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Abd

 

Arabic for "slave." Abd means slave. It is also often seen as part of Islamic male names. In such cases, "abd" is always followed by one of the 99 names of God, and denotes "servant of." For example, Abd al-Rahman ("servant of the Forgiving One"), or Abd al-Jabbar ("servant of the Almighty"). Abdullah means "servant of God."

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Abd (Arabic: عبد‎) is an Arabic word meaning one who is totally subordinated; a slave or a servant.[1]

It appears in many common Arab names in the liaison with Al (the) form of "Abd ul", "Abd ul-", etc. The names are given in List of Arabic theophoric names and 99 Names of God.

A widespread name ‘Abdullah means "servant of God" or "worshipper of God".

Aside from 99 names of God, it can be associated to other fields, and even prophet Muhammad:

  • Abdul lah (“slave of divinity” or “servant of divinity”)
    • (This is synonym to Abdullah, because Allah is a contraction of al-Ilah from al, “the”, and Ilah is also the Arabic for “God”.)
  • Abd Rabbi-hi (“slave of your Lord” or “servant of your Lord”)
  • Abduh (“Your slave” or “Your servant”)
  • Abdul Nabi (“slave of the Prophet” or “servant of the Prophet”)

It can also be used by Arab Christians and Arabic-speaking Christians, just as long as it is associated to their religion:

  • Abdul Masih (“slave of Messiah” or “servant of Messiah”)
  • Abdul Salib (“slave of the Cross” or “servant of the Cross”)
  • Abdul Shahid (“slave of the Martyr [i.e. Jesus Christ]” or “servant of the Martyr”)
  • Abdul Yasu ("slave of Jesus" o "servant of Jesus")

Further Notes

Abdullah can be also used by Arab Christians, as they refer to God as Allah.

The word Abd is a cognate with the Hebrew word "eved" (עבד), meaning slave[citation needed].

As "abd" means "slave" in Arabic, the word is sometimes used as a pejorative term to refer to black people.

See also

References


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Mideast & N. Africa Encyclopedia. Encyclopedia of the Modern Middle East and North Africa. Copyright © 2004 by The Gale Group, Inc. All rights reserved.  Read more
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