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The American
Civil Liberties Union, which brought a lawsuit, called the
decision a victory for free expression, but a top official with
the largest U.S. Muslim advocacy group criticized the choice to
use the Arabic word for "God" as culturally insensitive.
ZalyKha Graceful Lorraina Allah, who will soon turn 2, was born
in Atlanta to parents Elizabeth Handy and Bilal Walk, who waited
about a year before seeking a birth certificate for the child.
While they had no difficulties obtaining birth certificates for
their older children, ages 3 and 17, who also have the surname
"Allah," a clerk for the Georgia Department of Health blocked
the request for the youngest child.
Last month, the ACLU filed suit in state court against the
leaders of the state department of health and the state office
of vital records to compel them to allow the surname chosen by
the parents, said Sean J. Young, legal director for the ACLU of
Georgia.
Georgia law requires that clerks allow any name chosen by the
parents as long as it is not provocative or offensive, Young
said in a phone interview. The department relented on Friday,
and the ACLU dropped the suit.
Nihad Awad, national director for the Council on
American-Islamic Relations, said that while many people have
names that are derivations of Allah, such as Abdullah, which
means "servant of God," using "Allah" as a stand-alone surname
was not culturally acceptable.
"You would never use just Allah. That would be considered very
inappropriate," Awad said in a phone interview.
Young said he did not know if the couple were Muslim but that he
considered the question legally irrelevant.
Handy and Walk, who were not available for comment, live
together in Atlanta and are expecting a fourth child, Young
said.
"This is an important vindication of parental rights," Andrea
Young, executive director of the ACLU of Georgia, said in a
statement. "No one wants to live in a world where the government
can dictate what you can and cannot name your child."
A spokeswoman for the Georgia Department of Health declined to
comment on the matter.
(Reporting by Bernie Woodall in Fort Lauderdale, Fla; Editing by
Scott Malone and Peter Cooney)
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