After embracing Islam, I ignorantly changed my name to one of Allah’s 99
names. It’s been a year and all my records reflect this name not to mention
that everyone is accustomed to it. Am I burdened to officially put an
Abdul infront of my name or can I just start verbally using it? Also, I was
told that it was haram to change my name.
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11,87822/04/1998
Calling oneself by one of Allaah’s names in ignorance
Question: 1783
Answer
Praise be to Allah, and peace and blessings be upon the Messenger of Allah and his family.
Some of Allaahs names are also suitable for human beings and it is permissible to use them, so long as one distinguishes between the meaning applied to the Creator and the meaning applied to the created being, such as Kareem (generous), Lateef (kind), Shaheed (witness), Hakeem (wise), etc. Other Divine names may not be given to human beings because they are befitting only for Allaah, such as al-Baari (the Creator), al-Raaziq (the Provider), al-Muhyi (the Giver of Life), al-Awwal (the First), al-Aakhir (the Last), etc.
If your name is of the first type, then there is nothing wrong with it. If it is of the second type, then putting the word “Abd” (slave of) in front of the name will solve the problem. May Allaah help us to adhere to the truth.
And Allaah knows best.
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Source:
Sheikh Muhammed Salih Al-Munajjid
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