Abdul Ghaffar

Abdul Ghaffar (Arabic: عبد الغفار‎) and Abdul Ghafoor (Arabic: عبد الغفور‎) are two related male Muslim given names, and, in modern usage, surnames. They are built from the Arabic words Abd, al- and either Ghaffar or Ghafoor respectively. Both names mean "servant of the All-forgiving", Al-Ghaffār and Al-Ghafūr being two of the names of God in the Qur'an, which give rise to the Muslim theophoric names.

The letter a of the al- is unstressed, and can be transliterated by almost any vowel, often by u. Alternative transliterations for the last word allow for the initial "gh" to appear as "g", the "ff" to appear as "f" or vice versa, and the "oo" to appear as "u" or "ou", all subject to variable spacing and hyphenation.

The names may refer to:

Males

Politicians

Abdul

Abdul (also transliterated as Abdal, Abdel, Abdil, Abdol, Abdool, or Abdoul, Arabic: عبد ال‎, ʿAbd al-) is the most frequent transliteration of the combination of the Arabic word Abd (عبد, meaning "servant") and the definite prefix al / el (ال, meaning "the").

It is the initial component of many compound names, names made of two words. For example, عبد الحميد, ʿAbd el-Ḥamīd, usually spelled Abdel Hamid, Abdelhamid, Abd El Hamid or Abdul Hamid, which means "servant of The Praised" (God).

The most common use for Abdul by far, is as part of a male given name, written in English. When written in English, Abdul is subject to variable spacing, spelling, and hyphenation.

The meaning of Abdul literally and normally means "Slave of the", but English translations also often translate it to: "Servant of the".

Spelling variations

The spelling variation is primarily because of the variation in pronunciation. Arabic speakers normally pronounce and transcribe their names of Arabic origin according to their spoken Arabic dialects. Therefore it is pronounced /ʕabdel/ and written Abdel... or Abd El.... However, non-Arabic speakers or Arabic speakers may choose to transcribe the name according to the Literary Arabic pronunciation, which is the language of Quran, pronounced as /ʕabdul/ and written Abdul.... For other variations in spelling, see the Arabic grammar section.

Sheikh Muhammad

Sheikh Muhammad (1560 – 1650), also known as Shekh Mahammad (Mohammad), Sayyad Shaikh Mahammad Qadiri, Shaikh Muhammad Shrigondekar (lit. Sheikh Muhammad of Shrigonde), and Sheikh (Shekh) Mahammad-baba, was a Muslim saint-poet who is venerated by Hindus. He is considered the most well-known Muslim Marathi poet. He is the author of the Yoga-samgrama (Yoga-sangrama).

Background

Sheikh Muhammad was born and lived his life in Shrigonda (Shrigonde), Maharashtra, India. He was the son of Raje Muhammad, a Qadiriyya (Kadri, Qadiri) Sufi. His guru was the Hindu Vaishnava (sect worshipping the Hindu god Vishnu) saint Chanda Bodhale, who was also the guru of Janardan Swami, the guru of the saint-poet Eknath (1533–1599). Chanda Bodhale, known as Said Chandasaheb Kadri in Sufi traditions, is considered an avatar of the Hindu god Dattatreya and was a disciple of Sheikh Muhammad's father.

Works and teachings

Sheikh Muhammad is the author of the Yoga-samgrama, the Pavana-vijaya, the Nishkalanka-prabodha, and the Jnanasagara, in addition to many songs and abhangas (devotional poems). His writings show the influence of both Hindu bhakti and Muslim Sufi traditions, and he was a follower of the Advaita Vedanta school of Hindu philosophy. These writings reveal his knowledge of the tenets of bhakti traditions, as well as his literary skills in "chaste idiomatic Marathi".