Al-Abbas ibn Abd al-Muttalib (Arabic: ٱلْعَبَّاسُ ٱبْنُ عَبْدِ ٱلْمُطَّلِبِ, romanized: al-ʿAbbās ibn ʿAbd al-Muṭṭalib; c. 568 – c. 653CE) was paternal uncle and Sahabi (companion) of Muhammad, just three years older than his nephew. A wealthy merchant, during the early years of Islam he protected Muhammad while he was in Mecca, but only became a convert after the Battle of Badr in 624 CE (2 AH). His descendants founded the Abbasid dynasty in 750.[1]
Abbas, born in 568, was one of the youngest sons of Abd al-Muttalib. His mother was Nutayla bint Janab of the Namir tribe.[2] After his father's death, he took over the Zamzam Well and the distributing of water to the pilgrims.[3] He became a spice-merchant in Mecca,[4] a trade that made him wealthy.[5]
Conversion to Islam[]
During the early years, while the Muslim religion was gaining adherents (610–622), Abbas provided protection to his kinsman but did not adopt the faith. He acted as a spokesman at the Second Pledge of Aqaba,[6] but he was not among those who emigrated to Medina.
Having fought on the side of the polytheists, Abbas was captured during the Battle of Badr. Muhammad allowed al-Abbas to ransom himself and his nephew.[7]
Ibn Hisham says that Abbas had become a secret Muslim before the Battle of Badr;[8] but the clear statement is missing from Tabari's citation of the same source.[9][10] It is sometimes said that he converted to Islam shortly after Badr.[11]
It is elsewhere implied that Abbas did not formally profess Islam until January 630, just before the fall of Mecca, twenty years after his wife Lubaba converted.[12] Muhammad then named him "last of the migrants" (Muhajirun), which entitled him to the proceeds of the spoils of the war. He was given the right to provide Zamzam water to pilgrims, which right was passed down to his descendants.[1]
Abbas immediately joined Muhammad's army, participating in the Conquest of Mecca, the Battle of Hunayn and the Siege of Ta'if. He defended Muhammad at Hunayn when other warriors deserted him.[13] After these military exploits, Abbas brought his family to live in Medina, where Muhammad frequently visited them[14] and even proposed marriage to his daughter.[15]
Lubaba bint al-Harith (Arabic: لبابة بنت الحارث), also known as Umm al-Fadl, was from the Banu Hilal tribe. Umm al-Fadl claimed to be the second woman to convert to Islam, the same day as her close friend Khadijah, the first wife of Muhammad. Umm al-Fadl's traditions of the Prophet appear in all canonical collections of hadiths. She showed her piety by supernumerary fasting and by attacking Abu Lahab, the enemy of the Muslims, with a tent pole.[16]
Fatima bint Junayd, from the Al-Harith clan of the Quraysh tribe.[17]
Hajila bint Jundub ibn Rabia, from the Hilal tribe.[18]
^al-Tabari, Muhammad ibn Jarir (1998). Tarikh al-Rusul wa'l-Muluk: Biographies of the Prophet's Companions and Their Successors. 39. Albany: State University of New York Press. p. 24.
^Ibn Ishaq, Sirat Rasul Allah. Translated by Guillaume, A. (1955). The Life of Muhammad, p. 79. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
^Wahba, al-Mawardi Translated by Wafaa H (2000), The ordinances of government = Al-Aḥkām al-sulṭāniyya w'al-wilāyāt al-Dīniyya, Reading: Garnet, ISBN1-85964-140-7
^Alfred Guillaume's footnote to Ibn Ishaq (1955) p. 309.
^Tabari, Tarikh al-Rusul wa'l-Muluk. Translated by McDonald, M. V. (1987). Volume 7: The Foundation of the Community, p. 68. Albany: State University of New York Press.
^Annotated (1998), The history of al-Ṭabarī = (Taʼrīkh al-rusul wa'l mulūk), Albany: State University of New York Press, ISBN0-7914-2820-6