// Workers AI · dad joke modeWhat did Ibn Abbas say to his friend? Abbas-olutely see you later.
ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿAbbās عَبْد ٱللَّٰه ٱبْن عَبَّاس | |
|---|---|
| Personal life | |
| Born | ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿAbbās c. 619 CE |
| Died | c. 687 (aged 67–68) |
| Resting place | Masjid Abd Allah ibn Abbas, Ta'if |
| Spouse | Zur'ah bint Mishrah Umm Asma (concubine) |
| Children | Sons:
|
| Parent(s) | Abbas ibn Abd al-Muttalib Lubaba bint al-Harith |
| Known for | Interpretation of the Qur'an |
| Occupation | Expert in Tafsir, with interests in the Qur'an, Sunnah, Hadith and Tafsir during the Early Islamic era and Rashidun–Umayyad periods |
| Relatives | |
| Religious life | |
| Religion | Islam |
| Muslim leader | |
| Disciple of | Muhammad |
| Military career | |
| Allegiance | Rashidun Caliphate |
Conflicts | |
ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿAbbās (Arabic: عَبْد ٱللَّٰه ٱبْن عَبَّاس; c. 619 – 687 CE), also known as Ibn ʿAbbās, was one of the cousins of the prophet Muhammad. He is considered to be the greatest mufassir (exegete) of the Qur'an.
He was the son of Abbas ibn Abd al-Muttalib, an uncle of Muhammad, and a nephew of Maymunah bint al-Harith, who later became Muhammad's wife. Initially supporting Ali's claim at Saqifa, he participated in military campaigns in Ifriqiya, and Tabaristan during the reigns of Umar and Uthman. During the later struggles for the caliphate, he served as governor of Basra under Ali before withdrawing to Mecca. During the reign of Mu'awiya I he lived in Hejaz and often travelled to Damascus. After Mu'awiya I died in 680 CE he migrated to Taif, eventually dying around 687 CE.
'Abd Allah ibn Abbas was highly regarded for his knowledge of traditions and his critical interpretation of the Qur'an. From early on, he gathered information from other companions of Muhammad and gave classes and wrote commentaries.
Early life and background
[edit]Born in Mecca before the Hijrah (Muhammad's migration to Medina), Abd Allah was the son of Abbas ibn Abd al-Muttalib and Lubaba bint al-Harith of the Banu Hilal.[1] When the Islamic prophet Muhammad died, Ibn Abbas was a thirteen-year-old youth.[2]
During Muhammad's lifetime, Ibn Abbas was frequently by his side, fetching water for ablution, joining his assemblies, and attending expeditions. Muhammad supplicated for him, praying, "O God! Grant Ibn 'Abbas wisdom and instruct him in exegesis,"[2] or to teach him the knowledge of the Book.
Following Muhammad's passing, Ibn Abbas emerged as the foremost authority on tafsir, establishing the prominent early school of tafsir in Mecca. He learned traditions and hadith from senior companions, particularly Ubayy ibn Ka'b, maintaining a deep focus on Qur'anic interpretation and Muhammad's military campaigns, which earned him the title "al-Bahr" (the Ocean) for his vast knowledge.[2]
Political stance and succession
[edit]Following the death of Muhammad and the events at Saqifa, Ibn Abbas and the wider Banu Hashim maintained firm, albeit cautiously expressed, positions regarding their rightful political claim to leadership as the family of the Prophet.[3] Alongside his brother Fadl ibn Abbas who openly challenged the assembly of Quraysh by declaring that the caliphate had been seized through political maneuvering rather than rightful precedence, Ibn Abbas held that Ali was legitimately entitled to the succession.[3][4] Reflecting this sentiment, Ibn Abbas initially withheld his allegiance from Abu Bakr, viewing the transition of power as an arbitrary deprivation of the Banu Hashim's rightful inheritance.[3]
Scholarly standing under Umar
[edit]Despite these initial political contentions, during the later reign of Umar, Ibn Abbas gained notable standing among the senior companions. Early interpretive methods among the companions tended to be personal, reflecting individual judgments without formal academic proofs.[5] This dynamic was famously captured in an episode where Caliph Umar integrated the young Ibn Abbas into assemblies alongside veterans of the Battle of Badr. When some older companions questioned why a youth was included, Umar tested their understanding of An-Nasr (Surah 110: "When comes help of God, and the conquest..."). While others offered standard literal interpretations regarding the victory at Mecca, Ibn Abbas correctly deduced that the text served as a divine premonition signaling the impending death of Muhammad, an insight that Umar readily conceded he shared.[5]
Military campaigns and defense of Uthman
