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Life of the Prophet (seerah)

The Most Honored Man By The Prophet ﷺ: Abbas ibn Abd al-Muttalib (ra) | The Firsts

May 28, 2024Dr. Omar Suleiman

If you saw him in Madinah, you would be taken aback by how he was honored by the Prophet ﷺ and the companions like no other human being, and if you heard him speak then you would know he was special. The last uncle of the Prophet ﷺ and a blessed connection for this ummah.

The Firsts is a weekly video series that chronicles the lives of the Sahaba (the companions of the Prophet ﷺ) during and after the time of the Prophet ﷺ.

Transcript

This transcript was auto-generated using AI and may contain misspellings.
As-salamu alaikum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuhu. As-salamu alaikum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuhu. As-salamu alaikum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuhu. So bi-idhnillahi ta'ala this will be the last episode of the first for some time insha'Allah ta'ala. As we go into Dhul Hijjah, we're going to have a special series in Dhul Hijjah bi-idhnillahi ta'ala on the du'as of the Prophet ﷺ that relate to the changing of divine decree. So please insha'Allah ta'ala pay attention to some of the promos that will be coming out this next week and follow us insha'Allah ta'ala for the first 10 days of Dhul Hijjah as we go through that new series bi-idhnillahi ta'ala. But tonight we cover a person, an individual who really brings together almost the last 100 episodes. He is present in almost every story. You keep hearing Al-Abbas, Al-Abbas, Al-Abbas, right? But rarely do you actually find an entire biography dedicated to him. SubhanAllah he's one of the few people that is overshadowed by his son almost entirely when it comes to the books of Siyar. So you read about Abdullah ibn Abbas radiAllahu ta'ala anhuma and so much emphasis is placed upon Abdullah ibn Abbas that you only really hear about Al-Abbas as an introduction in the life of Abdullah ibn Abbas. But this man radiAllahu ta'ala anhum is a person that if you walked into Medina within the first few decades after the death of the Prophet ﷺ it is not an exaggeration to say that he was the most honored man in Medina.
Meaning if he walked into a gathering or if he walked on a road or if he walked into the masjid you would see all of the sahaba without exception sit down, kiss his hand, lower themselves to him, honor him. Why? Because he is Ammu Rasulillahi ﷺ. What a beautiful title to have. That's the uncle of the Prophet ﷺ. Now imagine if you are a sahabi, a companion who misses the Prophet ﷺ. Those of you that are familiar with those cultures, if you think about Arabian culture and Bedouin culture and the way that the paternal uncle is like the father. Imagine that this is the last piece of that legacy of the Prophet ﷺ. This is like the father of the Prophet ﷺ still amongst us even after the Prophet ﷺ passes away. So there is an honoring of him from the greatest of the companions. And then imagine when the tabi'een, when those who didn't know the Prophet ﷺ come to Medina. Who is that honorable old man? That's the father of the Prophet ﷺ. Imagine the way that they would humble themselves to him, that they would kiss his hand, that they would ask for his dua. Why? Because he has that stature. And we're going to go into that after the death of the Prophet ﷺ. But we started this season of the first with the story of the Ansar. And al-Abbas was the bridge from Mecca to Medina handing off the Prophet ﷺ to Medina. And now as we've been going through the biographies of all of those enemies that the Prophet ﷺ forgave, or all of those family members that he reconciled with after Fatih Mecca, it's always al-Abbas who's the middleman with the Prophet ﷺ. So he sent the Prophet ﷺ off from Mecca to Medina, and then he receives the Prophet ﷺ back into Mecca, and then he will go back with the Prophet ﷺ to Al-Medina as a Muslim after Fatih Mecca.
