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ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿAbbās (; 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. During the early struggles for the caliphate, he supported Ali, and was made governor of Basra. He withdrew to Mecca shortly afterwards. 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 At-Ta'if, where he is resting from 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. Muhammad had also supplicated for him to attain discernment in religion. Ibn Abbas kept following Muhammad, memorizing and learning his teaching. Days after that, Abbas and Ali supported Muhammad's weight on their shoulder, as Muhammad was too weak to walk unaided.

Rashidun Caliphate

During the caliphates of Abu Bakr, Umar and Uthman

After the death of Muhammad, Ibn Abbas dedicated himself to collecting and verifying Muhammad's teachings from the senior Sahaba. He was known for his rigorous methodology, often consulting as many as thirty companions to verify a single matter. Sa`d ibn Abi Waqqas corroborated this standing, noting that he had never seen anyone quicker in understanding or wiser in council than Ibn Abbas, even in the presence of the veterans of Badr.

During the caliphates of Ali and Hasan

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 Muawiyah. 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 Muawiyah later that year.

Debate with the Kharijites

A large group of Ali's army were discontented with the outcome of Ali's war with Muawiyah, and broke off into a separate group that became known as the Kharijites. Ibn Abbas played a key role in convincing a large number of them to return to Ali; 20,000 of 24,000 according to some sources. He did so using his knowledge of Muhammad's biography.

  1. Ali's policy for appointing Abu Musa Al-Ashari as arbitrator in the dispute with Mu'awiyah. The Kharijites consider it as religious transgression, citing chapters Al-An'am and Yusuf : "The decision rests with Allah only.". Ibn Abbas responded by pointing out chapter Al-Ma'idah , arguing it is permitted to appoint arbitrator for dispute.
  2. Ali's decision to not include his caliphal title during the arbitration with Mu'awiyah'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.
  3. 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.

Umayyad Caliphate

In 680 CE (60 AH), following the death of Muawiyah, Ibn Abbas attempted to dissuade Husayn ibn Ali from his planned expedition to Kufa. He reminded Husayn that the Kufans had previously abandoned both his father Ali and his brother Hasan ibn Ali, suggesting that he should instead seek refuge in Yemen or, at the very least, refrain from taking his family with him to Iraq.

Wives and children

By a Yemenite princess named Zahra bint Mishrah, Ibn Abbas had seven children:

  1. Al-Abbas, the first born, who was childless.
  2. Ali ibn Abdullah (died 736), who was the grandfather of the first two Abbasid caliphs, who replaced the Umayyads as rulers of Caliphate in 750.
  3. Muhammad, who was childless.
  4. Ubaydullah
  5. 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).
  6. Saad had two children
  7. 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.

Hadith transmitted

Ibn Abbas narrated that Muhammad said, "Two favours are treated unjustly by most people: health and free time." (from Sahih Bukhari, at-Tirmidhi, ibn Majah and al-Nasa'i)

Ibn Abbas reported: Muhammad said, "He who does not memorize any part from the Qur'an, he is like the ruined house." (from Tirmidhi)

On the authority of Ibn Abbas, who said, "One day I was behind (i.e. riding behind him on the same mount) the Prophet and he said to me: 'Young man, I shall teach you some words (of advice). Be mindful of Allah, and Allah will protect you. Be mindful of Allah, and you will find Him in front of you. If you ask, ask of Allah; if you seek help, seek help of Allah. Know that if the nations were to gather together to benefit you with anything, they would benefit you only with something that Allah had already prescribed for you, and if they gather together to harm you with anything, they would harm you only with something Allah had already prescribed for you. The pens have been lifted and the pages have dried." (from Tirmidhi)

Al Hakim records on the authority of ibn Abbas that Muhammad advanced, carrying upon his back Hassan ibn Ali, and a man met him and said, 'an excellent steed thou ridest, lad!'. Muhammad replied, 'and he is an excellent rider.'

Ali ibn Husam Adin (commonly known as al-Mutaki al-Hindi) records that ibn Abbas narrated that Muhammad said the following about his deceased aunt Fatima, the mother of Ali: "I (Muhammad) put on her my shirt that she may wear the clothes of heaven, and I lay in her grave that I may lessen the pressure of the grave. She was the best of Allah’s creatures to me after Abu Talib".

Legacy

Masruq ibn al Ajda said of him: