ʿAbd () is an
Arabic
Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...
word meaning one who is subordinated as a
slave
Slavery is the ownership of a person as property, especially in regards to their labour. Slavery typically involves compulsory work, with the slave's location of work and residence dictated by the party that holds them in bondage. Enslavemen ...
or a servant, and it means also to worship.
The word can also be transliterated into English as 'Abd, where the apostrophe indicates the
ayin
''Ayin'' (also ''ayn'' or ''ain''; transliterated ) is the sixteenth letter of the Semitic scripts, including Phoenician ''ʿayin'' 𐤏, Hebrew ''ʿayin'' , Aramaic ''ʿē'' 𐡏, Syriac ''ʿē'' ܥ, and Arabic ''ʿayn'' (where it is si ...
, denoting a
voiced pharyngeal fricative
The voiced pharyngeal approximant or fricative is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents this sound is , and the equivalent X-SAMPA symbol is ?\. Epiglot ...
consonant or some
reflex
In biology, a reflex, or reflex action, is an involuntary, unplanned sequence or action and nearly instantaneous response to a stimulus.
Reflexes are found with varying levels of complexity in organisms with a nervous system. A reflex occurs ...
of it. In Western ears, it may be perceived as a guttural 'a' sound.
It appears in many common
Arab
Arabs (, , ; , , ) are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in West Asia and North Africa. A significant Arab diaspora is present in various parts of the world.
Arabs have been in the Fertile Crescent for thousands of years ...
names followed by Al (the) in form of "Abd ul", "Abd ul-", etc.; this is also commonly transliterated as "el-," in the form "Abd el-", meaning "servant of the-". This is always followed by one of the names for God. These names are given in
List of Arabic theophoric names
This is a list of Arabic theophoric names.
Islamic names
''‘Abdu عبدُ'' as a prefix of names of God
Following are names consisting of the appellation followed by one of the names associated with God in the Qur'an.
* Abdullah
* Abdul Ah ...
and
99 Names of God
Names of God in Islam () are 99 names that each contain Attributes of God in Islam, which are implied by the respective names.
These names usually denote his praise, gratitude, commendation, glorification, magnification, perfect attributes, ...
.
A widespread name
Abdullah (name)
Abd Allah (), also spelled Abdullah, Abdhullah, Abdellah, Abdollah, Abdallah, Abdulla, Abdalla and many others, is an List of Arabic theophoric names, Arabic theophoric name meaning ''servant of God'' or "God's follower". It is built from the Ara ...
(or ʿAbd Allah) means "
servant of God
Servant of God () is a title used in the Catholic Church to indicate that an individual is on the first step toward possible canonization as a saint.
Terminology
The expression ''Servant of God'' appears nine times in the Bible, the first five in ...
" or "worshipper of God".
*
Abd Rabbuh ("slave of his Lord" or "servant of his Lord")
*
Abduh ("His slave" or "His servant")
Though this is regarded as
shirk by Sunnis, it is also used with humans, in the names:
* Abdul Nabi ("slave of the Prophet" or "servant of the Prophet")
*
Abdul Zahra (slave of Fatimah—daughter of Muhammad)
*
Abdul Hussein (slave of Hussein—grandson of Muhammad)
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 the Messiah" or "servant of the Messiah")
* Abdul Salib ("slave of the Cross" or "servant of the Cross")
* Abdul Shahid ("slave of the Martyr
.e. Jesus Christ or "servant of the Martyr")
* Abd Yasu ("slave of Jesus" or "servant of Jesus")
*
Abida
*
Abidi
Abdullah can be also used by Arab Christians, as they refer to God as Allah.
Further notes
ʿĀbid () is a given name meaning "worshipper". It is based on the Arabic word "ʿIbādah", i.e. "worship". The female version of the name is
ʿĀbidah.
The
Hebrew
Hebrew (; ''ʿÎbrit'') is a Northwest Semitic languages, Northwest Semitic language within the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family. A regional dialect of the Canaanite languages, it was natively spoken by the Israelites and ...
cognate
In historical linguistics, cognates or lexical cognates are sets of words that have been inherited in direct descent from an etymological ancestor in a common parent language.
Because language change can have radical effects on both the s ...
word with ʻabd is "ʻeved" (עבד), meaning slave.
See also
From the same word family
From the word family based on the root 'abd:
*
Abeed
Abeed or abīd (, plural of ʿabd, ) is an Arabic word meaning "servant" or "slave". The term is usually used in the Arab world and is used as a slur for slaves, which dates back to the Arab slave trade. In recent decades, usage of the word has be ...
/abīd, the plural of ''ʿabd'', used as a slur for Black people
*
Ibadah
''Ibadah'' (, ''‘ibādah'', also spelled ''ibada'') is an Arabic word meaning service or servitude. In Islam, ''ibadah'' is usually translated as “worship”, and ''ibadat''—the plural of ''ibadah''—refers to Islamic jurisprudence ( ...
, service or servitude
* 'ubeid/ubeid/ubaid/
Al-Ubaid, a diminutive derivate of abd'', meaning "little slave/servant"
*
Ubeidiya, place-name derived from ''ʿubeid''
*
Ubayd Allah, also as Obaidullah/Obaydullah/Obeidallah/Ubaydullah, name that means "little servant of God"
Other words
*
Ghulam
Ghulam (, ) is an Arabic word meaning ''servant'', ''assistant'', ''boy'', or ''youth''. It is used to describe young servants in Jannah. It is also used to refer to slave-soldiers in the Abbasid, Ottoman, Safavid and to a lesser extent, Mughal e ...
*
Qul (Turkic)
Other
*
Arabic name
Arabic names have historically been based on a long naming system. Many people from Arabic-speaking and also non-Arab Muslim countries have not had given name, given, middle name, middle, and family names but rather a chain of names. This system ...
s
*
Black Guard
*
Islamic views on slavery
Islamic views on slavery represent a complex and multifaceted body of Islamic thought,Brockopp, Jonathan E., "Slaves and Slavery", in: Encyclopaedia of the Qurʾān, General Editor: Jane Dammen McAuliffe, Georgetown University, Washington DC. ...
*
History of slavery in the Muslim world
The history of slavery in the Muslim world was throughout the history of Islam with slaves serving in various social and economic roles, from powerful emirs to harshly treated manual laborers. Slaves were widely forced to labour in irrigatio ...
References
{{Reflist
Arabic words and phrases
Islam and slavery
Islamic terminology