Now Imam al-Zahabi rahimahullah ta'ala in his monumental work of siyar, of biographies, he often gives this long title to a person. But to al-Abbas ﷺ, the title is simple and nothing more beautiful. He simply introduces him as al-Abbas ammu Rasulillahi ﷺ. The uncle of the Prophet ﷺ. And the Prophet ﷺ said, العَمْسُنْ وَالْوَالَدُ That the paternal uncle is like the father in Islam. And that hadith actually comes in the capacity of his describing al-Abbas ﷺ. Now when the Prophet ﷺ received the message, four of his uncles were alive. And you can pair them two by two. We talked about Abu Lahab last week. So you have the older two that are alive in the life of the Prophet ﷺ as he becomes a prophet, and they are Abd al-Manaf and Abd al-Uzza. Who is Abd al-Manaf? Abu Talib. Abu Talib's name is Abd al-Manaf. Talib is his oldest son. And Abd al-Uzza of course was Abu Lahab. They are like fathers to the Prophet ﷺ by virtue of their age too. Abu Talib is about 30 years senior to the Prophet ﷺ. Abu Lahab at least 13 to 15 years older than the Prophet ﷺ. So they play a different type of role in the life of the Prophet ﷺ. And we talked about Abu Lahab last week. So those are the elderly uncles of the Prophet ﷺ that are still alive. Abu Talib protecting him. Abu Lahab abusing him. And then you have the two uncles that are sort of hybrids of being uncles and older brothers to the Prophet ﷺ. And they are the last two paternal uncles, al-Abbas and Hamza. May Allah be pleased with them.
And they are the ones of course who would embrace Islam in the life of the Messenger ﷺ. Al-Abbas is older than Hamza. Hamza is almost exactly the same age as the Prophet ﷺ. And actually their names are very beautiful. We talked about it when we talked about Hamza. Their names are very unique. Who knows what the name al-Abbas actually means? What does Abbas mean? Abbas means a lion. Hamza also means a lion. But it's a particular posture of the lion that's being described. So they come next to each other. And the naming scheme is very interesting. Al-Abbas ismul asad wa huwa yuzamjir. Abbas in the Arabic language is the name of the lion as it circles its prey and it starts to roar. Okay. Hamza is idha amsaka bilahmi al-faris wa akhaza yuqati'uha. After the lion attacks the farisa, after the lion attacks its prey. And it starts to eat into it. That's when it's called Hamza. So Abbas and Hamza. Hamza is the brother right after al-Abbas. Al-Abbas means the lion as it's roaring before it attacks the prey. Hamza is the lion after it has attacked the prey and started to eat its prey. And subhanAllah, you know when you think about the characteristic of Hamza radiyallahu anhu asadullah, the lion of Allah. Hamza is this fearless man who dives into the enemy. Right. It's such an appropriate name. Abbas is a very calculated man. Right. Who analyzes the situation. Who takes his time in dissecting and does so much. And so the names actually fit the personalities in this regard. So al-Abbas radiyallahu anhu is one of the youngest sons of Abdul Muttalib. About three years older than the Prophet ﷺ. One of only two uncles to embrace Islam.
The Prophet ﷺ's aunts. Of course, one of his aunts definitely embraced Islam, which is Safiyyah bint Abdul Muttalib, the mother of Az-Zubair. And then another two, Arwa and Atika, possibly embraced Islam. So two or three of the aunts of the Prophet ﷺ embraced Islam as well. But only two of his uncles ﷺ. Now he's only three years older than the Prophet ﷺ. But when you looked at him, I mean he basically looks like he's the same age. And one of the most famous narrations, and it has so much depth to it, and al-Abbas is a poetic man radiyallahu anhu, is that al-Abbas was asked, أنت أكبر أو النبي ﷺ؟ Are you older or is the Prophet ﷺ older? Which one of you is older? So he responded with the very famous words, قال هو أكبر وأنا ولدت قبله. He is older, أكبر, he is bigger, he's greater, but I happen to be born before him. So just because I was born before him, I don't have it in me to say أنا أكبر من رسول الله ﷺ. I can't say I'm older or bigger or greater than the Prophet ﷺ. But yeah, I was born three years before the Messenger ﷺ. And this is of course one of the famous narrations that's used to describe the phenomenon of young scholars in Islam. How would you describe Abdullah ibn Abbas, right? The 13-year-old scholar of the Ummah, or Imam al-Shafi'i who was a scholar of this Ummah before he even hit puberty, right? How do you describe this phenomenon of youth scholarship and youth warriors and youth leaders in Islam and the ability of the likes of Umar ibn al-Khattab and Sa'd ibn Abi Waqas to fight under Usama ibn Zayd at the age of 17? I'm older by age, but I respect him, he's greater than me, right?
