After embracing Islam, I ignorantly changed my name to one of Allah's 99 names. It's been a year and all my records reflect this name not to mention that everyone is accustomed to it. Am I burdened to officially put an Abdul infront of my name or can I just start verbally using it? Also, I was told that it was haram to change my name.
Praise be to Allah.
Some of Allaahs names are also suitable for human beings and it is permissible to use
them, so long as one distinguishes between the meaning applied to the Creator and the
meaning applied to the created being, such as Kareem (generous), Lateef (kind),
Shaheed (witness), Hakeem (wise), etc. Other Divine names may not be given to human
beings because they are befitting only for Allaah, such as al-Baari (the Creator),
al-Raaziq (the Provider), al-Muhyi (the Giver of Life), al-Awwal (the First), al-Aakhir
(the Last), etc.
If your name is of the first type, then there is nothing wrong with it. If it is of the
second type, then putting the word "Abd" (slave of) in front of the name will solve the
problem. May Allaah help us to adhere to the truth.
And Allaah knows best.