“Of course, that was some fifteen years or so ago, and I was not really prepared to give a talk on the subject — or on any subject for that matter. As such, naturally, I would modify what I said a bit: I think I would be more careful in my depiction of Imam Ahmad and the mihna, and I would also be more careful on the issue of commands, at least mentioning, e.g., that the majority of the ulama hold commands to indicate obligation and not recommendation. I would also have tried to give some more concrete examples instead of the very general examples I gave (though, given the people’s general level of Islamic literacy, maybe general examples are actually better). At any rate, I pray that Allah will protect the people from anything misleading that I might have said and that He will heal and strengthen our hearts and guide us to understanding and practicing this religion here in America to His satisfaction.

Salaam,
AH’

Excellent lecture, Masha’Allah. The plantation mentality must be abandoned in order to realize social justice.

Beautiful Khutbah, Masha’Allah.

I am not a scholar by any means, so my opinion means nothing in the end. But I do think that there is something to converts adopting new identities as a way of breaking with our past. This, I think stems from a number of things, but something that I suspect is unique to the contemporary Western mindset. I believe that we assume that there is something anit-Islamic about our past, when that simply is not the case. The Companions, as Ustadh Abullah said, only changed their names when they implied something pretentious or idolatrous. Otherwise, their names remained as they were.

As a convert of 10+ years myself, I can tell you that part of the conversion process is the eventually recognition that you are the same person that you were before and that Islam is a natural part of life. African-Americans, we have our own issues with names, but until we can be recognized as legitimate Muslims with names like Keith, Crystal and Michael, Islam is always going to be viewed as a foreign religion.

When I converted to Islam, I did not embrace Arabism, neither did I reject my parents, close friends nor the teachers and other adults in the community who helped raise me and make me who I am. So with all due respect, I generally advise new converts not to change their names unless they fall within the above clarifications Ustadh Abdullah gave in the original answer. There is a reason why many of our parents gave us the names that they did and there is no reason to be ashamed of or reject our heritage simply because we have embraced the “din al-fitra”. The whole notion seems to be an oxymoron.

But Allah knows best.

Hmmm….Fredrickson: son of Fredrick perhaps? Jackson, Henderson, Willamson: son of Jack, son of Hender, son of Willam?

Is there something to this?

JIzak Allahu Khayrun

was Salam
Abdullah