I give myself in following this person. And this is of course more true with the Prophet ﷺ than anybody else. Al-Abbas صلى الله عليه وسلم also in his physical appearance is one of the most described people. We mentioned Abu Lahab had a stunning physical appearance. And this is a trait of Banu Hashim, right? That their appearances were remarkable. And of course not so more than the Prophet ﷺ. But Al-Abbas صلى الله عليه وسلم also has a unique special appearance. Al-Kalbi رحمه الله says, كان العباس شريفاً مهيباً عاقلاً جميلاً This is how he describes him. He says that he was noble. مهيباً means he had a presence. Hayba of course means that people will naturally be in awe of a person when they are in his presence. Hayba is a respectability, is an honor that Allah ﷻ clothes some people with. عاقلاً He was extremely smart, extremely intelligent, poetic, eloquent when he spoke. رضي الله تعالى عنه جميلاً Beautiful. His description after that, أبيض He had fair skin. رضي الله تعالى عنه And he had ضفيرةان He had two braids that used to come to his shoulder. Now that sounds funny to some people like braids. The Prophet ﷺ used to braid his hair into two often. So al-Abbas ﷺ had beautiful hair and it was braided, one braid on each side, right? And it came right to his shoulders and it always perfectly fell to his shoulders. رضي الله تعالى عنه And Imam al-Dhahbi ﷺ says وكان من أطول الرجال He was one of the tallest people in Mecca. And we'll talk about what that physical stature looks like in some of the historical incidents. So he's extremely tall. وأحسنهم صورة وأبهاهم The most perfect in his appearance and a person who commands
the most respect with his appearance. And he was distinguished by something very unique to him, which is وأجهرهم صوتا When al-Abbas would speak, he could be heard from extremely far away. So it was like something was naturally amplifying his voice. In fact, he had many servants. He was extremely rich. رضي الله تعالى عنه And he had many servants. And they said even in his old age, when al-Abbas wanted to carry out his tasks, he didn't used to send messengers and servants to call other servants. He'd simply stand on a high place and he would say something and his voice would reach miles away. Literally, that's the description of him. رضي الله تعالى عنه So he sends his servants out to do things and then he stands up and he says something and it reaches them from so far away. And that was the boom in his voice. رضي الله تعالى عنه But al-Dhahabi says, مع الحلم والوافر It wasn't an arrogant voice. Just because he had a loud voice when he wanted to project, doesn't mean he was arrogant. When he wanted to use that voice, he could reach far, far away. And we'll see it later on in battle with al-Abbas. رضي الله تعالى عنه And this is also a description of the Hashemites. The Prophet ﷺ had perfectly articulated words. عليه الصلاة والسلام And the Prophet ﷺ knew how to use the tone of his voice for the occasion. Most of the time the Prophet ﷺ's voice was soft, calm, right? Came from a place of bashfulness. But when the Prophet ﷺ gave a khutbah and he showed anger عليه الصلاة والسلام or the occasion called for seriousness, his voice would boom صلى الله عليه وسلم Right? To the point that it would shake you when he would speak in that tone عليه الصلاة والسلام So al-Abbas رضي الله عنه has a distinguished voice, a distinguished posture and a very big stature. And that of course
would benefit him in Jahiliyyah and then benefit him in Islam. That's what the scholars mentioned about him. You think about a society that is very shallow, right? That adds to his leadership before Islam. And then in Islam he uses that voice, he uses that haybah to convey the message of Islam outside of Al-Makkah والمدينة. So this is al-Abbas رضي الله عنه in terms of his physical stature, his age, his relationship to the Prophet ﷺ, biologically just a few years older than the Prophet ﷺ. He grows up with the Prophet ﷺ extremely close to each layer of the Prophet ﷺ's family. So he's from the imam, the uncles, but he's also young enough to be with the Prophet ﷺ and Abu Sufyan ibn Harith and the brothers, right? And that level of the family tree of the Prophet ﷺ. Now his wife is