Abdullah (name)

"Abdollah" redirects here. For the villages in Iran, see Abdollah, Iran.

Abdullah
Pronunciation	Arabic: [ʕabˈdɑllɑ], [ʕabdullaː] Egyptian Arabic: [ʕɑbˈdɑllɑ], [ʕæbˈdellæ] Turkish: [abduɫˈɫɑ]
Gender	Male
Language(s)	Arabic
Origin
Meaning	Servant of God
Other names
Variant form(s)	Abd Allah, Abdala, Abdalá, Abdalla, Abdallah, Abdellah, Abdilla, Abdollah, Abdul, Abdulah, Abdulai, Abdulla, Abdullahi, Gabdulla

Abdullah or Abdallah is the primary transliteration of the Arabic given name, Arabic: عبد الله‎‎, built from the Arabic words Abd and Allah (Allah itself composed of Al- and Ilah). The first letter a in Al-Ilah in its native pronunciation is often unstressed and commonly transliterated by u, a stressed a is often used as well, although any vowel can also be used. It is one of many Arabic theophoric names, meaning servant of God or God's slave. The feminine counterpart of this name is Amatullah.

Humility before Allah is an essential value of Islam, hence Abdullah is a common name among Muslims. In particular, the name of the Islamic prophet Muhammad's father was Abdullah.

It is also common among Arab Jews, especially Iraqi Jews. The name is cognate to and has the same meaning as the Hebrew Abdiel and, more commonly, Obadiah. There were two Jewish Rabbis in Medina before Islam came; they were Abdullah ibn Salam and Abdullah ibn Shuria. Abdullah ibn Saba was a Yemenite Jew during the spread of Islam. The word Allah exists in the Arabic Talmud and other Jewish scriptures.

The variant used in the Russian language is "Абдулла́" (Abdulla) (cf. Fedul, which has similar origins), with "Абду́л" (Abdul) and "Габдулла́" (Gabdulla) often used in Adyghe.

The Christian Arabic Bible uses the word Allah for God. Presently in the Middle East, the name is sometimes used by Christians, as a given or family name. The continued use of this name is perhaps attributed to the passage in Matthew 25:14-30 which refers to the parable of talents and the three servants. The parable praises the good servants.

Given name

Abd-Allah

• `Abd Allah ibn Rawahah, general in the Battle of Mut'ah
• Abd Allah ibn Abd al Muttalib (545–570), the father of Muhammad
• Abd Allah ibn Mas'ud (died 652), a companion of Muhammad, also known as Abdullaah ibn Mas’ud
• Abd-Allah ibn Ubayy (died 631), leading inhabitant of Medina and contemporary of Muhammad

Abdala

• Abdalá Bucaram, Ecuadorian president 1996–1997
• Abdala Faye, Senegalese sculptor

Abdalla

• Abdalla Ahmed, Egyptian volleyball player
• Abdalla El-Masri, Lebanese composer

Abdallah

• Abdallah al-Adil (1224–1227), Caliph of Morocco
• Abdallah Djaballah (born 1956), Algerian politician
• Abdallah El-Yafi (1901–1986), former Lebanese Prime Minister
• Abdallah Somekh (1813–1889), Iraqi rabbi

Abdelilah

• Abdelilah Saber (born 1974), Moroccan association football player
• Abdellah Béhar (born 1963), French runner
• Abdellah Blinda (born 1951), Moroccan association football manager
• Abdellah Liegeon (born 1957), Algerian association football player
• Abdellah Ouzghar, Canadian and Moroccan, arrested after attacks of Sept 11, 2001

Abdollah

• Abdollah Jassbi, Iranian academic
• Abdollah Mojtabavi, Iranian sport wrestler
• Abdollah Movahed, Iranian sport wrestler
• Abdollah Nouri, Iranian reformist politician
• Abdollah Ramezanzadeh, Iranian academic
• Abdollah Shahbazi, Iranian researcher

Abdulai

• Abdulai Bell-Baggie, English association football player
• Abdulai Conteh, Sierra Leonean politician
• Abdulai Seidu, Ghanaian association football player

