Home Article Category Current events

'Abbas ibn 'Abd al-Muttalib

For Caliph Ali ibn Abi Talib's son, see Abbas ibn Ali.
Al-Abbas ibn Abd al-Muttalib
ٱلْعَبَّاسُ ٱبْنُ عَبْدِ ٱلْمُطَّلِبِ
العبَّاس بن عبد المُطلب.png
Bornc. 565 CE
Mecca, Arabia
Diedc. 653 CE (aged 89)
Medina, Rashidun Caliphate
Known forPaternal uncle of the Islamic prophet Muhammad and eponymous ancestor of the Abbasid Dynasty
Spouse(s)Lubaba bint al-Harith
ChildrenAbdullah ibn Abbas
Fadl ibn Abbas
Ubaydullah Ibn Abbas
Parent(s)Abd al-Muttalib (father)
Natila bint Janab (mother)
RelativesAbdullah ibn Abd al-Muttalib (brother)
Abu Talib ibn Abd al-Muttalib (brother)

Al-Abbas ibn Abd al-Muttalib (Arabic: ٱلْعَبَّاسُ ٱبْنُ عَبْدِ ٱلْمُطَّلِبِ, romanized: al-ʿAbbās ibn ʿAbd al-Muṭṭalib; c. 565 – c. 653 CE) 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]

Early years[]

Abbas, born c. 565 CE, was one of the younger 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 distribution 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 years when 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 said that Abbas had become a secret Muslim before the Battle of Badr;[8] but a clear statement to that effect is missing from Tabari's citation of the same source.[9][10] It is said by some authorities that he converted to Islam shortly after the Battle of 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 war. He was given the right to provide Zamzam water to pilgrims, a right which 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]

Later Abbas fought in the expion to Tabuk.[13]

Family[]

Abbas had at least five wives.

  1. 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]
  2. Fatima bint Junayd, from the Al-Harith clan of the Quraysh tribe.[17]
  3. Hajila bint Jundub ibn Rabia, from the Hilal tribe.[18]
  4. Musliya, a Greek concubine.[19][20]
  5. Tukana, a Jewish woman from the Qurayza tribe, whom Abbas married after 632.[21] It is not known whether any of the children were hers.

The known children of Abbas were:

  1. Al-Faraa, who married Qatn ibn Al-Harith, a brother of Lubaba. Her mother is not named.[22]

The following were all the offspring of Lubaba.[23]

  1. Al-Fadl.
  2. Abdallah.
  3. Ubaydullah. Ubaydullah's daughter Lubaba married al-Abbas ibn Ali and had a son Ubaydullah ibn al-Abbas ibn Ali.
  4. Qutham.
  5. Ma'bad.
  6. Abdulrahman.
  7. Umm Habib.

Other children

  1. Al-Harith. His mother is said to have been either Fatima[17] or Hajila.[18]
  2. Aown, whose mother is not named.[24]
  3. Mushir, whose mother is not named.[25]
  4. Kathir, son of Musliya.[26]
  5. Amina, probably the daughter of Musliya.[19][27]
  6. Safiya, probably the daughter of Musliya.[19][27]
  7. Tammam, the youngest, son of Musliya.[26]

Death[]

Abbas died in February 653 at the age of 89. He is buried at the Jannatul Baqee cemetery in Medina, Saudi Arabia.[28][29]

Legacy[]

Further information: Abbasid Caliphate, Abbasid dynasty, and Caliphate

The Abbasid dynasty founded in 750 by Abu al-ʻAbbās ʻAbdallāh as-Saffāh better known as As-Saffah claimed the title of caliph (literally "successor") through their descent from Abbas's son Abdallah.[30]

Many other families claimed direct descent from Abbas, including the Kalhoras of Sindh,[31] the Berber Banu Abbas,[32] and the modern-day Bawazir of Yemen[33] and Shaigiya and Ja'Alin of Sudan.[34]

Ancestors and family tree[]

Quraysh tribe
Waqida bint AmrAbd Manaf ibn QusaiĀtikah bint Murrah
Nawfal ibn Abd Manaf‘Abd ShamsBarraHalaMuṭṭalib ibn Abd ManafHashimSalma bint Amr
Umayya ibn Abd ShamsʿAbd al-Muṭṭalib
HarbAbū al-ʿĀsʿĀminahʿAbdallāhHamzaAbī ṬālibAz-Zubayral-ʿAbbās Abū Lahab
ʾAbī Sufyān ibn Harbal-ḤakamʿAffānMUHAMMAD
(Family tree)		Khadija bint KhuwaylidʿAlī
(Family tree)		Khawlah bint Ja'farʿAbd Allāh
Muʿāwiyah IMarwān IʿUthmān ibn ʿAffānFatimahMuhammad ibn al-HanafiyyahʿAli ibn ʿAbdallāh
SufyanidsMarwanids al-Ḥasanal-Ḥusayn
(Family tree)		Abu Hashim
(Imām of al-Mukhtār and Hashimiyya)		Muhammad
"al-Imām"
(Abbasids)
Ibrāhim "al-Imām"al-Saffāḥal-Mansur