one of the first people that we spoke about in the firsts. His wife is Lubaba bint Harith, Umm al-Fadl رضي الله عنها. If you scroll all the way down the playlist about 110 episodes ago, this is the first woman to embrace Islam after Khadija رضي الله عنها. In fact, some of the writers, like Ibn Hajar رحيم الله even say, on the same day as Khadija رضي الله عنها. Because she was extremely close to Khadija رضي الله عنها. She immediately embraces Islam and follows the Prophet ﷺ. And the only dispute is, as is mentioned, whether she was the next woman or Fatima bint al-Khattab رضي الله عنها, the sister of Umar رضي الله عنه. So she's one of the first Muslims to publicly announce her Islam. And this is the woman who, last week we mentioned, popped Abu Lahab in the head and eventually killed him.
That's his wife, Lubaba, Umm al-Fadl رضي الله عنها. And she's looked at as one of the most noble women in Islam. Go back and watch that episode if you want to sort of refresh the full story about her. But she's related to pretty much everyone from the companions of the Prophet ﷺ. Somehow. An extremely noble woman رضي الله عنها. And Abdullah ibn Abbas رضي الله عنه says that his mother was always in salah and always openly declaring her Islam. قَالَ كُنْتُ أَنَا وَأُمِّي مِنَ الْمُسْتَضْعَفِينَ مِنَ النِّسَاءِ وَالْوَلْدَانِ He says, I and my mother were considered from the downtrodden of the women and the children in Mecca. We were declaring our Islam openly very early on. As for al-Abbas, a huge dispute over when he embraced Islam. It's one of the largest gaps in terms of determining when a person embraced Islam that you find of any companion, if not the largest gap. As to trying to pinpoint at what point he exactly embraces Islam. And Abu Rafi' the slave of al-Abbas رضي الله عنه also was practicing Islam secretly. So Abu Rafi' was a Muslim, Lubaba was a Muslim, Abdullah was a Muslim and they were public, at least Abdullah and his mother were public about their Islam. While Abu Rafi' رضي الله عنه was also secretly practicing with the wife and with the son. And this is of course the person who would make dua for her husband to become Muslim, to come to Islam and also to abandon ar-Riba, to abandon usury knowing its predatory nature even before it was prohibited in Islam. So Lubaba is that righteous woman that is praying for her husband, that is following the Prophet ﷺ in any way that she possibly can. And al-Abbas رضي الله عنه
is not publicly showing his Islam. Now, how did he react to the news of the Prophet ﷺ announcing his Islam? Al-Abbas has a unique position in society. Okay. Number one, he was the one entrusted by his father Abd al-Muttalib to care for Zamzam after Abd al-Muttalib passed away. So he's one who is sort of in charge of hospitality in many ways to the pilgrims that would come to Mecca from the outside. He's also one of the richest men of Mecca and he's a tradesman. He goes out frequently to Ash-Sham, to Yemen, and he particularly used to be famous for the spices that he would get from different parts of the world. So he's the spice seller. He is someone who collects musk. He's someone that sells some of the delicacies, right? That you can only find with him رضي الله عنه. He's also the first person because of his familiarity with the world due to his trade, he worked hospitality and he used to go and be a merchant. He's the first person that a pilgrim coming from outside of Mecca or a merchant would ask about the news of Mecca. And that's why you find so many narrations that we've covered so far. Abdullah ibn Mas'ud رضي الله عنه when he came to Mecca and he wanted to inquire about who the Prophet ﷺ was. He goes to al-Abbas رضي الله عنه. Afif al-Kindi رضي الله عنه has one of the most famous narrations. He said, I came to Mecca and I went to al-Abbas because I was his partner, a business partner of his. And I said, I just saw the strangest thing in the world. I saw a man praying in front of the Ka'bah. Next to him, a boy and behind them, a woman. But he was praying in a different way. He was bowing and he was prostrating, right? And he was raising his hands and supplicating. It looked different. And al-Abbas says, that's my nephew, Muhammad ﷺ.
