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Is the word "عبودية" (servitude/worship) permissible if it means subjugation and control?

1 min readAlso available in العربية

It is permissible to use the word "ist'abadahum" (استعبدهم - enslaved them) to mean "istadhallahum" (استذلهم - subjugated them), as evidenced by the famous saying of Omar ibn al-Khattab: "Since when have you enslaved people, when their mothers gave birth to them free?" The linguistic origin of "ist'abadahu" is "he took him as a slave," whereas "abbada" (عبَّد), with a shaddah on the ba, is used for subjugation, as in "al-ba'eer al-mu'abbad" (البعير المعبَّد - the subjugated camel) and "al-tareeq al-mu'abbad" (الطريق المعبَّد - the paved/trodden road).

Summarized from the full answer at Ftawy · reviewed Sep 2, 2026

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