Professor Ljevaković: Islam allows women to keep their maiden name after marriage

A man from Sarajevo who is planning to marry his fiancée these days was bothered by the fact that she wants to keep her maiden name along with his, so he sought advice from the fetva-i-emin of the Islamic Community in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Professor Enes Ljevaković, reports the B&H News Agency (NAP).

Professor Ljevaković, an expert in Sharia law and correct belief, is responsible for interpreting Islamic religious regulations on behalf of the IC, including those related to marriage, so there should be no doubt as to whether he offered the correct answer.

Newlyweds often have disagreements that they try to resolve by mutual agreement before getting married. Some of them make joint decisions about where they will live, whether they want children at the beginning of the marriage, etc. However, a man from Sarajevo was very bothered by the fact that his future wife would carry her maiden name along with his, so he consulted with Bosnian-Herzegovinian Islamic scholars about this.    

- My future wife wishes to keep her previous surname along with mine. This is not to my liking. But I am interested in the Sharia, or rather the Quranic, stance on a woman keeping her surname after marriage. I don't want to make the wrong decision – this concerned young man posed the question to Professor Ljevaković, which was also published on the official website of the IC's Riyaset in BiH.

The answer he received from Professor Ljevaković may not have pleased him, but it is certainly correct.

- A woman has the right to keep her surname after marriage – Ljevaković answered.

- A woman has the right to keep her surname, if she wishes, upon marriage, without adding or with adding her husband's surname. There is no issue if she takes only her husband's surname, because the marriage certificate, as well as the birth certificate, always lists the married woman's maiden name, so there can be no confusion regarding her previous and new surname – Ljevaković specified, reports NAP.