Ibn Abbas

Not to be confused with Abbas ibn Ali.

ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿAbbās
عَبْد ٱللَّٰه ٱبْن عَبَّاس
Title	Hibr Al-Ummah (Scholar of the Ummah)
Other names	Al-Hibr ("The Ink") Al-Bahr ("The Sea")
Personal
Born	ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿAbbās c. 619 CE Mecca, Hejaz
Died	c. 687 (aged 67–68) Ta'if, Mecca, Umayyad Caliphate (now KSA)
Resting place	Masjid Abdullah ibn Abbas, Ta'if
Religion	Islam
Known for	Interpretation of the Qur'an
Other names	Al-Hibr ("The Ink") Al-Bahr ("The Sea")
Occupation	Expert in Tafsir, with interests in the Qur'an, Sunnah, Hadith and Tafsir during the Early Islamic era and Rashidun–Umayyad periods
Relatives	List Muhammad (cousin) Ali (cousin) Ja'far (cousin) Aqil (cousin) Al-Zubayr (cousin) Utaybah (cousin) Zaynab (cousin) Umama (cousin) Hammanah (cousin) Habiba (cousin) Fakhitah (cousin)
Influences Muhammad Ali Influenced Umar Ata ibn Abi Rabah Wahb ibn Munabbih Tawus ibn Kaysan Al-Rabi ibn Khuthaym Qasim ibn Muhammad ibn Abi Bakr Muhammad ibn Idris Ash-Shafi'i
Muslim leader
Disciple of	Muhammad
Spouse(s)	Zahra bint Mishrah Umm Asma (concubine)
Children	Sons: Al-Abbas Ali Muhammad Ubayd Allah Al-Fadl Sa'd Daughters: Lubabah Asma (the latter's mother was the concubine)
Parents	Abbas ibn Abd al-Muttalib (father) Lubaba bint al-Harith (mother)
2=

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.

Early life

Masjid Abdullah bin Abbas (21°16′13.31″N 40°24′30.48″E) in the Hejazi city of At-Ta'if

ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿAbbās was born in 3 BH (619–620 C.E.). He was the third son of a wealthy merchant, Al-ʿAbbās ibn ʿAbd al-Muṭṭalib, a paternal uncle of the Islamic prophet Muhammad His mother, Umm al-Fadl Lubaba, was a close friend of Khadijah bint Khuwaylid and is traditionally regarded as the second woman to convert to Islam.

As a member of the Banu Hashim, Ibn ʿAbbās shared a direct lineage with Muhammad through their grandfather, ʿAbd al-Muttalib. Shortly after his birth, his mother brought him to Muhammad, who reportedly placed some of his saliva on the infant's tongue before he began to suckle, marking the beginning of their close relationship.

Muhammad's era

As he grew up, he was by Muhammad's side doing different services like fetching water for ablution (). He would pray () with Muhammad and follow him on his assemblies, journeys and expeditions. It is said that Muhammad would often draw him close, pat him on the shoulder and pray, "O God! Teach him (the knowledge of) the Book (Qur'an) ". Muhammad had also supplicated for him to attain discernment in religion. Ibn Abbas kept following Muhammad, memorizing and learning his teaching.

In Template:AH, Muhammad fell into his last illness. During this period, the Hadith of the pen and paper was reported, with Ibn Abbas as the first-level narrator, at that time about twelve years old. 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. In one instance, he recounted waiting outside the door of a companion during the afternoon heat, allowing the dust to blow over him rather than disturbing the scholar's rest, famously telling the companion that "knowledge is sought, it does not just come."

This dedication earned him a prominent place in the consultative councils of the early Caliphate. Umar frequently invited him to sit with the veterans of the Battle of Badr, which drew objections from some elders who questioned why a youth was included when they had sons of similar age. Umar justified his decision by citing Ibn Abbas's religious status and knowledge. To demonstrate this to the council, Umar once asked them to interpret the statement of Allah in Surah an-Nasr: "When comes the Help of Allah and the conquest." While some companions interpreted the verse literally as a command to praise God upon victory and others remained silent, Ibn Abbas stated that the verse was actually a sign of Muhammad's approaching death. Umar publicly endorsed this view, stating that he knew nothing of the verse other than what Ibn Abbas had said. 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.

As his reputation grew, Ibn Abbas’s home in Medina became a center of higher learning, often compared to a university. He organized his teaching by subject, dedicating specific days to Tafsir, Fiqh, Halal and Haraam, military expeditions, poetry, and inheritance laws. His classes were so well-attended that crowds would block the roads leading to his house. To manage the volume of students, he would admit them in shifts based on their field of study, personally elucidating the pronunciation of the Qur'an for one group before clearing the house to discuss interpretation (tafsir) for the next, consistently providing more information than was requested.

