Abdul (also Romanization of Arabic, transliterated as Abdal, Abdel, Abdil, Abdol, Abdool, or Abdoul; , ) is the most frequent transliteration of the combination of the Arabic word ''Abd (Arabic), Abd'' (, meaning "Servant") and the definite prefix ''Al-, al / el'' (, meaning "the"). It is the initial component of many compound (linguistics), compound names, such as ' (usually spelled ''Abdel Hamid'', ''Abdelhamid'', ''Abd El Hamid'' or ''Abdul Hamid''; lit. "servant of Names of God in Islam, the Praised"), ' (Abdullah (name), Abdullah), and ' (Abdul Malik). The most common use for ''Abdul'' by far, is as part of a male #Theophoric naming, given name, written in English. When written in English language, English, ''Abdul'' is subject to variable spacing, spelling, and hyphenation. It is a common name in the Middle East, North Africa, West Africa, East Africa, Central Asia, the Balkans, the Caucasus, and predominantly Muslim countries of South Asia and Southeast Asia. It is also used amongst African Americans and Turkic peoples of Russia. The meaning of ''Abdul'' literally and normally means "Slave of the", but English translations also often translate it to "Servant of the".

Spelling variations

Variations in spelling are primarily because of the variation in pronunciation. Arabic speakers normally pronounce and transcribe their names of Arabic origin according to their varieties of Arabic, spoken Arabic dialects. Therefore, it is pronounced and written ''Abdel...'' or ''Abd El...''. However, non-Arabic speakers or Arabic speakers may choose to transcribe the name according to the Modern Standard Arabic, Literary Arabic pronunciation, which is the language of Quran, pronounced as and written ''Abdul...''. For other variations in spelling, see the #Arabic grammar, Arabic grammar section.

Etymology

In Arabic language, the word ' means "slave" or "servant", from the triliteral root ', which is also related to the word ', "worshiping". The word has the positive connotation in the Islamic faith.In an Islamic sense, of worshiping and praising God, i.e. being a servant to God rather than idols.

Theophoric naming

Essentially there is no ''Abdul'' without the second part, when written in Arabic, thus it appears as a component of many Arabic and specifically Muslim names, where it is the opening of a religiously based name, meaning: "Servant of..." with the last component of the name being one of the names of God in Islam, which would form a Muslim Arabic theophoric name. Such as Abdullah simply meaning "Servant of God" while "Abdul Aziz" means "Servant of the Almighty" and so on. The name ''Abdul Masih'', ("Servant of Christ") is an Arabic Christians, Christian equivalent. In addition, ''Abdul'' is occasionally, though much more rarely, used in reference to a figure other than God. For example, the Indian name ''Abdul Mughal'' ("Servant of the Mughal Empire").

Derived theophoric names

;The most common names are listed below * Abdullah (name), Abdullah, Servant of God, Servant of Allah * Abd al-Aziz, Abdulaziz, Servant of ''the Almighty'' * Abdulkarim, Servant of ''the most Generous'' * Abdur Rahim, Abdurrahim, Servant of ''the Merciful'' * Abdur Rahman, Abdurrahman, Servant of ''the Benevolent'' * Abdus Salam (name), Abdussalam, Servant of ''the Peaceful'' * Abdul Qadir, Abdulqadir, Servant of ''the Powerful'' * Abdul Latif, Servant of ''the Gentle''

Arabic grammar

When followed by a Sun and moon letters, sun letter, the ''l'' in ''Al-, al'' (normally pronounced colloquially ''el'') assimilates to the initial consonant of the following noun, resulting in a Gemination, doubled consonant. For example, "Abdul Rahman", would be pronounced in Modern Standard Arabic, Literary Arabic: Abdur-Rahman . When the definite article is followed by a moon letter, no assimilation takes place. Therefore, ''Abdul'' is not always used as the opening part of the name; if the second part starts with a sun letter, it may become forms including Abdun, Abdur, Abdus, or Abdush, the vowel in each name, similarly with ''Abdul'', is also open to differing transliterations.

