Abd al-Ra'uf explained

ʻAbd al-Raʼūf (ALA-LC romanization of Arabic: عبد الرؤوف) is a male Muslim given name. It is built from the Arabic words ʻabd and al-Raʼūf, one of the names of God in the Qur'an, which give rise to the Muslim theophoric names.^{[1] [2]} It means 'servant of the Lenient One'.

Because the letter r is a sun letter, the letter l of the al- is assimilated to it. Thus although the name is written in Arabic with letters corresponding to Abd al-Ra'uf, the usual pronunciation corresponds to Abd ar-Ra'uf. Alternative transliterations include Abdul Raouf and others, all subject to variable spacing and hyphenation.

People with the name include:

Arts

• Abdurauf Fitrat (1886–1938), Uzbek, cultural modernist active in Soviet Central Asia
• Abdur Rouf Choudhury (1929–1996), Bengali writer
• Abdul Rauf Anjum (1930–1992), Pakistani writer, poet, philosopher and translator
• Abdul-Rauf Khalid, Pakistani filmmaker

Politics and religion

• Mohammed Yasser Abdel Rahman Abdel Raouf Arafat al-Qudwa al-Husseini, or just Yasser Arafat (1929–2004), Palestinian leader
• Abdul Rauf al-Kasm (born 1932), Syrian politician
• Abdool Raouf Bundhun (born 1937), Vice President of Mauritius
• Abdelraouf Rawabdeh (born 1939), Jordanian politician
• Munshi Abdur Rouf (1943–1971), soldier hero in the Bangladesh Liberation War
• Feisal Abdul Rauf (born 1948), Arab-American imam and author
• Rana Abdul Rauf (born 1953), Pakistani politician
• Mahmoud Abdel Rauf al-Mabhouh, or just Mahmoud al-Mabhouh (1960–2010), Palestinian, Hamas military commander
• Abdul Rauff Hibathul Hakeem, or just Rauff Hakeem (born 1960), Sri Lankan politician
• Abderraouf Jdey (born 1965), Tunisian-Canadian accused of terrorism
• Abdul Rauf Omar Mohammed Abu Al Qusin (born 1965), Libyan held in Guantanamo
• Abdul Rauf Khan (born 1969), Pakistani politician
• Abdul Rauf (anti-Taliban cleric), imam at the Herati Mosque in Kabul
• "Mullah" Abdul Rauf Aliza, also known as Abdul Rauf Khadim, a Taliban commander, allegedly tied to ISIS at time of his death
• Abdul Rauf Ibrahimi, Uzbek legislator and politician from Afghanistan

Sports

• Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf (formerly Chris Wayne Jackson) (born 1969), American basketball player
• Md Abdur Rouf (born 1974), Bangladeshi kabaddi player
• Abdur Rauf (cricketer) (born 1978), Pakistani cricketer
• Abderraouf Zarabi (born 1979), Algerian footballer
• Ahmed Abdel Raouf (born 1986), Egyptian footballer
• Abdul Rauf (cricketer) (born 1998), Pakistani cricketer

See also

• Birshreshtha Munshi Abdur Rouf Library and Museum, Bangladesh

References

1. Book: A Dictionary of Muslim Names. Salahuddin Ahmed. Hurst & Company. London. 1999.
2. Book: A Dictionary of Muslim Names. S. A. Rahman. Goodword Books. New Delhi. 2001.