Al-Abbas ibn Abd al-Muttalib

(b d '(=Ibn al-Athir's three sources)) 'Abbas, son of 'Abd al-Muttalib ibn Hashim ibn 'Abd Manaf ibn Qusayy ibn Kilab ibn Murra.

The paternal uncle of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ and the full brother (3) of his father. He is given the kunya Abu al-Fadl, after his son.

His mother was Nutayla bint Janab (4) ibn Kulayb ibn Malik ibn 'Amr ibn 'Amir ibn Zayd Manat ibn 'Amir, who is al-Dahyan, ibn Sa'd ibn al-Khazraj ibn Taym Allah ibn al-Namir ibn Qasit. She was the first Arab woman to clothe the Sacred House (the Ka'ba) with silk and brocade and various kinds of covering. The reason for this was that 'Abbas went missing when he was small, so she vowed that if she found him she would clothe the House. She found him, and so she did it. He was two years older than the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, and it is said: by three years. In the Jahiliyya 'Abbas was a chief among the Quraysh, and to him belonged the maintenance of the Sacred Mosque [and the provision of water (siqaya) in the Jahiliyya; as for the siqaya, it is well known, and as for the maintenance of the Sacred Mosque], for he would not let anyone curse in the Sacred Mosque, nor utter foul speech in it, and they were unable to refuse him that, because the assembly of the Quraysh had gathered and pledged themselves to that, so they were his helpers in it. He witnessed, together with the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, the pledge of al-'Aqaba, when the Ansar gave their pledge to him, in order to make the covenant firm for him, and at that time he was a polytheist. He was among those who went out with the polytheists to Badr under compulsion, and he was taken captive that day among those captured, and his bonds had been tightened. The Prophet ﷺ stayed awake that night and could not sleep, so one of his Companions said to him: What keeps you awake, O Prophet of Allah? He said: I stay awake because of the moaning of al-'Abbas. So a man of the people rose and loosened his bonds, whereupon the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said to him:

Why do I no longer hear the moaning of al-'Abbas? The man said: I loosened his bonds. So the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:

Do that with all the captives. On the day of Badr he ransomed himself and the two sons of his two brothers: 'Aqil ibn Abi Talib and Nawfal ibn al-Harith, and he embraced Islam after that, and it is said: that he had embraced Islam before the Hijra and used to conceal his Islam. At Mecca he used to write to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ with the news of the polytheists, and those of the Muslims who were at Mecca would gain strength through him, and he was a help to them in their Islam. He wanted to emigrate to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, but the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said to him: Your remaining at Mecca is better. That is why the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said on the day of Badr: Whoever meets al-'Abbas, let him not kill him, for he was brought out under compulsion. And the story of al-Hajjaj ibn 'Ilat testifies to that (1). The Prophet ﷺ said to him: «You are the last of the Emigrants, just as I am the last of the Prophets»

Abu al-Fadl al-Tabari the jurist informed us, with his chain of transmission to Abu Ya'la al-Mawsili, who said: Shu'ayb ibn Salama ibn Qasim al-Ansari, of the descendants of Rifa'a ibn Rafi' ibn Khadij, narrated to us; Abu Mus'ab Isma'il ibn Qays ibn (2) Zayd ibn Thabit narrated to us; Abu Hazim narrated to us, on the authority of Sahl ibn Sa'd al-Sa'idi, who said: al-'Abbas ibn 'Abd al-Muttalib asked the Prophet ﷺ for permission to emigrate, and he said to him: «O uncle, stay in the place where you are, for Allah Most High will seal the Hijra with you just as He sealed prophethood with me». Then he emigrated to the Prophet ﷺ and witnessed with him the conquest of Mecca, after which emigration ceased, and he witnessed Hunayn and stood firm with the Messenger of Allah ﷺ when the people were routed at Hunayn. The Messenger of Allah ﷺ used to honor him and treat him generously after his Islam. He was one who maintained the ties of kinship of the Quraysh, beneficent to them, of sound judgment and abundant intellect. The Prophet ﷺ said of him: «This is al-'Abbas ibn 'Abd al-Muttalib, the most open-handed of the Quraysh, and the most maintaining of kinship ties; and he said: This is the remnant of my fathers».

Ibrahim ibn Muhammad and Isma'il ibn 'Ali and others informed us; they said, with their chain of transmission to Muhammad ibn 'Isa al-Sulami: Qutayba narrated to us; Abu 'Awana narrated to us, on the authority of Yazid ibn Abi Ziyad, on the authority of 'Abd Allah ibn al-Harith, who said:

'Abd al-Muttalib ibn Rabi'a ibn al-Harith ibn 'Abd al-Muttalib narrated to me: that al-'Abbas entered upon the Prophet ﷺ angry, and I was with him. He said: What has angered you? He said: O Messenger of Allah, what is between us and the Quraysh? When they meet one another they meet with cheerful faces (3), and when they meet us they meet us with other than that. He said: The Messenger of Allah ﷺ became angry until his face reddened. Then he said: «By the One in whose hand is my soul, faith does not enter a man's heart until he loves you for the sake of Allah and His Messenger.

Then he said: O people, whoever harms my uncle has harmed me, for a man's paternal uncle is the full brother of his father» (1).

