What is “Al” or “El” for in Arab names?
October 10, 2003.
The prefix “Al” (sometimes spelled as “El” )
is very is often observed with Arabic terms, words and names. The most famous
is Al-Qaeda.
In fact, (according to Arabic grammar) “Al” is an
article like the English word “the”. It has the same rules of usage
in Arabic as those of “the” in English. Sometimes it is used in names
also; e.g. Ali Saed bin
Ali El-Hoorie. When this article (Al) is used with a certain name, it
is used to add some distinction to that name. In a certain article about the
actor Arnold Schwarzeneger, the author would like to write his name as “Arnold
Schwarzeneger the Terminator” for recognition. In Arabic, same name would
be written as “Arnold Schwarzeneger Al-Terminator” or “Arnold
Schwarzeneger Al-Khaatim” (Khaatim is the Arabic word for Terminator).
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Muslim Names
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