That young boy, that's Ali رضي الله عنه. And behind him, that's Khadijah رضي الله عنها. And he says that, he says he's a messenger of Allah and that he calls to the oneness of Allah and no one on the face of the earth practices the religion except for them. So he's the one that you go and you ask about the Prophet ﷺ. So you want to learn the ropes of Mecca? You go to him. He was never hostile to the Prophet ﷺ. He immediately says, I'll protect you. But like Abu Talib, he takes a neutral stance towards the religion itself. He says, I'm not a Muslim, but you're my nephew. I'll protect you, but I won't profess your religion. Now, by the way, some of the scholars and the writers mention that it may be that he thought he would be more effective in protecting the Prophet ﷺ as a non-Muslim. I personally know Muslim academics who've never declared their Islam publicly but people respect my opinion more as a non-Muslim than they do as a Muslim. So I'll keep the Islam part private and I'll just be a non-Muslim writer on Islam. Right? And that's one way to, you know, it's not the right way to think. It's not the right way to think. But it is a way that a person could possibly see that I could be effective. And at this point you're trying to figure things out. He clearly loves the Prophet ﷺ. If anyone from the outside or the inside asks him about the Prophet ﷺ, he testifies to his character and he testifies to the profundity of his religion. But he's not a Muslim. Right? And you see people like that even today. It's strange that they're not Muslim. They defend Islam their whole lives and they die not Muslim. And it's a very strange concept. Right? But it could be that al-Abbas ﷺ took that approach thinking that he was being well-meaning. It could be that he felt like I need to maintain this position because Quraysh sees me in a certain light. And until Quraysh embraces the religion
because I'm such an important figure. Right? And sort of holding the ropes of Quraysh politically, the tribes together, hospitality. I cannot declare embracing a religion that they are not going to embrace. It's going to cause it to fall apart. Allah knows best. Right? Because Abu Talib held off out of a loyalty to Abd al-Muttalib. Right? His forefathers. Al-Abbas, it's not clear what he's holding out for but it's definitely not from a place of hostility to the Prophet ﷺ and not from a place of disbelief in what the Prophet ﷺ has come with. So where do you start to see his role develop? When Abu Talib dies, because Abu Talib is the oldest uncle protecting the Prophet ﷺ. When Abu Talib passes away, al-Abbas ﷺ sort of assumes the protection role of the Prophet ﷺ. Because he's older than Hamza ﷺ. So I will protect you. I will be your representative to the other elders of Quraysh. I will be a representative to the outside. And here is the dichotomy that you see in the family of the Prophet ﷺ. While the Prophet ﷺ is walking around in the marketplace and in the time of Hajj trying to call people to Islam after the boycott, one uncle is going behind him and stoning him and saying don't believe him he's a liar. The other uncle is taking him by the hand, protecting him and trying to introduce him to potential sponsors. So what's the role that al-Abbas is playing? Abu Lahab is stoning the Prophet ﷺ and delegitimizing him. Al-Abbas is trying to find a people to take the Prophet ﷺ in. So he's meeting other tribes with the Prophet ﷺ. People that are coming from afar and as the Prophet ﷺ introduces Islam to them, al-Abbas supports the Prophet ﷺ.
