In The Name of Allah The Beneficent The Merciful 

SHUBHA (الشبهة)

 

There is no one worthy of worship than Allah, God Almighty says: ﴿ بَلْ اللَّهَ فَاعْبُدْ ﴾ (الزمر: 66) ، why do the Shiites name their children with names like: Abdil Husain, Abdi Ali, Abdi Zahra. And why didn’t the Imams name their children with such names? And is it correct to assume that the meaning of Abdil Husain is the servant of Husain after his martyr (God bless him)? Is it possible for the servant to serve him by giving him food, water and pour water on his grave (ABLUTION) just to reach the satisfaction of being one of his servants?

The correct answer: firstly: there is no doubt that worship is for God only, and whoever involve another in worshipping other than Allah is surely destroying his good deeds, and this is what is evidently stated in the holy book, sunnah and the platforms of the infallible imams. But the word “ABD”  “عبد” literally can be of many meanings, which we will explain. In Qiyas burhani our midpoint must be repeated with the same meaning in our muqaddima kubrah and muqaddima sugrah.

Secondly: in the early days of Islam after wars, men and women are taken as captives and men are been shared between their captors while women are been sold as maid as it was before Islam, Islam has set up more than 25 ways in which a slave can be emancipated or liberated. For example, if he teaches 10 people from the Muslims he will be freed or who breaks his fast intentionally in Ramadan will free a slave and other examples, it is also recommended to free a slave for God’s blessings and mercy, it is one of the ways of charity for God’s sake.

The reason for mentioning this topic is because worship has a different meaning, it can be the buying and selling of slaves and in worshipping God, he is the lord and people his worshippers, technically, there is a difference between worshipping Allah and selling and buying of slaves, initially the word ABD is accumulated on the word IBAD and then on ABID, as it was mentioned in (MUFRADAT) Arragib Al’isfahani: ABD, slavery is an act of grovery, but worship is different from that cause slavery is pure humiliation of ones self and no one is worthy of that but Allah, God Almighty says: ﴿الّا تعبدوا إلّا إياه﴾ worship is of two types: the worshipper who has no option but to worship in any way he is asked to, and the worship where you have the option of worshipping, like supplication. ABD is of four types: ABD who is a slave and can be bought or sold, (العبد بالعبد) (وعبداً مملوكاً لا يقدر على شيء).

SECONDLY: ABD in creation, that is mainly for GOD, (إن كل من في السموات والأرض الا آني الرحمن عبداً) 

THIRDLY: ABD in worship and service, people in this group are divided into two, God’s faithful servants: ﴿وَاذْكُرْ عَبْدَنَا أَيُّوبَ﴾ ﴿إِنَّهُ كَانَ عَبْداً شَكُوراً ﴾ ﴿ نَزَّلَ الْفُرْقَانَ عَلَى عَبْدِهِ﴾ ﴿عَلَى عَبْدِهِ الْكِتَابَةة﴾ ﴿لَيْسَ لَكَ عَلَيْهِمْ سُلْطَانٌ﴾﴿فَأَسْرِ بِعِبَادِي لَيْلاً﴾ ﴿فَوَجَدَا عَبْداً مِنْ عِبَادِنَا ﴾

And ABD that loves dunyah (materialist) he will serve the world for his own personal benefits, The prophet (SAW) said: (تَعسَ عبد الدرهم تعس عبد الدينار) and based on this examples you can say not all people are (ABDULLAH) God’s servant, cause this ABD with the meaning of a worshipper. But ABD is more than or superior to (ABID) worshipper, all people are IBADUL-LAH (God servants) and all other things. But in other circumstances the worshipping comes with (taskhir) like bowing to Allah and other act of worship that is optional.

Conclusion: worship in it general meaning refers to showing utmost respect and obedience is the key, and the bottom line of worship like sujud and absolute obedience by the use of sense and quote from hadith and Qur’an and this obedience is mainly for Allah and no other one but him, the plural of ABD is IBAD, and if worship is mere showing respect and absolute obedience then it can be done to or shown to the prophets and their successors,  and who abide by their rules absolutely can be called their (ABID) servant. And from this point on it was mentioned in the Ziyarah of Aimma (AS) where their visitors will say (عبدكم) even if the obedience is conditional, the obedient will still be called the servant of the obedient too. Like when a son is called a servant to his father, and a student, servant to his teacher and other examples in this sense, it is stated in a hadith from Ali, whoever teaches me a word will be my lord, this is another meaning of the word (ABD)

This demonstrates the ultimate greatness of teaching and learning in Islam, It does make attribution, teacher and educator is like a master, Able and the owner and the pupil and the learner are like slaves that has no ability or own anything for their selves, cause ABD and what he owns belong to his master, as it was stated in Islamic writings.

The prophet, fadimatu-az-Zahra, and the pure imams are the teachers of all creatures, (ويزكيهم ويعلّمهم الكتاب والحكمة) this is not specifically for the prophet but also his successors because they teach people and show them how to be good people and also purify their souls, then, whoever is from their school and is their student can be referred to as their (ABID) servant.

