The myth of Islamic Names
By: A. Mohamed

It has been known to happen that every time a person wishes to convert to Islam he/she is pressured by those who claim to be the custodians of the faith with a number of requirements that he/she has to go through in order to become a Muslim (Submitter to God)!

One of these non-Quranic requirements is the need to change one's name and adopt a new Islamic Name! Not only is the concept of an Islamic Name a false concept, but it is also an innovation that has no basis in the Quran. With direct reference to the Quran, it can be demonstrated that there is no such thing as an Islamic Name. The Quran stresses the fact that Islam (Submission to God) is a state of the heart and not the name or tag over a person's head!

The requirements set by God for any person to be a Muslim are simply for that person to proclaim submission to God alone, and consequently observe the rituals required for worshipping God alone (see: How to become a Muslim). There is no mention anywhere in the Quran of the need to change one's name so as to have an Islamic Name, so where did this innovation come from?

Let us look closely into the concept of Islamic Names.

If you are a man wishing to adopt Islam they will advise you to choose a name like Muhammad, Ali, or Ahmad, etc. If you are a woman, they will advise you to choose a name such as Khadija, Fatma, or Zeinab, etc.

But are these really Islamic Names, or are they merely Arabic Names? Moreover, is there such a thing as an Islamic Name?

The answer to the first question is that these names are in fact Arabic Names. The evidence to this fact lies in the Quran.

We are told in the Quran that Abraham and his sons were Muslims:

Abraham was neither a Jew, nor a Christian; but was a monotheist Muslim (Submitter) and was not one of the mushrikeen. 3:67

We read that Abraham's seed were also Muslims:

Or were you witnesses when death came to Jacob, when he said to his children, "What will you worship after I am gone?" They said, "We worship your God and the God of your fathers; Abraham, Ishmael and Isaac. One God, and to Him we are Submitters." 2:133

All the believers after Abraham and his seed were also Muslims, in the following verse we read that Jesus and the disciples were also Muslims:

And when I inspired the disciples: "Believe in Me and My messenger." They said, "We have believed, so bear witness that we are Muslims." 5:111

We learn from the Quran that all genuine believers from the time of Abraham onwards were Muslim. This includes prophets like Lot, Jacob and Isaac and also disciples like Peter, John, Matthew.

If we take a closer look at some of these names such as Lot, Jacob, Isaac, Peter, Matthew, then compare them to some of the current names in the world today, we find that some of these names are in fact names used by the Jews such as Jacob and Isaac, while others are names used by Christians like Peter and Mathew, yet all these names belonged to men who were Muslim. As a result, we should question as to whether the Arabic names such as Muhammad, Ahmed, Khadijah and Fatima are to be described as "the" Islamic Names, or are they merely Arabic names?

In addition, all these so-called Islamic Names Zaid, Hussein, Ahmed, Umar, Khadijah, Fatima, Zeinab belonged to people who were practicing idol worship in Mecca until the Quran started coming down after which they adopted Islam.

None of the good Muslims like Lot, Isaac, Jacob or Peter, had to go to any human establishment and change their names to a name such as Ali or Ahmad in order to become Muslims, did they?

If that is so, then why do Muslim Imams advise new converts to change their names and adopt an Islamic Name?

One of the customs taught to Muslims since their childhood is to have excessive love, bordering on idol worship, for all the prophet's family and friends. They grow up in the belief that all the family and friends of Muhammad are saint-like figures. As a result, they believe that to call their child by the name of one of the prophet's family members is some kind of a blessing to the child. Equally, they think that a convert who changes his/her name to one of these so-called Islamic Names will incur God's blessings! This explains why they advise the change of name to new converts.

By doing so, they totally ignore the fact that God never laid any importance on names nor appearance in the Quran. The Quran consistently confirms that those who will be saved in the Hereafter are those who arrive to God with devoted hearts, and not those who arrive with names of the prophet's family members!

In reality, the act of becoming a true Muslim makes it necessary for a person to abandon their idolatry but not their identity.

The Quran also tells us that it is God who gave everything its name.

Furthermore, since Islam is a universal faith that does not distinguish between any culture, race or colour, the act of insisting on an Arabic name change, thinking it is an Islamic Name, does not make the person a Muslim in any way, but in fact, it alienates the person from the universality of Islam.