Changing the names of sick children in the hope of a cure
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Q: I am a married woman with five children, praise be to Allah, and two of them are ill and their health is deteriorating. One of them does not have the ability to speak, and praise be to Allah for what He has decreed for me; there is no objection to His command and decree. The question is: My husband’s mother told us to change their names, perhaps they will be cured; because sometimes a name is heavy on a person, or it is not their name. Their names, praise be to Allah, are good, and they are Ibrahim and Hassan . The intention when naming them was to hope from Allah that they would be righteous, as Ibrahim (peace be upon him) was, and as the Companion Hassan ibn Thabit (may Allah be pleased with him) was. As for the names we were told to change them to, they are ( Ali or Isa ) for Ibrahim, and ( Husayn or Diyaf Allah ) for Hassan, and we took them to hospitals and they did tests and CT scans, and everything was normal. They have no disease, and it was suggested that their condition is hereditary, especially since there are disabled people in the family and those with other illnesses. And there are some
tests that will be sent to America or Germany, and some of them were sent to the Specialized Hospital in Riyadh, as for Hassan, he improved after he was ill before the tests and CT scans were done, and the cause was a deficiency in vitamins, iron, and others, and treatments were prescribed for him for a period of about three months. But my husband’s mother said: When I changed his name, he changed and started walking, and... to no end, and the reason, as she says, is the change of name. What is your opinion on this matter, and is it considered a form of pessimism or not? Now the boys Ibrahim and Hassan , some call them by the names we gave them, and some call them by the proposed names. As for me, their mother, I have not called them by anything other than what I named them before, and neither has their father. But my husband’s mother tells us that the names must be changed as she wants, and she ordered my other children to call them by those names to pressure us to call them by the new names. And as for their evidence that this is beneficial, there are those who changed their children’s names and they were cured immediately, and there are many who did this, according to some of them, and before that, they had treated them before changing the name. Is changing the name in this case permissible or not permissible? And is it considered undutifulness for my husband not to change the names of the children according to his mother’s wish?
A: The original ruling regarding changing names is permissibility, especially if the change is to a better name. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) changed some of the names of
the Companions. However, changing names for the sake of healing from illness is not permissible; because it is from false beliefs, as it has not been established by the Shari'ah or by sense that this is a cause of healing from diseases. And your husband not changing the names of his children in response to his mother’s wish is not considered undutifulness, for obedience is only in what is good, and there is no obedience to a created being in disobedience to the Creator.
tests that will be sent to America or Germany, and some of them were sent to the Specialized Hospital in Riyadh, as for Hassan, he improved after he was ill before the tests and CT scans were done, and the cause was a deficiency in vitamins, iron, and others, and treatments were prescribed for him for a period of about three months. But my husband’s mother said: When I changed his name, he changed and started walking, and... to no end, and the reason, as she says, is the change of name. What is your opinion on this matter, and is it considered a form of pessimism or not? Now the boys Ibrahim and Hassan , some call them by the names we gave them, and some call them by the proposed names. As for me, their mother, I have not called them by anything other than what I named them before, and neither has their father. But my husband’s mother tells us that the names must be changed as she wants, and she ordered my other children to call them by those names to pressure us to call them by the new names. And as for their evidence that this is beneficial, there are those who changed their children’s names and they were cured immediately, and there are many who did this, according to some of them, and before that, they had treated them before changing the name. Is changing the name in this case permissible or not permissible? And is it considered undutifulness for my husband not to change the names of the children according to his mother’s wish?
A: The original ruling regarding changing names is permissibility, especially if the change is to a better name. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) changed some of the names of
the Companions. However, changing names for the sake of healing from illness is not permissible; because it is from false beliefs, as it has not been established by the Shari'ah or by sense that this is a cause of healing from diseases. And your husband not changing the names of his children in response to his mother’s wish is not considered undutifulness, for obedience is only in what is good, and there is no obedience to a created being in disobedience to the Creator.
Source
www.alifta.gov.sa
The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.