.
“Allah citeth an example for those who disbelieve:
the wife of Noah and the wife of Lot”
(Q. 66:10)
The meaning is merely that she is the wife of this
person. The change in name does not indicate that she is
no longer related to her father. Hence, this change is
not forbidden, providing that [the nature] of it is
known by the general public. As for formal paperwork
certifying ones identity, then it should only state so
and so daughter of so and so, naming the father only.
Some scholars say that it [changing one’s name] is
[forbidden because it involves] imitating the [practices
of the] disbelievers. Imitating without intention,
however, is not forbidden (haram).
And God knows best.
Dr. Anas Abu Shadi
