Not important

[knewagnu]

Hello,

I have ben visting this forum every day, but I am moving into a new house. I will not have internet access for a couple of days (maybe longer -- depends on the cable company).

In the past decade I have lived in:
Green Bay, WI (nothern WI)
North Carolina
Milwaukee, WI (southern WI)
Minnesota
Oklahoma
Texas
Green Bay, WI
Tijuana, Mexico (North West Mexico)
San Diego, CA
Merida, Mexico (South East Mexico)
And again back to Wisconsin

(Basic math you show you that I have stayed in one place for a year or less for most of my adult life.)
I am very happy to finally have a house to call my own. I should be living here for many years. Sadly, I am very far from a mosque, but I am have been given a phone number for a person in the area (and the nearest mosque isn't THAT far.) I have tried calling the local person, but we are playing phone tag.

Anyway... If you do not hear from me, it is not because I have left, but because I do not have access to the internet.

I think this forum is GREAT! I hope to see many people here.

Until I can visit again,

Tim

P.S. This should be it's own thread, but...
If anyone reads this far. I have an interest in changing my first name. My first name is Tim. It is not Timothy, which is most common, but just Tim. My last name I do not want to change. My father was a very good father, and he is very proud of his name. He is a devoit Catholic who goes to Mass 6 days a week. While I do not agree with his religion, I think it would be too much of a slap of his face to change my last name. But, for reasons I do not understand, I think it would be appropriate to change my first name. Any opinions on this topic are very welcome.

[AboOsama]

i suggest for you the name "Anas" ..Its the name of a Blessed companion of the Prophet peace be upon him whom the Prophet loved so much..& inshaAllah i hope that you go on his footsteps so that Allah will bless you like he blessed him...

[SkyAboveYou]

As Salamu Alaikum Brother Tim..


I dont know how I somehow missed to see this post which you send TWO weeks ago...!!

You did the right thing by keeping ur father's name..it sure would be too hard on him if you decided to change it...and infact in Islam we should not cut the ties to our father, and it is correct to retain the name of the father, even in the Muslim's newly converted name. i.e. "Abu Ameenah Bilal Phillips"... he chose (or was given, by another Muslim) the name "Bilal" after the well-known companion Bilal, used the name "Abu Ameenah" meaning father of his daughter Ameenah, and he retained his father's last name, "Philips".



also the name suggested by brother Abo Osama "Anas" is a beautiful name mashaAllah ...

I also would like to share with you the hadith

The Prophet (peace be upon him) said:Call yourselves by the names of the Prophets. The names dearest to Allah are Abdullah and AbdurRahman, the truest are Harith and Hammam, and the worst are Harb and Murrah.

Abdullah means the "slave of Allah" and its also the name of the Prophet peace be upon him's father..

& AbdurRahman is the "slave of the Most Merciful"...

the 25 names of the Prophets mentioned in the Quran are all found in this site:

Names of the Prophets (http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Forum/3062/prophets.htm)


please do share with us what name you finally decide on...:)

Wishin' u all the best..

Sky

[knewagnu]

As Salamu Alaikum Brother Tim..


I dont know how I somehow missed to see this post which you send TWO weeks ago...!!

And I don't know how I missed the reply from Abo Osama :)



I also would like to share with you the hadith

The Prophet (peace be upon him) said:Call yourselves by the names of the Prophets. The names dearest to Allah are Abdullah and AbdurRahman, the truest are Harith and Hammam, and the worst are Harb and Murrah.

Abdullah means the "slave of Allah" and its also the name of the Prophet peace be upon him's father..

& AbdurRahman is the "slave of the Most Merciful"...


Thank you for the feedback. I am so new to Islam, I would like to learn a bit more before choosing. But I think a name change would be very appropriate: While I was raised by great parents, I lived a crazy life for many years. Make a list of all the bad things a person can do, and I've probably done all of them, and some of them more than a few times and quite willingly.

I read somewhere recently that a person should wait a year or two before becoming too outgoing about the change to Islam. That gives a person time to learn more to be able to better answer confrontations that will arise from non-believers (amoung other reasons). And, as a person who spent a lot of time trying to convince people that there is no god, I am sure I will get more than a little harassment.

In my case, I made a couple major changes in my life in the begining of this past summer. I also have a birthday in the summer. So, my goal is to change my name at the time of my next birthday.

At this time I am leaning heavily towards AbdurRahman, as "slave of the Most Merciful" seems very fitting. In fact, as I think about it now, I may start using that as an online handle.

[aboomohammad]

And I don't know how I missed the reply from Abo Osama :)



Thank you for the feedback. I am so new to Islam, I would like to learn a bit more before choosing. But I think a name change would be very appropriate: While I was raised by great parents, I lived a crazy life for many years. Make a list of all the bad things a person can do, and I've probably done all of them, and some of them more than a few times and quite willingly.

I read somewhere recently that a person should wait a year or two before becoming too outgoing about the change to Islam. That gives a person time to learn more to be able to better answer confrontations that will arise from non-believers (amoung other reasons). And, as a person who spent a lot of time trying to convince people that there is no god, I am sure I will get more than a little harassment.

In my case, I made a couple major changes in my life in the begining of this past summer. I also have a birthday in the summer. So, my goal is to change my name at the time of my next birthday.

At this time I am leaning heavily towards AbdurRahman, as "slave of the Most Merciful" seems very fitting. In fact, as I think about it now, I may start using that as an online handle. Assalamualaikum brother in islam nice to know i have a new brother and the list is getting bigger evryday. Bro there is no obligation in changing the name neither you can either change it or yuo add a muslim name to it like if you go through our Journey to Islam threads you will see some people actually took anew first name others added a muslim name to there own.The choice Is yours, I would suggest 3 nice names,Mohammed, Ibrahim and Ismail.The names of Our dear prophet Mohammed and his grandfathers.
May allah grant blessings in any name you take. and pls rememeber us in duahs
Ma'aslamah
Aboo mohammad

[muslima]

Salam brother,




If anyone reads this far. I have an interest in changing my first name.


Ahmad -Commendable, Praiseworthy
Ali -Excellent, Noble
Faris - Perspicacity
Muhammad - Praised
Sayf Udeen - Sword of the Faith
Yoosuf - A Prophet's name
Khalid - Eternal

and if u end up choosing Abd-Rahman that's a nice name as well :)

Muslima

[knewagnu]

Thank you for the replies aboomohammad and muslima.

I saved the posts.

Going to go way off topic for a moment for some computer geek rambling:

When I started studying Islam I made a folder in "My Documents" for information I copy off the web and notes I write. Then I added the folder to my task bar. It's a great way to organize information and have quick access to it.
I think this works with all versions of Windows after 95:
1) Right click on a blank spot on the task bar. (That is where the "Start" button is, but don't click the "Start" menu.)
2) Select "Toolbars", then "New Toolbar".
3) Then you will get a dialog box where you can select your folder of choice.
4) The folder contents will appear on the the task bar. This can be resized into a nice little menu.
5) You will probably have to play around with it for a while to get it just the way you like it. Hint: right clicking on different things will bring up all sorts of options.

I use this folder to save a file with Islamic words, shortcuts to web sites, articles I've copied, e-books I've downloaded, and random notes I've written. It is very useful. Have a file called NewNames.txt in this folder, which made me think that some others may like this little Windows trick. Just had to click on my custom menu to bring up the document, rather than going to the desktop, opening "My Documents" -> "Islam" -> "Notes" -> "NewNames.txt"

(If you don't use Windows, you can PM me for hints on note keeping with other systems.)

Regards

[SkyAboveYou]

nice tip...Thanks for sharin'...!! :)