Changing surname (family name) to husband’s name after marriage is Prohibited in Islam

It is a common act seen across many cultures that women change their surname from father’s to their husband’s surname after marriage. This is widely practiced throughout the world and Muslims have also adopted it. But, how many of you are aware that it is not permissible for a woman (after marriage to change her surname from her father to that of her husband? Example, before marriage she was “Fatima maqsood Ali” and after marriage to Sajid Siddique, she changes to “Fatima Sajid Siddique” or just “Fatima Sajid”.It is not permissible for a woman to take her husband’s name or his family name because that is attributing oneself to someone other than one’s father, and imitating the kuffaar from whom this custom was adopted.Allah says in Surah Ahzaab, ayah 5:ادْعُوهُمْ لِآبَائِهِمْ هُوَ أَقْسَطُ عِندَ اللَّـهِ ۚ فَإِن لَّمْ تَعْلَمُوا آبَاءَهُمْ فَإِخْوَانُكُمْ فِي الدِّينِ وَمَوَالِيكُمْ ۚوَلَيْسَ عَلَيْكُمْ جُنَاحٌ فِيمَا أَخْطَأْتُم بِهِ وَلَـٰكِن مَّا تَعَمَّدَتْ قُلُوبُكُمْ ۚ وَكَانَ اللَّـهُ غَفُورًا رَّحِيمًا ﴿٥﴾

“Call them (adopted sons) by (the names of) their fathers, that is more just with Allaah…” [al-Ahzaab 33:5]There are some very stern warnings regarding this from Allah and his Prophet (pbuh). Read below:“(وقال النبي صلى الله عليه وسلّم : مَنْ انْتَسَبَ إِلَى غَيْرِ أَبِيهِ .. فَعَلَيْهِ لَعْنَةُ اللَّهِ وَالْمَلائِكَةِ وَالنَّاسِ أَجْمَعِينَ (رواه ابن ماجة ,كتاب الحدود,2707 وهو في صحيح الجامع 6104″The Prophet (pbuh) said: “Whoever calls himself by other than his father’s name (or attributes himself to someone other than his father), will be cursed by Allaah, the angels and all the people.” (Reported by Ibn Maajah, Book of punishments, 2707) Further more,It was narrated that Sa’d ibn Abi Waqqaas and Abu Bakrah said: The Messenger of Allaah (pbuh) said: “Whoever claims after having become Muslim to belong to someone who is not his father, knowing that he is not his father, Paradise will be forbidden to him.” [Bukhaari 4072 and Muslim 63] A related hadith that supports this argument although referring to male:روى البخاري (3508) ومسلم (61) عَنْ أَبِي ذَرٍّ رَضِيَ اللَّهُ عَنْهُ أَنَّهُ سَمِعَ النَّبِيَّ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ يَقُولُ : لَيْسَ مِنْ رَجُلٍ ادَّعَى لِغَيْرِ أَبِيهِ وَهُوَ يَعْلَمُهُ إِلَّا كَفَرَ وَمَنْ ادَّعَى قَوْمًا لَيْسَ لَهُ فِيهِمْ فَلْيَتَبَوَّأْ مَقْعَدَهُ مِنْ النَّارِNarrated from Abu Dharr (ra) that he heard the Prophet (pbuh) say: “Any man who knowingly attributes himself to someone other than his father is guilty of kufr. Whoever claims to belong to a people when he has nothing to do with them, let him take his place in Hell.” [Bukhari 3508 and Muslim 61]It is not permitted for anyone to claim to belong to anyone other than his father. Imitating the kuffaar by dropping the wife’s surname and giving her the husband’s name is prohibited (haraam); it is also a form of falsehood, and humiliation of the woman. There is no blood tie between the husband and wife, so how can she take his surname (or name) as if she is part of the same lineage?Moreover, she may get divorced, or her husband may die, and she may marry another man. Will she keep changing her surname every time she marries another man? Furthermore, there are rulings attached to her being named after her father, which have to do with inheritance, spending and who is a mahram, etc. Taking her husband’s surname overlooks all that.The husband is named after his own father, and what does she have to do with the lineage of her husband’s father? This goes against common sense and true facts. The husband has nothing that makes him better than his wife so that she should take his surname, whilst he takes his father’s name.In many cases it has been seen that the woman is not ready to change the surname and the husband forces her to do so. Who doesn’t love his or her own name given to us by our father?Anyone who has done this must repent to Allaah and put it right by going back to her father’s name. Please revert back to your fathers lineage or fathers name! Each one of us are accountable for our actions on the Day of Judgement! Don’t obey others to disobey Allah (even if it be your parents or your husband).May Allah guide us to the right path! Ameen!Allah knows best!

