As-salamu Alaikum,
Many sisters in our community have taken the names of their husbands
without realizing that they should have kept their father’s name. Should they change their
name back to the father’s name or is it allowed to keep the husband’s name?
Also, if a person is born out-of-wedlock, should they carry their father’s
last name or their mother’s last name? What is the evidence for this?
Jazak Allah Khair.

Praise be to Allaah.

It is not permitted for anyone to claim to belong to anyone other
than his father. Imitating the kuffaar by dropping the wife’s surname and
giving her the husband’s name is haraam; it is also a form of falsehood,
and humiliation of the woman. Anyone who has done this must repent to Allaah
and put it right by going back to her father’s name.

With regard to a child born out of wedlock, he should be given
his mother’s name and cannot be given the name of the adulterer. (For more
information, see Question #1942 and 284).