With this requirements and the lack of any obstacle, what is confusing when a father name his child (Abdir-rasul) servant of rasul? Meaning: the student of the prophet or Abdi Ali, Abdi Husain he who devoted his life to teach people how to live with freedom and dignity, and living with the oppressor as tedious, and never submit to humiliation. This name (Abdul-Husain) reminds people the revolution of Imam Husain and the revived goals he out in to peoples mind. Is it in such a wonderful concept Confusion?

Thirdly: why all these Misleading, Distortion of speech from Themes by ignorance, bigotry, hatred or envy? It is obvious that the intention from the saying, Abdi Rasul is not referring to worshipping Rasul as we worship Allah (SWT). And then the saying (سيدي يا رسول الله) Oh!!! My lord, messenger of Allah or (سيدنا الحبيب المصطفى) by all Muslims and with all their differences. When someone is referred to as Sayyidi, it means I am his servant. Most someone serve water and food or something like that before he can be referred to as a servant? Can the meaning of Abdi-Husain be the servant of Husain after his martyrdom (May God be please with him)? Is it possible to say he serves him food and drink and pours him water to ablute while in his grave before he become his servant? No, it is not sensible but it is sensible to become his servant by publicizing his ideas, principles and the revolution he propagated to the world in any circumstance and at all cost anytime and anywhere. E.g. The mourning of Hussein and funerals and religious rites, these are the most beautiful and complete form of service, for service is not limited to serving one food and drink as the custom and conscience suggested and what was stated in language, literature and Quran.

Fourthly: in the school of Ahlibayt, and their teachings as it was stated in the ziyarah of Imam Ali, when we ask for permission to enter we say: (عبدك وإبن عبدك وإبن أمتك جاءك زائراً) but this doesn’t mean that we worship Imam Ali as we worship Allah (SWT), rather with another meaning for the word ABD as it was stated in language and this is obvious nothing wrong with it, for you can ask any shi’I who visits Imam Ali, what is his intention when saying he is the servant of Ali, is he worshipping Ali as he worship Allah?  He will tell you without second thought, NO. for Imam Ali himself said: I am a servant from the servants of Muhammad, our intention from saying we are the servants of imam Ali is from this context. There is a difference between the word ABID and IBAD, when we say we are the Abdi of imam Ali, we meant in the sense of been someone’s servant not worshipping him, this shubuha is from the misunderstanding of a word that has several meanings like the famous example in Arabic, the word (العين) in Arabic has so many meanings, it can take the meaning of espionage gold and silver and subsidiaries and other meanings… you can only know the intended meaning through clues and hints from the conversation it is obvious when Abdi Hussain is said, the intention is not worshipper of Hussain but one of his servants as he also is from Allah’s servants, it meant to serve him in the way people serve their masters. Our service to Ahlibayt is by following them and the dissemination of knowledge and morals and their goals and their message among the people. So not all Muslims are one of the servants of imam Hussain even if he call himself with that name, and is not even pride to call yourself the servant of the messenger of Allah and his pure household.

FIFTH: it is said from Ahlilbayt:  (نحن صنائع الله والخلق صنايعنا) Ulama have translated this and with many different understanding, one of the meanings: And it is obedience which is in the length of obedience to God ﴿ أَطِيعُوا اللَّهَ وَأَطِيعُوا الرَّسُولَ وَأُوْلِي الأَمْرِ مِنْكُمْ ﴾ Abd is the obedient, and obedient to God is also a servant to God. And in the length of being obedient to Allah he becomes obedient to the prophet and then become his servant, and then Abdul-lah became Abdur-rasul as well. And then the obedience of guardians. Whoever follow and obey them (The infallible AIMMA) absolutely, if he is not infallible then there is no obedience to a creature in disobedience to the creator. He must be infallible before he can obeyed absolutely. And whoever is obedient to the infallibles is also obedient to Allah and his messenger. A servant to Ali, Fatimah, hassan and Hussain and the rest infallibles is a servant to Allah and his messenger. NOTE: with preserving the meaning of worship only to Allah (SWT) for the plural of Abd as Allah’s servants and worshppers is IBAD while the plural in prophet and Ahlibayt is Abid. The difference between the two meanings is as far as the distance between land and the sky, for the slaves worship and obey their masters in the land, and the worship of God and obeying him is in the sky (السّماء)

It is with this clear evidence the great jurists gave the fatwa of the authenticity of naming a child Abdur-rasul, Abdu-ali, Abdu-zahra, Abdu-hussain and others. But an extremist and whose brain is brainwashed and cannot distinguish between the differences of meaning of a word will use his wrong understanding that he don’t even know he is wrong to call on shia youth, but however dark the clouds of ignorance can be the light of the truth will always Shine and stand out and remove the black clouds. This is a tradition which will never be changed or annulled.

وآخر دعوانا أن الحمد لله ربّ العالمین.