Abd

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

• Islam and slavery
• Ibadah
• Abeed
• Black Guard
• Ubayd

References