Ruling on Changing Names
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
Question:
A message was received by the program from one of the listening brothers. The sender is your brother (N. K. R), a Pakistani, who asks and says: I am a Pakistani Muslim, a Muslim by birth and lineage, and my name is not easy to pronounce. Many people call me by the name Muhammad. One day I went to the mosque to pray, and one of the brothers asked me my name, so I told him that my name is Muhammad. Is this permissible or not? I have sought forgiveness from Allah, because this has affected my conscience.
Answer:
If you are not named Muhammad in terms of official records, and your name is not Muhammad in your passport or ID, but rather some people call you Muhammad, then you should not tell people that your name is Muhammad, unless you have decided to change your name and make it Muhammad instead of the name your family gave you. In that case, there is no harm. However, lying to some people is not allowed. Repentance from this is sufficient, along with seeking forgiveness.
As for if you intend to make it your name, or to use it permanently instead of the name your family gave you, there is no harm in that. It is permissible to change the name, and praise be to Allah.
The presenter: May Allah bless you.
A message was received by the program from one of the listening brothers. The sender is your brother (N. K. R), a Pakistani, who asks and says: I am a Pakistani Muslim, a Muslim by birth and lineage, and my name is not easy to pronounce. Many people call me by the name Muhammad. One day I went to the mosque to pray, and one of the brothers asked me my name, so I told him that my name is Muhammad. Is this permissible or not? I have sought forgiveness from Allah, because this has affected my conscience.
Answer:
If you are not named Muhammad in terms of official records, and your name is not Muhammad in your passport or ID, but rather some people call you Muhammad, then you should not tell people that your name is Muhammad, unless you have decided to change your name and make it Muhammad instead of the name your family gave you. In that case, there is no harm. However, lying to some people is not allowed. Repentance from this is sufficient, along with seeking forgiveness.
As for if you intend to make it your name, or to use it permanently instead of the name your family gave you, there is no harm in that. It is permissible to change the name, and praise be to Allah.
The presenter: May Allah bless you.
Source
binbaz.org.sa
The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.