Abdullah (name)
Abdullah is the primary transliteration of the Arabic given name, عبد الله, built from the Arabic words Abd and Allah. The first letter a in Al-Ilah in its native pronunciation is unstressed, and is elided following another vowel; in the case of Abdu-llah this is the -u of the Classical Arabic nominative case. It is one of many Arabic theophoric names, meaning servant of God. Gods Follower is also a meaning of this name.
Humility before God 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" , with "Абду́л" and "Габдулла́" 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 Abd al Muttalib, the father of Muhammad
- `Abd Allah ibn Rawahah, general in the Battle of Mut'ah
- Abd Allah ibn Mas'ud, a companion of Muhammad, also known as Abdullaah ibn Mas’ud
- Abd-Allah ibn Ubayy, leading inhabitant of Medina and contemporary of Muhammad
- Abd Allah ibn al-Zubayr
Abdala
- Abdalá Bucaram, Ecuadorian president 1996–1997
- Abdala Faye, Senegalese sculptor
Abdalla
- Abdalla Ahmed, Egyptian volleyball player
- Abdalla El-Masri, Lebanese composer
Abdallah
- Abdallah Aich, Lebanese footballer
- Abdallah al-Adil, Caliph of Morocco
- Abdallah Djaballah, Algerian politician
- Abdallah El-Yafi, former Lebanese Prime Minister
- Abdallah Somekh, Iraqi rabbi
Abdelilah
- Abdelilah Saber, Moroccan association football player
- Abdellah Béhar, French runner
- Abdellah Blinda, Moroccan association football manager
- Abdellah Liegeon, 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
Abdulah
- Abdulah Gegić, Yugoslav football coach
- Abdulah Ibraković, Bosnian professional football manager
- Abdulah Muhasilović, Bosnian army chaplain
- Abdulah Mutapčić, Bosnian politician
- Abdulah Nakaš, Bosnian surgeon
- Abdulah Oruč, Bosnian professional football manager
- Abdulah Sidran, Bosnian poet
- Abdulah Skaka, Bosnian politician
Abdullah
- ‘Abdullah , ruler of the Chagatai
- ‘Abdullah , ruler of the Timurid Empire
- Abdullah Abbas Nadwi, Islamic scholar
- Abdullah Abdullah, the former foreign minister of Afghanistan
- Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, 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 Anderson, American football player
- Abdullah Atalar, Turkish academic
- Abdullah Avcı, Turkish association football manager
- Abdullah Aydoğdu, Turkish Paralympian goalball player
- Abdullah Baybaşin, Turkish mob boss
- Abdullah bin Abdul Kadir, 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, 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, Turkish politician
- Abdullah Durak, Turkish association football player
- Abdullah el-Tell, Jordanian soldier
- Abdullah Elyasa Süme, Turkish association football player
- Abdullah Ercan, Turkish association football player
- Abdullah Gegić, Yugoslav association football coach who also had Turkish citizenship
- Abdullah Gül, President of the Republic of Turkey
- Abdullah Halman, Turkish association football player
- Abdullah I of Jordan, Jordanian king
- Abdullah II of Jordan, Current King of Jordan
- Abdullah ibn Muhammad al-Umawi, seventh Emir of Córdoba
- Abdullah ibn Saud, fourth and last leader of what later became known as the First Saudi State
- Abdullah İçel, Turkish-Belgian futsal player
- Abdullah Khadr, Canadian ex-prisoner of the "War on Terror"
- Abdullah Kobayashi, born Yosuke Kobayashi, Japanese wrestler
- Abdullah Malallah, Emirati association football player
- Abdullah Mando, Syrian footballer
- Abdullah Muhasilović, Yugoslav army chaplain
- Abdullah Nakaš, Bosnian surgeon
- Abdullah Nangyal, Pashtun human rights activist and one of the leaders of the Pashtun Tahafuz Movement
- Abdullah of Saudi Arabia, King of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
- Abdullah Oğuz, Turkish film director
- Abdullah Öcalan, Kurdish opposition leader and founder of the Kurdistan Workers Party
- Abdullah Öztürk, Turkish para table tennis player
- Abdullah Palić, Bosnian military officer during the 1992–1995 war in Bosnia and Herzegovina
- Abdullah Sidran, Bosnian writer and poet
- Abdullah the Butcher, born Lawrence Shreve, Canadian wrestler
- Abdullah Yusuf Azzam, Islamist leader, assassinated in 1989
- Abu Bakr, also known as ‘Abdullah ibn Abi Quhaf
- Ovadia Yosef, 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
- Abu Makhlad Abdallah, Iranian statesman from Tabaristan
- Ali al-Abdallah, Syrian writer and human rights activist
- Gene G. Abdallah, American politician
- Mohamed Abdallah,, British citizen with African origin, A Chartered Accountant with ACCA and CPA
Abdellah
- Faye Glenn Abdellah, American nurse
- Nacer Abdellah, Moroccan footballer
Abdilla
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, 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
- Abdullah, main protagonist of Castle in the Air, the sequel to Howl's Moving Castle