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Is it permissible to change a tribe's name, such as "Zahrani" to "Zahrawi," to improve the name, and not out of dislike for the tribe?

1 min readAlso available in العربية

Changing the well-known tribal name from "Zahrani" to "Zahrawi" is considered an attribution to other than one's kin, which is forbidden by Islamic law. As stated in the Hadith: "Whoever attributes himself to other than his father, or affiliates himself with other than his masters, upon him be the curse of Allah, the angels, and all people." Some narrations add: "out of disdain for them." This Hadith indicates the prohibition of disclaiming one's known lineage and claiming another, and it is a major sin due to the great harms that result from it. There is no justification for changing the two terms, as "al-Zahrawi" is an attribution to a region in Andalusia, and "Zahran" is a famous tribe, and there is nothing blameworthy in its name.

Summarized from the full answer at Ftawy · reviewed Sep 2, 2026

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