Assalamu alaykum, My last name in Arabic is AbdulMajeed. Majeed is one of the 99 names of Allah. However, before I was born my dad came to the USA to work and decided to shorten his name since it was lengthy. I’m not sure if this was done because of limitations in the system at the time, or just to make it easy for others to call his name. So, one of the things that got shortened was AbdulMajeed, which simply became Majeed. In general, Muslims know that my last name is AbdulMajeed and my Arabic country’s passport has the correct name, but all my legal identification in the USA (birth certificate, driver’s license, American passport, school records etc.) has my last name as Majeed. I don’t want to use the name of Allah as my own, since it should be AbdulMajeed. Should I let it go, since I know the truth and I have the right intention? Or should I attempt to enter the legal process of getting my last name changed to AbdulMajeed (then I’d have to go to court, and thereafter renew all documentation to reflect this change)? Is there a hadith that mentions anything about using one of the names of Allah for an individual without preceding it with “Abdul” ?
Majid is not an exclusive quality of Allah Ta’ala. Allah Ta’ala states, ?Qur’aan Majeed? (perfect book). There will be no need to chage your name. (Ahsanul Fataawa vol.8)
and Allah Ta’ala Knows Best
Mufti Ebrahim Desai