Wife taking her husband’s name

5-3-2009 | IslamWeb

Question:

Dear Faculty,I have read in few islamic sites that a wife cannot change her Family name with her Husband's name which is HARAAM in Islam.For example, as my name is Atif so can my Wife change her name as SAMRA ATIF instead of her previous name SAMRA MAZHAR SINDHU. Please clarify it?

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Answer:

All perfect praise be to Allaah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah, and that Muhammad is His slave and Messenger.

It is not permissible for your wife to be named after you in a way that she will be named ‘‘Samra Atif’’ because this is contrary to the Quran, as Allaah Says (what means): {Call them (adopted sons) by (the names of) their fathers, that is more just with Allaah.}[Quran 33:5] This is also contrary to the Prophetic narration which states that it is prohibited for a person to be named after other than his father. In addition to this, being named after someone else is an act of imitating the non-Muslims.

For more benefit, please refer to Fataawa 89932 and 85803.

Allaah Knows best.