Independent naming

''Abdul'' does not appear on its own as a male given name when written in Arabic. In some cultures, the theophoric part may appear to be a stand-alone middle name, or surname, thus confusing people as to whether ''Abdul'' is an accepted given name. Often if someone shortens his/her name, he may equally choose the theophoric part or ''Abdul''. However, ''Abdul'' by itself is sometimes used as an independent full given first name outside of Arabic-speaking societies. Most commonly ''Abdul'' is followed by one of the names of God found in the Quran, the Islamic scriptures, for example "Abdul Rahman", which means "slave/servant of the Merciful".

Given name

*Abdul Razzaq Anjum (1952–2003), Pakistan Air Force Vice Marshal *Abdul Aziz (disambiguation), Abdul Aziz, several people *Abdul Azim Badakhshi (born 1995), Afghan-born businessman, social media personality, and Mixed martial arts, MMA athlete *Abdul Carter (born 2004), American football player *Abdul Thompson Conteh (born 1970), Sierra Leonean footballer *Abdul Hamid Dbeibeh (born 1958), Libyan politician and businessman *Abdul Diallo (born 1985), Burkina Faso footballer *Abdul Sattar Edhi (1928–2016), Pakistani humanitarian, philanthropist and Asceticism, ascetic *Abdul "Duke" Fakir (1935 – 2024), American singer, best known as a member of the Four Tops *Abdul Fatawu (born 2004), Ghanaian professional footballer *Abdul Gaddy (born 1992), American basketball player *Abdul Kabir, Afghan Taliban leader *Abdul Kadir (politician), Abdul Kadir (1952–2018), Guyanese politician, convicted terrorist. *Abdul Halim of Kedah (1927–2017), 28th Sultan of Kedah *Abdul Ghaffar Khan (1890–1988), Pakistani Pashtun independence activist *Abdul Qadir Gilani (1077/1078–1166), Hanbali scholar, preacher, and Sufi leader *Abdul Hamid II (1842–1918), 34th sultan of the Ottoman Empire *Abdul Hakim Haqqani (born 1967), Afghan Taliban jurist *Abdul Hodge (born 1983), American football linebacker *Abdul Razak Hussein (1922–1976), second prime minister of Malaysia *Abdul Rahman bin Faisal Al Saud (1850–1928), Abdul Rahman bin Faisal Al Saud (1850–1928), last emir of Nejd *Abdul Rahman of Negeri Sembilan (1895–1960), Yang di-Pertuan Agong *Abdul Razzaq (cricketer), Abdul Razzaq (born 1979), Pakistani cricket coach and cricketer *Prince Abdul Mateen of Brunei, Prince Abdul Mateen (born 1991), Bruneian prince *Abdul Momin (1788–1885), 24th Sultan of Brunei *Abdul Muntaqim (born 2007), Bruneian prince *Abdul Qadir (cricketer), Abdul Qadir (1955–2019), Pakistani cricketeer *Abdul Salis (born 1979), British actor *Abdul Sattar (Maharashtra politician), Abdul Sattar, Indian politician *Abdul Rauf Abdulkarim Shaikh, farmer *Abdul Shamsid-Deen (born 1968), American former basketball player *Abdul Vas (born 1981), Venezuelan artist *Abdul Rahman Ya'kub (1928–2015), Malaysian politician *A. P. J. Abdul Kalam (1931 – 2015), 11th President of India *DJ Abdel, French DJ and producer of Moroccan descent playing hip hop, funk and contemporary R&B

Surname

* Ari Abdul (born 2001), American singer * David Abdul (born 1989), Aruban footballer *Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (born 1947), American basketball player * Lida Abdul (born 1973), Persian artist * Paula Abdul (born 1962), American singer and television personality

Fictional characters

* Abdul-Adl (阿布杜爾阿德勒), a character in the Taiwanese television series ' (八尺門的辯護人). * Abdul Alhazred, character created by American horror writer H. P. Lovecraft * Mohammed Avdol (also spelled Abdul), fictional character in the manga and anime ''JoJo's Bizarre Adventure'' created by Hirohiko Araki

References

{{Reflist Arabic-language surnames Arabic-language masculine given names Masculine given names Pakistani masculine given names