And Abu al-Qasim Ya'ish ibn Sadaqa ibn 'Ali the jurist informed us; Abu Muhammad Yahya ibn 'Ali ibn al-Tarrah informed us; Abu al-Husayn ibn al-Muhtadi informed us; 'Umar ibn Shahin informed us; Muhammad ibn Muhammad ibn Sulayman al-Baghandi informed us; 'Abd al-Wahhab ibn al-Dahhak narrated to us; Isma'il ibn 'Ayyash narrated to us, on the authority of Safwan ibn 'Amr, on the authority of 'Abd al-Rahman ibn Jubayr ibn Nufayr, on the authority of Kathir ibn Murra, on the authority of 'Abd Allah ibn 'Umar (2), who said: The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: «Allah took me as an intimate friend (khalil) just as He took Ibrahim as an intimate friend, and my dwelling and the dwelling of Ibrahim face each other in Paradise, and the dwelling of al-'Abbas ibn 'Abd al-Muttalib is between us, a believer between two intimate friends».

'Abd Allah ibn al-Harith, 'Amir ibn Sa'd, al-Ahnaf ibn Qays, and others narrated from him, and he has hadiths, among them:

That which 'Abd al-Wahhab ibn Hibat Allah ibn Abi Habba informed us of, with his chain of transmission to 'Abd Allah ibn Ahmad, who said: my father narrated to me; Husayn ibn 'Ali narrated to us, on the authority of Za'ida, on the authority of Yazid ibn Abi Ziyad, on the authority of 'Abd Allah ibn al-Harith, on the authority of al-'Abbas, who said: I came to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ and said: Teach me, O Messenger of Allah, something with which I may supplicate. He said:

So he said: «Ask Allah for well-being (al-'afiya)». Then I came to him another time, and I said: O Messenger of Allah, teach me something with which I may supplicate. He said:

«O 'Abbas, O uncle of the Messenger of Allah, ask Allah for well-being in this world and the Hereafter (3)».

Abu Nasr 'Abd al-Rahim ibn Muhammad ibn al-Hasan ibn Hibat Allah, and Abu Ishaq Ibrahim ibn Abi Tahir Barakat ibn al-Khushu'i (4), and others, informed us; they said: the Hafiz Abu al-Qasim 'Ali ibn al-Hasan ibn Hibat Allah al-Dimashqi informed us; Abu 'Abd Allah al-Husayn ibn Muhammad ibn al-Farhan al-Simnani informed us; the master Abu al-Qasim al-Qushayri informed us; Abu al-Husayn Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn al-Khaffaf informed us; Abu al-'Abbas al-Sirraj informed us; Abu Ma'mar Isma'il ibn Ibrahim ibn Ma'mar informed us; al-Darawardi informed us, on the authority of Yazid ibn al-Had, on the authority of Muhammad ibn Ibrahim, on the authority of 'Amir ibn Sa'd, on the authority of al-'Abbas ibn 'Abd al-Muttalib, who said: The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: «He has tasted the sweetness of faith who is content with Allah as Lord, with Islam as religion, and with Muhammad as Messenger» (5).

And Abu al-Fadl al-Makhzumi the jurist informed us, with his chain of transmission to Ahmad ibn 'Ali ibn al-Muthanna, who said: Muhammad ibn 'Abbad narrated to us; Muhammad ibn Talha narrated to us, on the authority of Abu Suhayl ibn Malik, on the authority of Ibn al-Musayyab, on the authority of Sa'd, who said: We were with the Prophet ﷺ at Baqi' al-Khayl, when al-'Abbas approached, and the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: «This is al-'Abbas, the uncle of your Prophet, the most open-handed of the Quraysh and the most maintaining of kinship» (1). And 'Umar ibn al-Khattab sought rain through al-'Abbas may Allah be pleased with them both in the year of al-Ramada when the drought became severe. So Allah Most High gave them rain through him, and the land became fertile. 'Umar said: This, by Allah, is the means to Allah and the standing with Him. And Hassan ibn Thabit said: (2).

The Imam asked, when our drought followed one upon another … so the clouds gave rain through the blessing of al-'Abbas. The uncle of the Prophet and the full brother of his father, who … inherited the Prophet by that, to the exclusion of the people. By him He revived the lands until they became … green of flanks after despair. And when the people were given rain, they began to wipe themselves with al-'Abbas, saying: Congratulations to you, O water-giver of the two sanctuaries.

The Companions recognized al-'Abbas's merit, and they would give him precedence, consult him, and take his counsel. It sufficed him for nobility and merit that he was consoled regarding the Prophet ﷺ when he died, for there remained none of his agnates nearer than him.

He had ten male children besides the females, among them: al-Fadl, 'Abd Allah, 'Ubayd Allah, Qutham, 'Abd al-Rahman, Ma'bad, al-Harith, Kathir, 'Awn, and Tammam, who was the youngest of his father's children.

al-'Abbas became blind at the end of his life and died at Medina on Friday, with twelve nights elapsed of Rajab, and it is said: rather, of Ramadan, in the year thirty-two, two years before the killing of 'Uthman. 'Uthman prayed over him, and he was buried in al-Baqi', and he was eighty-eight years old. He was tall, handsome, white with a soft, tender complexion, with two braids (3).

When he was taken captive on the day of Badr, they could not find a shirt that would fit him except the shirt of 'Abd Allah ibn Ubayy ibn Salul, so they clothed him in it; and for this reason, when 'Abd Allah ibn Ubayy died, the Messenger of Allah ﷺ shrouded him in his shirt. And al-'Abbas freed seventy slaves.

The Three (Abu Nu'aym, Ibn Manda, and Abu 'Umar) recorded him.