Nine years ago a chinese friend of mine sought to embrace Islam when she was in the United States. Among the questions she asked the scholar was the need for her to rename her father as Abdullah (Subject of God) as being practised in Malaysia. The scholar said no where does it say that she needs to change her father’s name.
This topic is in response to the current dilemma that came about after the Mufti of Perlis, in the state of Perlis’s Fatwa Meeting, deemed the act of renaming one’s father upon embracing Islam as “sinful”.
Yes, sinful.
Those opposed are crying foul citing examples like: Ahmad bin Pope, or Ali bin Subramaniam and so on, saying those names are unIslamic.
I am a proponent of the call by the Mufti of Perlis. The opponents should realise that one of the reasons non-Muslim families shudder at the thought of any of their members embracing Islam is the need to change the father’s name to Abdullah: psychologically side-lining the father and the family. What they should also realise is that it is the embracee’s name that needs to be changed to something nicer should his non-Muslim name sound or mean bad things: ie. KULOP, BATANG, TOILET and so on. The embracee is still his/her father’s child. Therefore it would be very unjust to deny the father of the embracee his claim over his own child. I believe the changing of the father’s name to Abdullah psychologically severes the tie that binds them as father and child.
May I quote from my source, the Holy Quran, which is my A1 source of information on Islam, as I do not hold the words of scholars to be true and just, from Surah al-Azhab (The Confederates) 33:5:
Call them (adopted sons) by (the names of) their fathers, that is more just with Allâh. But if you know not their father’s (names, call them) your brothers in faith and Mawâlîkum (your freed slaves). And there is no sin on you if you make a mistake therein, except in regard to what your hearts deliberately intend. And Allâh is Ever OftÂForgiving, Most Merciful.
SeaDemon Says 