Abdullah

Abdullah (or Abd Allah) 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)".

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), famed for his beauty, was the father of Islam's "last" prophet Muhammad, and his name included the word "Allah" long before Islam was invented (created). During the period before Islam, Jews, Christians, and pagan Arabs called God as Allah in Arabic (and in Aramaic).
• Abdullah of Khorasan was a Tahirid governor in the Abbasid caliphate.
• 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
• Abdullah, Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia
• Dr. Abdullah is the foreign minister of Afghanistan.
• Dato' Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi is the current prime minister of Malaysia.
• Abdullah Öcalan, Kurdish terrorist leader and founder of the Kurdistan Workers Party