He's his uncle. He's with him. And he knows a lot about the tribes that are coming in and he's helping the Prophet ﷺ analyze the groups of people that are coming in because he knows so much about them due to his travels. So he's trying to find the Prophet ﷺ an appropriate people to sponsor him. A new host city for the Prophet ﷺ as Mecca has become too hostile primarily due to his own brother, Abu Lahab, who's stoning the Prophet ﷺ and who's yelling at the Prophet ﷺ and delegitimizing him at every turn. And that's where the Ansar come in. Right? And when the Ansar come in and they offer themselves to the Prophet ﷺ, this small group of young people, al-Abbas ﷺ is that uncle who's extremely skeptical. Who can tell me why? Because almost none of the Ansar were over the age of 25. It's a bunch of youth. Right? Al-Abbas is like, I don't know about this. I don't know if I can entrust you to go with these young people. They might be sincere, but I don't know that they know what they're signing up for. Right? So al-Abbas ﷺ was very skeptical to let the Prophet ﷺ take the bay'ah, take the pledge from the Ansar. Now, of course, one of the ways of gauging whether the Ansar were serious about receiving the Prophet ﷺ was whether the first group of people, the small group of people that took the bay'ah with the Prophet ﷺ, after they took Mus'ab ﷺ to Medina, if they'd come back with a larger group of people and they'd say, all right, we set it up. And that's exactly what they did. They came back to the Prophet ﷺ, and this time as a group of over 70. And they said, Ya Rasulullah, we're ready for you. We're ready to take you to Yathrib. And so Uwaym ibn Sa'idah, he says,
Atayna nabiyya ﷺ wa huwa fee manzil al-Abbas fa dakhalna alayhi. That that second hajj, we went to the Prophet ﷺ, a small group of us, and we met him in the house of al-Abbas. And he says, fa salamna wa qulna mata naltaqi? We gave salam and we said, when should we meet Ya Rasulullah to take the pledge with you? So Uwaym was part of maybe three or four that went to al-Abbas and the Prophet ﷺ. So al-Abbas ﷺ says, listen, you are undertaking a serious affair and a serious violation. Fakhfu amrakum. Make sure that you hide yourselves right. Like don't think that you're young, you got your weapons, you can figure this out. Be very discreet about why you are here. Wa naltaqi nahnu wa antum fa noodhihu lakum al-amr fa tadkhuluna ala amrin bayyin. He said, listen, we'll meet at this place and we're going to explain to you what you have to do so that if you enter into Islam, you're entering, and of course al-amr is not just Islam, but all that this entails of the political baggage and risk of taking in the Prophet ﷺ. That you will do so knowing what you're getting into. Ala amrin bayyin. Right, nothing is hidden from you, no strings attached, but let's do this right. FawaAAadahumun nabiyyu sallallahu alayhi wa sallam laylatan nafri bi asfalil aqaba. So the Prophet ﷺ told them to meet them on that night in the lowest part of Aqaba. I don't know if it's still there, it was there recently, but Masjid al-Aqaba is right around the Jamarat. Okay, it truly is the lowest part there. It's kind of put aside and of course the Masjid is built much later on to denote that this was the place that the Prophet ﷺ took the pledge from the Ansar. So we met them and the Prophet ﷺ