Abdullah

• ‘Abdullah (Chagatai Khanate) (died 1359), ruler of the Chagatai
• ‘Abdullah (Timurid) (1410–1451), ruler of the Timurid Empire
• Abdullah Abbas Nadwi, Islamic scholar
• Abdullah Abdullah (born 1960), the former foreign minister of Afghanistan
• Abdullah Ahmad Badawi (born 1939), the former prime minister of Malaysia
• Abdullah al-Amiri, judge in the trial of Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein who was replaced after allegations of bias
• Abdullah al-Harari, Islamic scholar
• Abdullah Atalar (born 1954), Turkish academic
• Abdullah Avcı (born 1963), Turkish association football manager
• Abdullah Aydoğdu (born 1991), Turkish Paralympian goalball player
• Abdullah Baybaşin, Turkish mob boss
• Abdullah Ben Moshe Jaim (1764 - 1864),one of the Rabbis leaders of Jerusalem. He was the uncle of Rabbi Yosef Chaim of Baghdad.
• Abdullah bin Abdul Kadir (1796–1854), early 19th century Malay writer
• Abdullah bin Jassim Al Thani, Qatari politician
• Abdullah bin Khalid Al Thani, Qatari politician
• Abdullah bin Khalifa Al Thani, Qatari politician
• Abdullah bin Mohammed Al Thani (Sharjah), United Arab Emirati politician
• Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, United Arab Emirati politician
• Abdullah Bughra, Emir of the First East Turkestan Republic
• Abdullah Cevdet, Turkish physician
• Abdullah Çatlı, Turkish convicted drug trafficker
• Abdullah Demirbaş (born 1966), Turkish politician
• Abdullah Durak (born 1987), Turkish association football player
• Abdullah el-Tell (1918-1973), Jordanian soldier
• Abdullah Elyasa Süme (born 1983), Turkish association football player
• Abdullah Ercan (born 1971), Turkish association football player
• Abdullah Gegić (1924–2008), Yugoslav association football coach who also had Turkish citizenship
• Abdullah Gül (born 1950), President of the Republic of Turkey
• Abdullah Halman (born 1987), Turkish association football player
• Abdullah I of Jordan (1882–1951), Jordanian king
• Abdullah II of Jordan (born 1962), Current King of Jordan
• Abdullah ibn Muhammad al-Umawi (844–912), seventh Emir of Córdoba
• Abdullah ibn Saud (died 1818), fourth and last leader of what later became known as the First Saudi State
• Abdullah İçel, Turkish-Belgian futsal player
• Abdullah Khadr, Canadian associated with terrorism
• Abdullah Kobayashi, born Yosuke Kobayashi, Japanese wrestler
• Abdullah Malallah, Emirati association football player
• Abdullah Muhasilović, Yugoslav army chaplain
• Abdullah Nakaš (1944–2005), Bosnian surgeon
• Abdullah of Saudi Arabia (1924-2015), King of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
• Abdullah Oğuz, Turkish film director
• Abdullah Öcalan (born 1948), Kurdish opposition leader and founder of the Kurdistan Workers Party
• Abdullah Palić (1958–1995), Bosnian military officer during the 1992–1995 war in Bosnia and Herzegovina
• Abdullah Sidran (born 1944), Bosnian writer and poet
• Abdullah the Butcher, born Lawrence Shreve, Canadian wrestler
• Abdullah Yusuf Azzam (1941–1989), Islamist leader, assassinated in 1989
• Abu Bakr (573–634), also known as ‘Abdullah ibn Abi Quhaf
• Ovadia Yosef (born 1920), Israeli rabbi, born Abdullah Youssef

Surname

Abdala

• Alberto Abdala, Uruguayan lawyer and politician, Vice President 1967–1972
• Carlos Abdala, Uruguayan politician and diplomat
• Edílson Abdala Júnior, Brazilian footballer
• Edgardo Abdala, Chilean-Palestinian footballer
• Pablo Abdala, Argentine-Palestinian footballer
• Washington Abdala, Uruguayan politician, lawyer, television pundit

Abdalla

• Ahmad Abdalla, Egyptian film director
• Ali Abdalla, Eritrean long-distance runner
• Asha Ahmed Abdalla, Somali politician
• Khalid Abdalla, British actor

Abdallah

• Ali al-Abdallah, Syrian writer and human rights activist

Abdellah

• Faye Glenn Abdellah (born 1919), American nurse
• Nacer Abdellah (born 1966), Moroccan footballer

Abdullah

• Adel Abdullah, Syrian association football player
• Ameer Abdullah, American football running back
• Bilal Abdullah, British doctor of Iraqi descent behind the 2007 Glasgow International Airport attack
• Husain Abdullah, American football safety for the Minnesota Vikings
• Majed Abdullah, former Saudi Arabian footballer
• Mohamed Abdullah, Egyptian footballer
• Nadhem Abdullah, Iraqi murdered during the Occupation of Iraq
• Rahim Abdullah, former American football player
• Salem Abdullah, Emirati footballer
• Sheikh Abdullah (1905–1982), known as Sher-e-Kashmir, Prime Minister of Kashmir
• Tewfik Abdullah, Egyptian footballer

Fictional characters

• Abdul Alhazred, sometimes referred to as Abdullah Alhazred
• Mohammed Ben Kalish Ezab and Abdullah, from The Adventures of Tintin by Hergé
• Abdullah the Butcher, professional wrestler
• Abdullah ibn al-Wahhab from the Amelia Peabody series, foreman for the Emerson family's archeological excavation sites

See also

• Abdullah (disambiguation)
• Abdullahi
• Arabic name
• Dasa
• Turkish name

References

Sources

• А. В. Суперанская (A. V. Superanskaya). "Современный словарь личных имён: Сравнение. Происхождение. Написание" (Modern Dictionary of First Names: Comparison. Origins. Spelling). Айрис-пресс. Москва, 2005. ISBN 5-8112-1399-9