Hi Everyone, I take Habib's point about Muslim women not changing their surnames after marriage, although some, probably under the influence of other cultures, do. I was not thinking about religion when I posted the article - I just found it a bit funny.But this is not to suggest that the subject is not important. I have been for quite a while interested in it myself, and that may explain my feeling. I know, however, that there are many Muslims in The Gambia who are identified by their mothers, instead of fathers. That is why we have such names as Modou Kumba,Katim Lolly, Ebou Sohna and so on. This way of naming people my not conform with practices that obtain in the Gulf states or elsewhere in the Muslim world, but these people are still Muslims. Here again we need to distinguish between what is Islam and what is Gambian / African culture. Let us remember that many societies in African were actually matrilineal before the advent of Christianity and Islam, and elements of this past can still be found in the way we do certain things. Cheers. Momodou ______________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L Web interface at: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/gambia-l.html ----------------------------------------------------------------------------