and al-Abbas ﷺ were already there. So just imagine the perspective of the Ansar, they walked into that place and the Prophet ﷺ was there and no one was with him except al-Abbas ﷺ. So the first person to speak was al-Abbas ﷺ and al-Abbas said, listen O Khazraj, Khazraj being the bigger tribe of the Ansar, you have called Muhammad, and I'm saying sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, al-Abbas is not saying that yet, he's not Muslim, to what you have called him to. وَهُوَ مِنْ أَعَزِّ النَّاسِ فِي عَشِيرَتِهِ يَمْنَعُهُ وَاللَّهِ مَنْ كَانَ مِنَّ عَلَىٰ قَوْلِهِ وَمَنْ لَمْ يَكُنْ He is of the most honored of his family. Those that are upon his way will protect him and those that are not upon his way will protect him because we love him, he's one of us. So al-Abbas is trying to say, look his family has his back, even though we're struggling and even though this is a difficult situation, he is loved by his people and we will have his back. وَقَدْ أَبَى مُحَمَّدًا صَلَى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَامًا النَّاسُ كُلُّهُمْ غَيْرَكُمْ And Muhammad ﷺ has refused all other people except for you. فَإِن كُنْتُمْ أَهْلَ قُوَّةً وَجَلَدٍ وَبَصَرٍ بِالْحَرْبِ So if you are a people of strength and you're a people who know battle, you know war, you know how to take on a cause like this, then know that Quraysh and all of the Arabs are going to come after you. Right? You're going to break every agreement that you have. People will come and fight you for having Muhammad ﷺ. So if you think you can handle this from a military
perspective, and I'm paraphrasing because it's a long conversation, then go ahead and take him. But if not, then it's okay. Walk away and his family will take care of him. We can handle him ﷺ. So of course, the Ansar started to speak. First was Abdullah ibn Amr ibn Haram, the father of Jabir. May Allah be pleased with him and his father. And he says, نَحْنُ أَهْلُ الحَرْبِ وَوَرِثْنَاهَا كَابِرًا عَن كَابِرٍ You know, we are a people of war and we have inherited it. Right? Remember that one of the reasons why the Ansar are the Ansar is because their fathers all killed each other in battle. And he started to praise, نَرَمِي بِالنَّبْلِ حَتَّى تَفْنَى That, you know, we know how to throw the arrows. We know how to نُطَاعِنُ بِالرِّمَاحِ We know how to use the spear حَتَّى تَكَسَّر Until it breaks. So we know how to use our swords. We know how to use our arrows. We know how to use our spears. We have him ﷺ and we will protect him. So al-Abbas ﷺ, he's impressed by the military response. So when it comes to the بَيْعَة part, the taking the pledge, al-Abbas says to the Seventy, لِيَتَكَلَّمُ مُتَكَلِّمُكُمْ وَلَا يُطِلِ الْخُطْبَةِ He said, let one of you speak and don't take long. فَإِنَّ عَلَيْكُمْ عَيْنًا Because you're being watched. Right? So let's make this quick, but someone needs to speak up. And that's where you find the speech of As'ad ibn Zarar رضي الله عنه. Look, if we take the Prophet ﷺ in, then we're going to sacrifice all of our relationships. We're going to get, we're going to go through all of this trouble. Ya Rasulullah, what do we get in return? Al-Jannah. And what was the response of the Ansar? رَبِحَ الْبَيْعَة We've got it. We will pledge to you on the basis of al-Jannah. We want nothing else from you, Ya Rasulullah ﷺ. Now to make it short here, to get back to al-Abbas رضي الله عنه, it is the irony of the
situation. فَبَايَعَهُمُ النَّبِيُّ ﷺ وَالْعَبَّاسُ آخِدُ بِيَدِهِ يُؤَكِّدُ لَهُ الْبَيْعَةِ So they were taking their pledge to the Prophet ﷺ and al-Abbas رضي الله عنه, it's like he's holding the hand of the person that's taking the pledge with the Prophet ﷺ and the Prophet ﷺ's hand يُؤَكِّدُ الْبَيْعَةِ to make sure that the pledge is there. The irony is that al-Abbas himself did not give bay'ah to the Prophet ﷺ on Islam yet. So it's an interesting affair here, right, like he's holding the hands, he's there to make sure that the bay'ah takes place and he's the one who bids farewell to the Prophet ﷺ, he sends the Prophet ﷺ off with these people but he does not make hijrah himself رضي الله عنه and as far as the outward is concerned he's still not a Muslim. Now this is why I said it's such a discrepancy, you will not find a bigger gap in when a person may or may not have become