QUESTION:
If you have converted to Islam or if your mother and father are from two different races. Must you keep your fathers surname or can this be changed as well as your name.
Also if a wife changes her surname to her husband
ANSWER:
If one has converted to Islam and ones fathers surname does not have any polytheistic meaning then it will be permissible to keep ones fathers surname. However, if ones fathers surname has polytheistic meaning then it will be advisable to change ones surname.
If the husband surname is used to indicate to a lineage and the wife’s lineage is different from the husbands, then it will not be permissible for her to use her husband’s surname as hers. If the husbands surname is not used to indicate to a lineage then there is permissibility for her to use her husband’s surname.
And Allah Ta’aala knows best
Attested to as correct by:
Mufti Muhammed Ashraf
01 August 2010 / 23 SHA’BAAN 1431