Al-Abbas ibn Abd al-Muttalib () was a paternal uncle and

sahabi The Companions of the Prophet () were the Muslim disciples and followers of the Islamic prophet Muhammad who saw or met him during his lifetime. The companions played a major role in Muslim battles, society, hadith narration, and governance ...

(companion) of the

Islamic prophet Prophets in Islam () are individuals in Islam who are believed to spread God's message on Earth and serve as models of ideal human behaviour. Some prophets are categorized as messengers (; sing. , ), those who transmit divine revelation, mos ...

Muhammad Muhammad (8 June 632 CE) was an Arab religious and political leader and the founder of Islam. Muhammad in Islam, According to Islam, he was a prophet who was divinely inspired to preach and confirm the tawhid, monotheistic teachings of A ...

, just three years older than his nephew. A wealthy merchant, during the early years of

Islam Islam is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the Quran, and the teachings of Muhammad. Adherents of Islam are called Muslims, who are estimated to number Islam by country, 2 billion worldwide and are the world ...

he protected Muhammad while he was in

Mecca Mecca, officially Makkah al-Mukarramah, is the capital of Mecca Province in the Hejaz region of western Saudi Arabia; it is the Holiest sites in Islam, holiest city in Islam. It is inland from Jeddah on the Red Sea, in a narrow valley above ...

, but only became a convert after the

Battle of Badr The Battle of Badr or sometimes called The Raid of Badr ( ; ''Ghazwahu Badr''), also referred to as The Day of the Criterion (, ; ''Yawm al-Furqan'') in the Qur'an and by Muslims, was fought on 13 March 624 CE (17 Ramadan, 2 AH), near the pre ...

in 624 CE (2 AH). His descendants founded the

Abbasid dynasty The Abbasid dynasty or Abbasids () were an Arab dynasty that ruled the Abbasid Caliphate between 750 and 1258. They were from the Qurayshi Hashimid clan of Banu Abbas, descended from Abbas ibn Abd al-Muttalib. The Abbasid Caliphate is divid ...

in 750.

Early years

Abbas, born around 565 CE, was one of the younger sons of

Abd al-Muttalib Shayba ibn Hāshim (; ), better known as ʿAbd al-Muṭṭalib, () was the fourth chief of the Quraysh tribal confederation and grandfather of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. Early life His father was Hashim ibn 'Abd Manaf,Muhammad ibn Sa ...

. His mother was Nutayla bint Janab of the Namir tribe. After his father's death, he took over the

Zamzam Well The Zamzam Well ( ) is a Water well, well located within the Masjid al-Haram in Mecca, Saudi Arabia. It is located east of the Kaaba, the holiest place in Islam. In the Islamic teachings, the well is a miraculously generated source of water, ...

and the distribution of water to the pilgrims. He became a spice merchant in Mecca, a trade that made him wealthy. Within this role, he managed a caravan network to and from Syria, where he eventually recruited and trained

as an

apprentice Apprenticeship is a system for training a potential new practitioners of a Tradesman, trade or profession with on-the-job training and often some accompanying study. Apprenticeships may also enable practitioners to gain a license to practice in ...

for leading the northern leg of the journey.

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, but he was not among those who

emigrated Emigration is the act of leaving a resident country or place of residence with the intent to settle elsewhere (to permanently leave a country). Conversely, immigration describes the movement of people into one country from another (to permanentl ...

Medina Medina, officially al-Madinah al-Munawwarah (, ), also known as Taybah () and known in pre-Islamic times as Yathrib (), is the capital of Medina Province (Saudi Arabia), Medina Province in the Hejaz region of western Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, ...

. Having fought on the side of the polytheists, Abbas was captured during the

. Muhammad allowed al-Abbas to ransom himself and his nephew.