[edit]During the caliphate of Uthman, Ibn Abbas took on a more active military and administrative role. In 647 CE, he joined the expedition to North Africa under the command of Abd Allah ibn Sa'd, which culminated in the Battle of Sufetula (647). He served in this campaign alongside other prominent members of the Banu Hashim and the wider Qurayshite youth.[6]
In 650 CE, Ibn Abbas participated in the military campaign into Tabaristan led by the governor of Kufa, Sa'id ibn al-As. Marching alongside other prominent companions such as Hasan, Husayn, and Abd Allah ibn Umar, the army achieved a series of successful conquests.[7] Following the successful siege and capture of Abrashahr, Sa'id advanced to Jurjan, where he secured a peace treaty requiring a tribute of two hundred thousand dirhams.[7] The campaign then proceeded to Tamisah, a fortified coastal city situated on the borders of Jurjan and Tabaristan, where the Muslim forces faced stiff resistance from the local inhabitants before ultimately establishing control.[7]
As discontent grew against Uthman due to his centralization of financial control and appointment of Umayyad relatives, disaffected provincial groups from Egypt and Kufa initiated a siege of the caliph's residence.[8] Amidst these mounting tensions, Uthman appointed Ibn Abbas to lead the annual Hajj pilgrimage in Mecca that year.[8] Despite earlier political grievances, Ibn Abbas actively participated in the defense of Uthman during the siege, standing alongside the sons of other prominent companions before the caliph was ultimately assassinated.[9]
Caliphates of Ali and Hasan, and the Umayyad era
[edit]During the First Fitna, Ibn Abbas remained a staunch supporter of his cousin, the Caliph Ali. Following the Battle of the Camel, Ali appointed him as the governor of Basra. He later fought prominently at the Battle of Siffin. After the fighting at Siffin ceased, Ali initially sought to appoint Ibn Abbas as his representative for the arbitration. However, this choice was rejected by Al-Ash'ath and the Iraqi qurra. They demanded a negotiator who was not a member of the Banu Hashim and who remained equally distant from both Ali and Mu'awiya . Following the assassination of Ali in 661 CE, Ibn Abbas pledged allegiance to his eldest son, Hasan ibn Ali, and remained a loyal supporter throughout Hasan's short caliphate, maintaining his allegiance until Hasan’s abdication in favor of Mu'awiya later that year.[10]
During this period, a large segment of Ali's army broke away after becoming discontented with the arbitration, forming the faction known as the Kharijites. Ibn Abbas played a crucial role in engaging them, successfully convincing a large number of dissidents—numbering 20,000 out of 24,000 according to select sources—to return to Ali's fold by utilizing his deep knowledge of Muhammad's biography and scriptural interpretation. Documented across extensive medieval historiographical and biographical compendia such as al-Dhahabi's Siyar A'lam al-Nubala, Ibn Sa'd's Kitāb al-Ṭabaqāt al-Kabīr, Al-Mustadrak ala al-Sahihayn, and Musannaf Abd al-Razzaq, the theological rift centered around three core grievances raised by the Kharijites:[11]
- Al-Hakim al-Nishapuri in Al-Mustadrak ala al-Sahihayn, no. 2656,
- Al-Nasa'i in As-Sunan al-Kubra no. 8522
- Al-Nasa'i in Khoshoish Ali, no. 190
- Al-Fasawi 1/522-524
- al-Bayhaqi in Sunan al-Kubra (al-Bayhaqi), no. 16740
- Musannaf Abd al-Razzaq, no. 18678
- Al-Tabarani in Al-Mu'jam al-Kabir (Al-Tabarani), no. 10598
- Diya' al-Din al-Maqdisi in Al-Āhādith al-Jiyād al-Mukhtārah min mā laysa fī Ṣaḥīḥain no. 436
- Abu Nu'aym al-Isfahani in Hilyat al-Awliya', 3/318
- Ali's policy for appointing Abu Musa al-Ash'ari as arbitrator in the dispute with Mu'awiyah. The Kharijites consider it as religious transgression, citing chapters Al-An'am Quran 6:57–7 (Translated by Pickthall) and Yusuf Quran 12:40–7 (Translated by Pickthall): "The decision rests with Allah only.". Ibn Abbas responded by pointing out chapter Al-Ma'idah Quran 5:95–7 (Translated by Pickthall). "the judge to be two men among you known for justice", arguing it is permitted to appoint arbitrator for dispute.
- Ali's decision to not include his caliphal title during the arbitration with Mu'awiya's faction. Argued by Ibn Abbas, citing the Treaty of al-Hudaybiya when Muhammad does not include his honorific as Prophets and messengers in Islam when negotiating with Suhayl ibn Amr.
- Spoils of war and captives, which was not taken by Ali after the Battle of the Camel, Ibn Abbas responded that since among the defeated was Aisha, the widow of Muhammad, it was impermissible for a Muslim to take another Muslim woman as a captive or to confiscate her property.
