A Name Does Not Tell the Whole Story

During our Shadi, Ammi was introducing me to a woman who was a friend of the family. The woman asked Ammi, “What is her name? (In English as if I wasn’t standing right there.)” Ammi replies with my name and the woman says. “Well then she is not a muslim.” How rude! I was more offended for my MIL and hurt that I was being judged this way after all of the compromises I had made. Who was she to say what my beliefs were?

I have not taken a muslim name yet. N and family have been extremely supportive of this. I am still on my path to conversion and they are very respectful and supportive of my choices. N and I have been married for over two years and they have not pushed me in any way. When I take another name, I will seek their guidance.

I cannot lie and say that the thought of being called another name doesn’t bother me. My name as everybody else’s means a lot to me. My parents gave me this name after careful consideration. I am named after my grandmother and her name is found in the bible as a person close to Moses. The spelling of my name is unique and has a lot of meaning to my mother. I will take a second name as a proclamation of my faith; but, I will expect to known by both names, so not to forget who I am, where I came from nor to disrespect my parents and grandparents.