Let me use my own given name
to explain.
The closest English spelling for my Arabic name would be
Qadir, or more correctly, al-Qadir.
Qadir means ‘omnipotent or most able’.
The prefix ‘al’ is the definite article, and
this makes it an absolute, as in The Omnipotent or The Most
Able.
But in Islam, there are 99 such absolutes
that can only be attributed to God, and al-Qadir is one
of them.
Therefore, I cannot be named al-Qadir, and
the name has to be qualified by adding the word Abdu to
it.
Abdu means slave, and my given name is therefore Abdu-al-Qadir
or Slave of The Omnipotent.
But in Arabic grammar the ‘ah’ sound of the
word ‘al’ becomes silent in the spoken word
when followed by the letter ‘Qaf’, and hence
Abdul Qadir.
Incidentally, I choose to spell it with
a K because when I spelt it with a Q people called me Kwaader!
There are also some instances where both
the A and the L of ‘al’ is silent in the spoken
word.
E.G Abdu-al-Rahman becomes Adurahman.
Now you also know, and next time you meet
an Abdul Kareem you will know that he is The Slave of The
Most Generous, and Abdul Malik is the Slave of The King
etc.
And yes….Abdullah is The Slave of God (or Allah).
Told you it’s interesting….and
rather complicated.
