what does abusayf mean in the philippine language?

Question

chatting with someone and she told me her father was abusayf. she didnt know how to explain to me what it was. tried to find in a philippine translation site but no luck.

Answer 1

It's Arabic. "abu" means "father (of)", "sayf" means "sword", also a popular name. Literally "father (of the) sword", or "sword-bearer". Or maybe it's just "father of Sayf" ? Is Sayf the name of his oldest son?

"Muslim Names" : http://aaiil.org/text/muslimnames/muslimnamesstu.shtml

"A kunya (pronounced COON-yah), an honorific name or surname, as the father or mother of someone; e.g., "abu Da'ud" [the father of David], "umm Salim" [the mother of Salim]. It is meant as a prefix of respect or reverence. Married persons (especially married ladies) are, as a general rule, simply called by their kunya (abu or umm + the name of their first son). When using a person's full name, the kunya precedes the personal name: "Abu Yusuf Hasan" [the father of Joseph, Hasan], "Umm Ja’far Aminah" [the mother of Ja’far, Aminah]."

"Titular names such as ‘The Sword of the Faith' ('Sayf al-Din') and ‘The Sword of the State’ ('Sayf al-Dawla') were bestowed by the caliph on military and political leaders and were very highly valued. Thus, names consisting of "X + al-Din" (the most famous examples being "Salah al-Din" ["Rectitude of the Faith"], "Nur al-Din" [Light of the Faith] and "`Ala al-Din" (Aladdin)), "X + al-Dawla" (Nasir al-Dawla [Defender of the State]), "X + al-Mulk" (Nizam al-Mulk [Order of the Kingdom]) and "X + al-Islam (Sayf al-Islam [Sword of Islam]) were generally an indication of status or rank."

"PERIOD ARABIC NAMES AND NAMING PRACTICES" : http://www.sca.org/heraldry/laurel/names/arabic-naming2.htm

(The terrorist organisation is called "Abu Sayyaf", BTW. Double "y".)

Answer 2

Well, its Abu Saif, and that is a terrorist group that is in the Philippines... it used to be linked to Al Qaeda... maybe you shouldn't talk to her??? (: