I truely believe that any person's last name, whether male or female, must be addressed by his/her father's name
Mu' meneen
Brothers and Sisters,
As Salaam Aleikum wa
Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuh. (May Allah's Peace, Mercy and Blessings be
upon all of you)
One of our
brothers/sisters has asked this question:
In the name of
Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful.
I seek refuge in
Allah from satan the cursed.
Salaams brother Burhan:
I truely believe that any person's last name, whether male or
female, must be addressed by his/her father's name, regardless of any other
book except Quran or any person. Eg. A person's first name is Ebrahim,
father's name is Abdullah and last name is Poonawala;
thus the person's true full name must be Ebrahim ibn Abdullah and not Ebrahim Poonawala. This is exactly how the names of all the
people were denoted. Can anyone tell me the names of anyone during our Prophets
time that his/her last names were: Poonawala, Gopalwala, Bandukwala, Pakorawala, Motiwala, etc., etc.
Best Regards and
God Bless.
(There may be some grammatical and spelling errors in the above statement. The forum does not change anything from questions, comments and statements received from our readers for circulation in confidentiality.)
Answer:
Father’s name
In the name of Allah, We praise
Him, seek His help and ask for His forgiveness. Whoever Allah guides none can
misguide, and whoever He allows to fall astray, none can guide them aright. We
bear witness that there is no one (no idol,
no person, no grave, no prophet, no imam,
no dai,
nobody!) worthy of worship but Allah Alone, and we bear witness that
Muhammad(saws) is His slave-servant and the seal of His Messengers.
Indeed, Allah has indeed guided
the believers to be recognized by their father’s name.
Allah says in the Holy
Quran Chapter 33 Surah Ahzaab
verse 5: Call them by (the names) of their fathers: that is juster in
the sight of Allah. But if ye know
not their father's (names call them) your Brothers in faith or your
friends. But there is no blame on you
if ye make a mistake therein: (what counts is) the
intention of your hearts: and Allah is Oft-Returning Most Merciful.
But there is absolutely no harm
if one keeps a name for his recognition through his trade, geographical
location, tribe, etc.
Allah says in the Holy
Quran Chapter 49 Surah Hujuraat
verse 13: O
mankind! We created you from a
single (pair) of a male and a female, and made you into
nations and tribes that ye may know each other (not that ye may despise each
other). Verily the most honored of you in the sight of
Allah, is (he who is) the most righteous of you. And Allah has full knowledge and is well
acquainted (with all things).
Even at the time of the Prophet
(saws), the people were recognized through the name of their tribes, like Banu-Hashim, Banu-Ummayyah, Banu-Makhzoom, etc.
Some of the closest companions of the Messenger of Allah (saws) were
known through their geographical location, like Hadrat
Salman Al-Faarsi (from Faris-Iran), Hadrat Sohaib Romi (from
Thus there is absolutely no harm
if today, one keeps his last name for recognition purposes like Poonawala, or Bandukwala, or Motiwala, etc.
Whatever written of Truth and benefit
is only due to Allah’s Assistance and Guidance, and whatever of error is of
me. Allah Alone Knows Best and He is the
Only Source of Strength.
Your Brother in Islam,
Burhan
Wister