Ibn Hisham Abu Muhammad Abd al-Malik ibn Hisham ibn Ayyub al-Himyari (; died 7 May 833), known simply as Ibn Hisham, was a 9th-century Abbasid historian and scholar. He grew up in Basra, in modern-day Iraq and later moved to Egypt. Life Ibn Hisham has ...

said that Abbas had become a secret Muslim before the Battle of Badr; but a clear statement to that effect is missing from

Tabari Abū Jaʿfar Muḥammad ibn Jarīr ibn Yazīd al-Ṭabarī (; 839–923 CE / 224–310 AH), commonly known as al-Ṭabarī (), was a Sunni Muslim scholar, polymath, historian, exegete, jurist, and theologian from Amol, Tabaristan, present-day ...

's citation of the same source. It is said by some authorities that he converted to Islam shortly after the Battle of Badr. 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. Muhammad then named him "last of the migrants" (

Muhajirun The ''Muhajirun'' (, singular , ) were the converts to Islam and the Islamic prophet Muhammad's advisors and relatives, who emigrated from Mecca to Medina; the event is known in Islam as the '' Hijra''. The early Muslims from Medina are called the ...

), 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. Abbas immediately joined Muhammad's army, participating in the Conquest of Mecca, the

Battle of Hunayn The Battle of Hunayn () was a conflict between the Muslims of the Islamic prophet Muhammad and the tribe of Qays in the aftermath of the conquest of Mecca. The battle took place in 8 AH () in the Hunayn valley on the route from Mecca to ...

and the

Siege of Ta'if The siege of Ta'if took place in 630, as the Muslims under the leadership of Muhammad besieged the city of Ta'if after their victory in the battles of Hunayn and Autas. One of the chieftains of Ta'if, Urwah ibn Mas'ud, was absent in Yemen ...

. He defended Muhammad at Hunayn when other warriors deserted him.Tabari (Landau-Tasseron) pp. 24–25. After these military exploits, Abbas brought his family to live in Medina, where Muhammad frequently visited them and even proposed marriage to his daughter. Later Abbas fought in the expedition to Tabuk.

Family

Abbas had at least five wives. #

Lubaba bint al-Harith Lubāba bint al-Ḥārith () (), was a prominent early Muslim. Two of her sisters, Maymunah bint al-Harith and Zaynab bint Khuzayma became wives of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. Family Lubaba was a member of the Banu Hilal clan, a branch of t ...

(Arabic: لبابة بنت الحارث), also known as Umm al-Fadl, was from the

Banu Hilal The Banu Hilal () was a confederation of Arab tribes from the Najd region of the central Arabian Peninsula that emigrated to the Maghreb region of North Africa in the 11th century. They ruled the Najd, and campaigned in the borderlands between I ...

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

hadith Hadith is the Arabic word for a 'report' or an 'account f an event and refers to the Islamic oral tradition of anecdotes containing the purported words, actions, and the silent approvals of the Islamic prophet Muhammad or his immediate circle ...

s. She showed her piety by supernumerary fasting and by attacking Abu Lahab, the enemy of the Muslims, with a tent pole. #Fatima bint Junayd, from the Al-Harith clan of the

Quraysh The Quraysh () are an Tribes of Arabia, Arab tribe who controlled Mecca before the rise of Islam. Their members were divided into ten main clans, most notably including the Banu Hashim, into which Islam's founding prophet Muhammad was born. By ...

tribe.Ibn Hajar, ''Isaba'' vol. 8 #11586. #Hajila bint Jundub ibn Rabia, from the Hilal tribe.Ibn Hajar, ''Isaba'' vol. 2 #1904. #Musliya, a Greek concubine.Ibn Saad, ''Tabaqat'' vol. 4. “Al-Abbas ibn Abdalmuttalib.” #Tukana, a Jewish woman from the Qurayza tribe, whom Abbas married after 632. It is not known whether any of the children were hers. The known children of Abbas were: #Al-Faraa, who married Qatn ibn Al-Harith, a brother of Lubaba. Her mother is not named. The following were all the offspring of Lubaba. # Al-Fadl. # Abd Allah. #Ubayd Allah. Ubayd Allah's daughter Lubaba married