Following the death of Mu'awiya I in 680 CE (60 AH), Ibn Abbas turned his attention to political developments under the expanding Umayyad Caliphate. Before Husayn ibn Ali embarked on his expedition to Kufa, Ibn Abbas attempted to dissuade him, reminding him that the Kufans had previously abandoned both Ali and Hasan. He advised Husayn to seek refuge in Yemen instead, or at the very least, to leave his family behind if he insisted on going to Iraq.[12][13]
Death
[edit]
Ibn Abbas died in Taif, near Mecca, in 687 CE.[14] Following his death, his son Ali became the patriarch of his offspring, a lineage that eventually established the Abbasid dynasty, which successfully overthrew the Umayyad Caliphate to assume the caliphate.[1]
Wives and children
[edit]By a Yemenite princess named Zahra bint Mishrah, Ibn Abbas had seven children:
- Al-Abbas, the first born, who was childless.
- Ali ibn Abd Allah (died 736), who was the grandfather of the first two Abbasid caliphs, who replaced the Umayyads as rulers of Caliphate in 750.
- Muhammad, who was childless.
- Ubayd Allah
- Al-Fadl, who was childless. (Riverine Sudanese trace their ancestry to al-Fadl through a son named Saeed, whose mother is said to be from the Ansar).
- Sa'd had two children
- Lubaba, who married Ali ibn Abdullah ibn Jaafar and had descendants.
He had another daughter, Asma, by a concubine; she married her cousin Abdullah ibn Ubaydullah ibn Abbas and had two sons.[1]
References
[edit]- 1 2 3 Landau-Tasseron 1998, p. 54.
- 1 2 3 Ayoub 1984, p. 27.
- 1 2 3 Madelung 1997, pp. 21–22.
- ↑ Ya'qubi 2018, p. 744.
- 1 2 Saeed 2005, p. 47.
- ↑ al-Zawi 2004, p. 69.
- 1 2 3 Humphreys 1990, p. 42.
- 1 2 Madelung 1997, p. 19.
- ↑ Humphreys 1990, p. 209.
- ↑ Madelung 1997, pp. 182, 242, 314.
- ↑ Sackey & Badru 2013, p. 323.
- ↑ Wellhausen 1901, p. 64.
- ↑ Veccia Vaglieri 1971, p. 608.
- ↑ Ayoub 1984, p. 29.
Bibliography
[edit]- Ayoub, Mahmoud M. (1984). The Qur'an and Its Interpreters. Vol. 1. SUNY Press. ISBN 978-0-87395-727-4.
- Adamec, Ludwig W. (2009). Historical Dictionary of Islam. Scarecrow Press. ISBN 978-0-8108-6161-9.
- Saeed, Abdullah (2005). Interpreting the Qur'an: Towards a Contemporary Approach. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-134-21591-1.
- Madelung, W. (1997). The Succession to Muḥammad: A Study of the Early Caliphate. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-64696-3.
- Ya'qubi, Aḥmad ibn Abī Yaʻqūb (2018). The Works of Ibn Wāḍiḥ Al-Yaʻqūbī: An English Translation. Vol. 3. Brill Publishers. ISBN 978-90-04-40104-4.
- al-Zawi, Tahir (2004). History of the Arab conquest in Libya (4 ed.). Dar al-Madar al-Islami.
- Wellhausen, Julius (1901). Die religiös-politischen Oppositionsparteien im alten Islam (in German). Berlin: Weidmannsche Buchhandlung. OCLC 453206240.
- Sackey, Brigid M.; Badru, Pade, eds. (2013). Islam in Africa South of the Sahara: Essays in Gender Relations and Political Reform. Scarecrow Press. p. 323. ISBN 9780810884700.
- Veccia Vaglieri, L. (1971). "(al-) Ḥusayn b. Alī b. Abī Ṭālib". In Lewis, B.; Ménage, V. L.; Pellat, Ch. & Schacht, J. (eds.). The Encyclopaedia of Islam, Second Edition. Volume III: H–Iram. Leiden: E. J. Brill. OCLC 495469525.
- Landau-Tasseron, Ella, ed. (1998). The History of al-Ṭabarī, Volume XXXIX: Biographies of the Prophet's Companions and their Successors: al-Ṭabarī's Supplement to his History. SUNY Series in Near Eastern Studies. Albany, New York: State University of New York Press. ISBN 978-0-7914-2819-1.
- Humphreys, R. Stephen, ed. (1990). The History of al-Ṭabarī, Volume XV: The Crisis of the Early Caliphate: The Reign of ʿUthmān, A.D. 644–656/A.H. 24–35. SUNY Series in Near Eastern Studies. Albany, New York: State University of New York Press. ISBN 978-0-7914-0154-5.
