CULTURE
An English Islam?
Is the Cambridge Central Mosque a trail-blazer for an inclusive, pluralistic Muslim community in the British Isles?
After converting to Islam, one of the first questions asked is “what is your Muslim name?”. This question has always irked me, for what is a ‘Muslim name’? They expect you to say Khadija or Aisha, but what about Hatice, the Turkish spelling, it Aysha? After a while, I realised that what they are really asking is “what Arab name have you chosen?”.
But I am not Arab, and my parents thought for a long time to pick my name. Heck! The whole family got involved! So to change it without reason would be disrespectful to say the least.
After a number of years of being asked this, I looked to the Seerah — the history of the life of the prophet and his companions. The Sahaba (the companions ) were the first converts to Islam, and so I decided that it is their lead I should follow. And what I found is that only those with problematic names, such as those worshipping idols, were changed upon accepting Islam. Khadija was Khadija before the advent of Islam. Aisha was Aisha.
It is therefore important to realise that someone accepting Islam brings with them their indigenous culture, and so long as it doesn't contradict the…
