Abdullah: Encyclopedia - Abdullah

Abdullah

Abdullah (or Abd Allah, Arabic عبد الله) means "servant of Allah" in Arabic. It is a common Islamic name that is favored because it indicates servitude and humility before God. According to the Hadith, "The most beloved of your names to Allah - the Mighty and Magnificent - are 'Abdullah' and 'Abdur-Rahman' (servant of the Most Merciful)".

Male converts to Islam frequently pick Abdullah as part of their Muslim name, although there is no requirement for them to do so.

There have been many notable figures named Abdullah:

• Abd Allah ibn Abd al-Muttalib, (545-570), was the father of Islam's prophet Muhammad.
• Abdallah ibn al-Sa’ad, the son of Said and foster-brother of Caliph Uthman ibn Affan, led the Muslim invasion of Libya from 647 to 648.
• Abdullah of Khorasan was a Tahirid governor in the Abbasid caliphate.
• Abdallah, Almohad Caliph was Caliph of Morocco from 1224 to 1227.
• 'Abd-Allah, (d. 1451) was a Timurid Empire ruler.
• Abdullah bin Saud was leader of the House of Saud from 1814 to 1818.
• Abdullah I of Jordan was emir of Transjordan (1921-46), then King of Transjordan (1946-49), then King of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan (1949-51)
• Abdullah II of Jordan, King of Jordan beginning in 1999
• King Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz, King of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
• Dr. Abdullah, sometimes called Abdullah Abdullah, is the foreign minister of Afghanistan.
• Dato' Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi is the current prime minister of Malaysia.
• Abdullah Öcalan, Kurdish opposition leader and founder of the Kurdistan Workers Party.
• Abdullah was a horse that competed in the sport of show jumping.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Abdullah", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki