Changing One's Name After Accepting Islam

Question :

When a person accepts Islam, must he change his name -for example, from George or Joseph?

Answer:

Unless a person's name signifies him being a worshipper of other than Allah, it is not necessary for him to change his name, it is merely better. So it is good for him to change his foreign name to an Islamic name, but it is not obligatory.

But if his name was 'Abdul-Masih (the servant of the Messiah), or something similar, then he definitely has to change it. But in case of other names that do not signify servitude to other than Allah, like George and Paul etc., then it is not necessary to change them since these names are used by others as well as Christians. And with Allah is the facilitation to do what is right.

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