The following is the Fatwa of Standing committee (IFTA):

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Translation of the above Fatwa from IFTA:Is it permissible for a woman to change her lineage or surname after marriage to her husband’s name or his lineage?Question: It is common in some countries that a Muslim woman changes her lineage after marriage to her husband’s name or his lineage. For example, If Zainab marries Zaid, then is it permissible for her to write her name as “Zainab Zaid” or is it from culture which must be avoided and she must be warned of it?Answer: It is not permissible for a human to attach lineage other than his father. Allah says “Call them (adopted sons) by (the names of) their fathers, that is more just with Allah”, and stern warning has come regarding changing the lineage to other than father. And based on this, it is not permitted for a woman to change her lineage after marriage to her husband as is done among the Kuffaar and those who imitate them from amongst the Muslims. With Allah is guidance and peace and blessings of Allah be upon our prophet.The Permanent committee of Scholarly Research and Ifta: Shaykh Bin Baaz, Shaykh bin Uthaymeen and Shaykh Naseerudding Al Albani.
***Start of Answer***“In our eagerness to copy the West, we Muslims have adopted many of their practices which have no basis in the Sharee’ah. And among them is the practice of a woman changing her family name to that of her husband after she gets married.
The fact is that Islam does not require woman to change her name at marriage and there is nothing in the Sunnah to indicate that a woman should take her husband’s name after she gets married.
Actually, the Ulama tell us that this is an innovated practice that is not approved of in Islaam. Now, I know some people will say…“ Oh, come on…What is the big deal?!!” So read on and you will know what I mean….The wives of the Prophet (Sal Allaahu Alaiyhi wa Sallam) are the Mothers of the Believers, and the Prophet (Sal Allaahu Alaiyhi wa Sallam), is the noblest of people and the best example. And yet when we look at their example, we will realize that when the Prophet(Sal Allaahu Alaiyhi wa Sallam) married any of his wives, NOT ONE of them took his name. On the contrary, each one of them kept her father’s name even if her father was a kaafir. Similarly, the wives of the Sahaabah and those who came after them did not change their names.Did you ever think why they didn’t do that?Surely, if it was a good thing, the wives of the Prophet(Sal Allaahu Alaiyhi wa Sallam) would have done it and the Prophet(Sal Allaahu Alaiyhi wa Sallam) would himself have instructed it and encouraged them to do it. That is because it is Allaah’s order to keep your father’s name as an indication of your lineage.“Call them (adopted sons) by (the names of) their fathers, that is more just with Allaah…” [al-Ahzaab 33:5].And the Prophet (Sal Allaahu Alaiyhi wa Sallam) said: “Whoever calls himself by other than his father’s
name, will be cursed by Allaah, the angels and all the people.” (Ibn Maajah -Saheeh by al-Albaani).And he (Sal Allaahu Alaiyhi wa Sallam) also said: “Whoever knowingly claims to belong to anyone other than his father, Paradise will be denied him.” (Ahmad, al-Bukhaari, Muslim).Now some might argue….“But the woman is not claiming that her father is someone else. She is just honoring her husband or she doesn’t mean it that way. She just wants to belong to her husband out of love for him.”To those people I say….If it was a matter of honor to have the husbands name attached to the wife’s, wouldn’t our Ummahaat have done that??Isn’t it the biggest honor in the WORLD to have the name of the Prophet(Sal Allaahu Alaiyhi wa Sallam) attached to yours?? And yet the wives of the Prophet(Sal Allaahu Alaiyhi wa Sallam) didn’t do that. Ever wonder why??And if it was a matter of expressing love for the husband, no relationship between a husband and wife on the face of this earth was better than the relationship between the Prophet(Sal Allaahu Alaiyhi wa Sallam) and his wives. And yet none of the Mothers of the Believers expressed their love for the Prophet (Sal Allaahu Alaiyhi wa Sallam) by changing their last names.It doesn’t make any sense. The last name is an indication of the father of the person and represents the person’s lineage.
Shaykh Bakr Abu Zayd said: “This is one of the beauties of Sharee’ah, because calling a person by his father’s name is more appropriate for knowing who is who and telling people apart…..” (Tasmiyat al-Mawlood, 30, 31).Originally, the woman is ‘the Daughter of So and so’, and NOT ‘the wife of So and so’. Since there is no blood relationship between the husband and wife, how can she take his last name as if she is part of the same lineage?And surely, she is not claiming that he is her father!!!!Also what happens if she gets divorced, or her husband dies, and she marries another man? Will she keep changing her surname every time she marries another man?In addition to this, there are rulings attached to the woman being named after her father, which have to do with her inheritance, spending and who is her mahram, etc. Taking her husband’s last name overlooks all that.Also, if you think about it, the husband is named after his own father, and what does she have to do with the lineage of her husband’s father? This goes against common sense and true facts.Besides, the husband has nothing that makes him better than his wife’s father. So why should she give up her father’s name and take her husband’s last name??And why does the man get to keep his father’s name and not the woman??!!It just doesn’t make any sense.So, all you single females out there, don’t be in such a hurry to change your maiden name after you get married. And those of you who have already done that, it is never too late. Take back your maiden name and reclaim your identity. It is part of the Sharee’ah.”
***End of Answer***

Sheikh Muhammed Salih Al-Munajjid said:“On the basis of the above, there is no blood tie between the husband and wife, so how can she take his surname as if she is part of the same lineage? Moreover, she may get divorced, or her husband may die, and she may marry another man. Will she keep changing her surname every time she marries another man? Furthermore, there are rulings attached to her being named after her father, which have to do with inheritance, spending and who is a mahram, etc. Taking her husband’s surname overlooks all that. The husband is named after his own father, and what does she have to do with the lineage of her husband’s father? This goes against common sense and true facts. The husband has nothing that makes him better than his wife so that she should take his surname, whilst he takes his father’s name. Hence everyone who has gone against this and taken her husband’s name should put matters right. We ask Allaah to put all the affairs of the Muslims right.”