Abbas ibn Ali Al-Abbas ibn Ali ibn Abi Talib (, 15 May 647 10 October 680 CE), also known by the kunya Abu al-Fadl (), was a son of Ali ibn Abi Talib, the fourth Rashid caliph in Sunni Islam and the first Imam in Shia Islam. His mother was Fatima bint ...

and had a son Ubayd Allah ibn Abbas ibn Ali. # Qutham. #Ma'bad. #Abd al-Rahman. #Umm Habib. Other children #Al-Harith. His mother is said to have been either Fatima or Hajila. #Awn, whose mother is not named. #Mushir, whose mother is not named. #Kathir, son of Musliya.Tabari (Landau-Tasseron) vol. 39 pp. 75–76. #Amina, probably the daughter of Musliya.See also Majlisi (Rizvi) p. 1208. #Safiya, probably the daughter of Musliya. #Tammam, the youngest, son of Musliya.

Death

Abbas died in February 653 at the age of 89 in

Uthman Uthman ibn Affan (17 June 656) was the third caliph of the Rashidun Caliphate, ruling from 644 until his assassination in 656. Uthman, a second cousin, son-in-law, and notable companion of the Islamic Prophet Muhammad, played a major role ...

era. He is buried at the Jannatul Baqee cemetery in

Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in West Asia. Located in the centre of the Middle East, it covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula and has a land area of about , making it the List of Asian countries ...

.Tabari (Landau-Tasseron) vol. 39 p. 25.

Descendants

The

founded in 750 by Abu al-ʻAbbās ʻAbdallāh as-Saffāh better known as ''As-Saffah'' claimed the title of

caliph A caliphate ( ) is an institution or public office under the leadership of an Islamic steward with Khalifa, the title of caliph (; , ), a person considered a political–religious successor to the Islamic prophet Muhammad and a leader of ...

(literally "successor") through their descent from Abbas's son Abdallah.Ira Lapidus. ''A History of Islamic Societies''. Cambridge University Press. 2002 p.54 Many other families claimed direct descent from Abbas, including the Dhund Abbasi, A tribe in

Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...

and

Azad Kashmir Azad Jammu and Kashmir (), abbreviated as AJK and colloquially referred to as simply Azad Kashmir ( ), is a region administered by Pakistan as a nominally self-governing entitySee: * * * and constituting the western portion of the larger ...

; the

Berber Berber or Berbers may refer to: Ethnic group * Berbers, an ethnic group native to Northern Africa * Berber languages, a family of Afro-Asiatic languages Places * Berber, Sudan, a town on the Nile People with the surname * Ady Berber (1913–196 ...

Banu Abbas; and the modern-day Bawazir of

Yemen Yemen, officially the Republic of Yemen, is a country in West Asia. Located in South Arabia, southern Arabia, it borders Saudi Arabia to Saudi Arabia–Yemen border, the north, Oman to Oman–Yemen border, the northeast, the south-eastern part ...

;Web Site of the Bawazir Abbasid Hashimite Family
/ref> and Shaigiya and

Ja'alin The Ja'alin, Ja'aliya, Ja'aliyin or Ja'al () are an Arabs, Arab or Arabised Nubians, Nubian tribe in Sudan. They claim Arab descent. The Ja'alin formerly occupied the country on both banks of the Nile from Khartoum to Abu Hamad; Citation: ''The A ...

Sudan Sudan, officially the Republic of the Sudan, is a country in Northeast Africa. It borders the Central African Republic to the southwest, Chad to the west, Libya to the northwest, Egypt to the north, the Red Sea to the east, Eritrea and Ethiopi ...

Family tree

Notes

References

{{authority control 565 births 653 deaths Family of Muhammad Banu Hashim 7th-century merchants 6th-century Arab people Burials at Jannat al-Baqī Companions of the Prophet