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.

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. According to the Siyar A'lam al-Nubala by al-Dhahabi, 'Kitāb al-Ṭabaqāt al-Kabīr by Ibn Sa'd, Al-Mustadrak ala al-Sahihayn, Musannaf Abd al-Razzaq and many other medieval sources, there are three issues which pointed out by the Kharijites for the reason they rebelled:

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 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.
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:

Whenever I saw Ibn Abbas, I would say: He is the most handsome of men. When he spoke, I would say: He is the most eloquent of men. And when he held a conversation, I would say: He is the most knowledgeable of men."

The 1924 Cairo edition Quran adopted the chronological order of chapters promulgated by Ibn Abbās, which subsequently became widely accepted.

Descendants

The genealogy of the Abbasids including their rival Zaydi imams
Abbasids   Caliphs of the Abbasid Caliphate   Caliphs of Cairo   Zaydi imams

Views

Ibn Abbas viewed that Tafsir can be divided in four categories:

• The category the Arabs knew because of its language
• Those of ignorance, of which no one will be excused
• Those the scholars know
• Those no one knows except Allah ( Allāh)

Sunni view him as the most knowledgeable of the Companions in tafsir. A book entitled Tanwir al-Miqbas min Tafsir Ibn Abbas is tafsir, all explanations of which may go back to Ibn Abbas. Of all narrations transmitted by Ibn Abbas, 1660 were considered authentic () by the authors of the two Sahihs.

Regarding Ibn Abbas giving verdicts () in favor of Nikah Mut'ah, most Sunnis view that Ali corrected him on the matter, while other view that "Ibn Abbas position on the permissibility of Mut'ah until his last day is proven" per the Hadith of Ibn al-Zubayr and Mut'ah.

Sunnis describe thus:

... the courageous Abdullah showed that he preferred peace above war, and logic against force and violence. However, he was not only known for his courage, his perceptive thought and his vast knowledge. He was also known for his great generosity and hospitality. Some of his contemporaries said of his household: "We have not seen a house with more food or drink or fruit or knowledge than the house of Ibn Abbas."

He had a genuine and abiding concern for people. He was thoughtful and caring. He once said: "When I realize the importance of a verse of God's Book, I would wish that all people should know what I know.

"When I hear of a Muslim ruler who deals equitably and rules justly, I am happy on his account and I pray for him...

"When I hear of rains that fall on the land of Muslims, that fills me with happiness..."

Abdullah ibn Abbas was constant in his devotions. He kept voluntary fasts regularly and often stayed up at night in Prayer. He would weep while praying and reading the Quran. And when reciting verses dealing with death, resurrection and the life hereafter his voice would be heavy from deep sobbing.

Summary

ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿAbbās (c. 619–687 CE) known as Ibn ʿAbbās was a cousin of the Prophet Muhammad and one of the most renowned Islamic scholars and Qur’anic commentators (mufassirīn).

He was the son of al-ʿAbbās ibn ʿAbd al-Muṭṭalib, Muhammad’s uncle, and Umm al-Faḍl Lubāba, among the earliest converts to Islam. His close relationship with the Prophet began in childhood; Muhammad prayed for him to gain deep understanding of the Qur’an and religion.

After Muhammad’s death, Ibn ʿAbbās became known for his vast knowledge, scholarship, and teaching, consulting senior companions and verifying narrations carefully. His house in Mecca became a center of learning, teaching tafsīr (Qur’anic interpretation), law, poetry, and history.

He was respected by the early caliphs:

• ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb often sought his counsel, admiring his wisdom despite his youth.
• During ʿAlī’s caliphate, Ibn ʿAbbās served as governor of Basra and helped reconcile dissenting factions, including convincing many Kharijites to rejoin ʿAlī.
• Under Muʿāwiya and later rulers, he remained politically neutral, prioritizing unity among Muslims.

In his later years, he settled in Ṭāʾif, where he died around 687 CE. His descendants included ʿAlī ibn ʿAbd Allāh, the grandfather of the first ʿAbbāsid caliphs.

Ibn ʿAbbās transmitted numerous ḥadīth and is credited with profound insights into Qur’anic meanings. Companions and successors praised him as eloquent, wise, and the most knowledgeable among men.

See also

• List of Islamic scholars
• Sunni view of the Sahaba
• List of Sahabah
• Ikrima ibn Abd Allah

External links

• Hadith by Abdullah Ibn Abbas Collected By Bukhari