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﴿ فَاسْأَلُوا أَهْلَ الذِّكْرِ إِن كُنتُمْ لَا تَعْلَمُونَ ﴾

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Ruling on changing names that denote servitude to other than Allah

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In the last part of the letter, the brother Yusray 'Abd al-Nabi says: I have a request. My name is 'Abd al-Nabi. Is it possible to change it to 'Abd Allah, for example?
Answer: As long as it is your father's name and he has passed away, it is not changed. However, if your father is alive, it is obligatory to change it; because it is not permissible to say: 'Abd al-Nabi, or 'Abd al-Rasul, or 'Abd al-Husayn. Servitude is for Allah alone: 'Abd Allah, 'Abd al-Rahman, 'Abd al-Latif, 'Abd al-Malik. Servitude is for Allah alone, and it is not permissible to attribute servitude to other than Allah by the consensus of the Muslims.
Ibn Hazm said: The scholars agreed that it is not permissible to attribute servitude to other than Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He). Therefore, it is not permissible for a Muslim to attribute servitude to other than Allah. So, one should not say: 'Abd al-Ka'bah, or 'Abd al-Nabi, or 'Abd al-Rasul, or 'Abd al-Husayn, or 'Abd al-Hasan, or anything else. Servitude must be for Allah. If your father is alive, it is obligatory for him to change this name. If he is dead, there is no need to change it. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) did not change the names of his fathers, 'Abd al-Muttalib and 'Abd Manaf; he did not change the names. He said:
I am the Prophet, I do not lie, I am the son of 'Abd al-Muttalib.
And he did not change the name 'Abd al-Muttalib. Likewise, the names of the pre-Islamic age of ignorance were not changed: 'Abd Manaf, and 'Abd so-and-so, and 'Abd so-and-so, from the previous people of the pre-Islamic age of ignorance. Yes.
Source binbaz.org.sa

The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.

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