Abbaa

Meaning of Abbaa

Abbaa (also spelled Abaa’) is an ancient Arabic name for boys that means one who strongly refuses to be harmed or injured, and more generally a person who is strongly resisting and unyielding .  Abbaa is derived from the Quranic root A-B-Y whose most basic meaning is “to strongly refrain from”, “to (metaphorically) firmly turn away from”¹². Abbaa also means “proud”, “arrogant”³, perhaps similar to the English expression “one who turns his nose up”. The name’s meaning can have a positive connotation (one who has pride and refuses to accept harm and injury), the more negative meaning of one who has pride and arrogance seems more likely based on its root and the other words derived from it.

يُرِيدُونَ أَنْ يُطْفِئُوا نُورَ اللَّهِ بِأَفْوَاهِهِمْ وَيَأْبَى اللَّهُ إِلَّا أَنْ يُتِمَّ نُورَهُ وَلَوْ كَرِهَ الْكَافِرُونَ (32) هُوَ الَّذِي أَرْسَلَ رَسُولَهُ بِالْهُدَى وَدِينِ الْحَقِّ لِيُظْهِرَهُ عَلَى الدِّينِ كُلِّهِ وَلَوْ كَرِهَ الْمُشْرِكُونَ (33)

They intend to extinguish the light of Allah with their mouths, but Allah refuses except to complete His light, even though the disbelievers detest it. He is the One who sent His Messenger with guidance and the religion of truth to make it prevail over all religion, even though the polytheists detest it. (Quran 9:32-33)

1. Muḥammad al-Fattinī, Majmaʿ Biḥār al-Anwār fī Gharāʾib al-Tanzīl wa Laṭāʾif al-Akhbār , entry for: أبى.
2. Al-Rāghib al-Isfahānī, al-Mufradāt fī Gharīb al-Qurʾān , entry for: أبى.
3. Supplément aux dictionnaires arabes by Reinhart Dozy , entry for: أبى.