Abdul

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Abdul
Pronunciation [ʕæbdel, ʕabdɪl, ʕæbdʊl]
Gender Male
Language(s) Arabic language
Origin
Meaning servant of the
Other names
See also Abdu, Abdi
Look up Abdul in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.
This article contains Arabic text, written from right to left in a cursive style with some letters joined. Without proper rendering support, you may see unjoined Arabic letters written left-to-right instead of right-to-left or other symbols instead of Arabic script.

Abdul (also transliterated as Abdal, Abdel, Abdil, Abdol, Abdool, or Abdoul, Arabic: عبد ال‎, ʿAbd al-) is the primary transliteration of the Arabic compound words: Abd (عبد: meaning "slave") and al / el (ال: meaning "the").

It is a compound name, which means that it's a name made of two words. For example, عبد الحميد, ʿAbd el-Ḥamīd, ʿAbd al-Ḥamīd or ʿAbdu l-Ḥamīd, usually spelled Abdel Hamid, Abdelhamid, Abd El Hamid or Abdul Hamid.

The most common use for Abdul by far, is as part of a male given name, written in English. Understandably, when written in English, Abdul is subject to variable spacing, spelling, and hyphenation.

The meaning of Abdul literally and normally means "Slave of the", but in English translations some prefer to translate it to: "Servant[1][2] of the".

Contents

Spelling variations [edit]

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

Etymology [edit]

In Arabic language, the word عبد ʿabd means "slave", from the triliteral root ع-ب-د ʕ-B-D, which is also related to the word عبادة ʿibādah, "worshiping". Therefore, the word has the positive connotation, in an Islamic sense, of worshiping and praising God, rather than idols.

Theophoric naming [edit]

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: "Slave of God". And the last component of the name, is one of the names of God in Islam, which would form a Muslim Arabic theophoric name.

The name Abdul Masih, ("Slave of the Messiah") is an Arabic 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, ("Slave of the MughalEmpire").

Derived theophoric names [edit]

Main article: List of Arabic theophoric names
The most common names are listed below

Arabic grammar [edit]

When followed by a sun letter, the l in al (normally pronounced colloquially el ) assimilates to the initial consonant of the following noun, resulting in a doubled consonant. For example, "Abdul Rahman", would be pronounced in Literary Arabic: [ʕæbdʊr ræħˈmæːn]. 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 [edit]

Abdul does not appear on its own as a male given name when written in Arabic. In different cultures, the theophoric part may appear as a stand alone middle name, or surname, thus confusing people as to whether Abdul is their accepted given name. Often if someone shortens their name, they 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 who have little or no knowledge of Islam and the names commonly used by Muslims.

Given name [edit]

Surname [edit]

Fictional characters [edit]

See also [edit]

References [edit]

  1. ^ Salahuddin Ahmed (1999). A Dictionary of Muslim Names. London: Hurst & Company. 
  2. ^ S. A. Rahman (2001). A Dictionary of Muslim Names. New Delhi: Goodword Books. 
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