See also[]

References[]

  1. ^ a b Huston Smith, Cyril Glasse (2002), The new encyclopedia of Islam, Walnut Creek, CA: AltaMira Press, ISBN 0-7591-0190-6
  2. ^ al-Tabari, Muhammad ibn Jarir (1998). Tarikh al-Rusul wa'l-Muluk: Biographies of the Prophet's Companions and Their Successors. Vol. 39. Albany: State University of New York Press. p. 24.
  3. ^ Ibn Ishaq, Sirat Rasul Allah. Translated by Guillaume, A. (1955). The Life of Muhammad, p. 79. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
  4. ^ Ibn Ishaq/Guillaume, p. 113.
  5. ^ Ibn Ishaq (Guillaume) pp. 309–310.
  6. ^ Ibn Ishaq (Guillaume) p. 203.
  7. ^ Wahba, al-Mawardi Translated by Wafaa H (2000), The ordinances of government = Al-Aḥkām al-sulṭāniyya w'al-wilāyāt al-Dīniyya, Reading: Garnet, ISBN 1-85964-140-7
  8. ^ Ibn Ishaq (Guillaume) p. 309.
  9. ^ Alfred Guillaume's footnote to Ibn Ishaq (1955) p. 309.
  10. ^ 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.
  11. ^ Annotated (1998), The history of al-Ṭabarī = (Taʼrīkh al-rusul wa'l mulūk), Albany: State University of New York Press, ISBN 0-7914-2820-6
  12. ^ Ibn Ishaq (Guillaume) pp. 546–548.
  13. ^ a b Tabari (Landau-Tasseron) pp. 24–25.
  14. ^ Ibn Saad, Tabaqat vol. 8. Translated by Bewley, A. (1995). The Women of Madina, p. 194. London: Ta-Ha Publishers.
  15. ^ Ibn Ishaq (Guillaume) p. 311.
  16. ^ Roded, Ruth (1994), Women in islamic biographical collections : from Ibn Saʻd to Who's who. P37-38, Boulder u.a.: Rienner, ISBN 1-55587-442-8
  17. ^ a b Ibn Hajar, Isaba vol. 8 #11586.
  18. ^ a b Ibn Hajar, Isaba vol. 2 #1904.
  19. ^ a b c Ibn Saad, Tabaqat vol. 4. “Al-Abbas ibn Abdalmuttalib.”
  20. ^ Beheshti, M. (1967). Background of the Birth of Islam, chapter 5. Translated by Ayoub, M. M. (1985). Tehran: International Publishing Co.
  21. ^ Majlisi, Hayat Al-Qulub vol. 2. Translated by Rizvi, A Detailed Biography of Prophet Muhammad (saww), p. 1180.
  22. ^ Ibn Hajar, Isaba vol. 5 #7129.
  23. ^ Tabari (Landau-Tasseron) p. 201.
  24. ^ Ibn Hajar, Isaba vol. 5 #6279.
  25. ^ Ibn Hajar, Isaba vol. 6 #8329.
  26. ^ a b Tabari (Landau-Tasseron) vol. 39 pp. 75–76.
  27. ^ a b See also Majlisi (Rizvi) p. 1208.
  28. ^ Tabari (Landau-Tasseron) vol. 39 p. 25.
  29. ^ Faruk Aksoy, Omer Faruk Aksoy (2007), The blessed cities of Islam, Makka-Madina, Somerset, NJ: Light Pub., ISBN 978-1-59784-061-3
  30. ^ Ira Lapidus. A History of Islamic Societies. Cambridge University Press. 2002 ISBN 0-521-77056-4 p.54
  31. ^ History of Daudpota's, Altaf Daudpota, retrieved 2009-04-12
  32. ^ Abbasis of Murree, Kahuta and Bahawalpur Brett, Michael Fentress (1997), The Berbers, Oxford: Blackwell, ISBN 0-631-20767-8
  33. ^ Web Site of the Bawazir Abbasid Hashimite Family
  34. ^ Nicholls, W (1913), The Shaikiya: an Account of the Shaikiya Tribes, of the History of Dongola Province from the XIVth to the XIXth Century