Muslim than al-Abbas رضي الله عنه because there are some narrations that say اَنَّهُ أَسْلَمَ قَبْلَ الْهِجْرَةِ وَكَتَمَ إِسْلَامَهُ He'd already become Muslim before the hijrah even happened but he hid it to himself. One narration from Abu Rafi' كُنتُ غُلَامًا لِلْعَبَاسِ وَكَانَ الْإِسْلَامُ قَدْ دَخَلْنَا فَأَسْلَمَ الْعَبَاسِ وَكَانَ يَهَابُ قَوْمَهُ فَكَانَ يَكْتُمُ إِسْلَامَهُ فَخَرَجَ إِلَىٰ بَدْرٍ وَهُوَ كَذَلِكَ So one narration from Abu Rafi' in the books of Siyar that you know we both became Muslim, we were all Muslim, al-Abbas was Muslim and he was forced to go out into Badr but he was hiding his Islam the entire time. In طبقات ابن سعد, Ibn Sa'd includes him from the Muhajireen and the Ansar مِمَّنْ لَمْ يَشْهَدْ بَدْرًا It's really interesting from those who did not attend Badr even though technically we're going to see that he was in Badr on the other side but he's already a Muslim so it's confusing if you consider him a Muslim
at that point then he's really not on the other side he's simply someone who's not accounted for in the equation of Badr not as an enemy or as a Muslim at that point رضي الله تعالى عنه so it's an interesting situation but one thing for sure as الذهب رحمه الله says وَلَيْسَ هُوَ فِي عِدَادِ الطُّلَقَاءَ We don't count al-Abbas رضي الله عنه from that group called الطُّلَقَاءَ which are those who are granted amnesty after the Fath of Makkah which is the least praiseworthy group as a group right in terms of their order and entering into Islam that we know that he's considered from at the very least the last of the Muhajireen the last of the Meccans to become Muslim before Fath of Makkah رضي الله تعالى عنه and he mentions أَلَا تَرَاهُ أَجَارَ أَبَى سُفْيَانِ ابْنِ حَرْبُ Don't you see that the Prophet ﷺ was using him as a Muslim to negotiate terms with Abu Sufyan and others in terms of the fall of Makkah at that time رضي الله تعالى عنه So what happened in Badr? The Battle of Badr comes and the Prophet ﷺ says to the Muslims before Badr starts he says from the other side you need to know there are people أُخْرِجُوا كَرْهَا لَا حَاجَةَ لَهُم بِقِتَالِنَا They were forced out of their homes they have no interest in fighting us if you see them don't kill them and he named two people ﷺ he said أَبَى البُخْتَرِ ابْنِ هِشَامِ and أَلْعَبَاسِ ابْنِ عَبدِ المُطَّلَبِ These two men he said ﷺ that the Meccans will force them to come out in Badr don't kill them they're not interested in fighting us on that day so when you see them simply catch them don't kill them because they don't intend to hurt you
so the day comes of Badr and أَبُو الْيُسَرِ السَّلَمِ or أَبُو الْيَسَرِ his name is narrated both ways he talks about himself finding Al-Abbas in Badr رضي الله تعالى عنه now أَبُو الْيُسَرِ was a very small man in stature physically speaking right physically he wasn't very big Al-Abbas is huge right so the idea of أَبُو الْيُسَرِ capturing Al-Abbas was very far-fetched than that okay but أَبُو الْيُسَرِ subhanAllah look what he says he says that I found نَظَرْتُ إِلَىٰ ٱلْعَبَّاسِ يَوْمَ بَدْرٍ وَهُوَ وَاقِفٌ كَأَنَّهُ صَنَمٌ I found Al-Abbas on the day of Badr and he was standing like an idol hands to his side absolutely no movement and he says وَعِنَاهُ تَذْرِفًا subhanAllah his eyes were wet like he was crying I mean he's standing there how did I end up in this battle against the Prophet ﷺ how did we end up in this situation fathers killing sons brothers killing brothers where are we right so you can imagine it's an emotionally traumatic situation for Al-Abbas and he's standing كَأَنَّهُ صَنَمٌ like an idol and just crying so أَبُو الْيُسَرِ says I went to him and I said to him جَزَاكَ اللَّهُ مِن ذِي رَحِيمٍ شَرَّ the opposite of جَزَاكَ اللَّهُ خَيْرًا may Allah reward you for what you've done to your relatives with evil أَتُ قَاتِلُ ابْنُ أَخِيكِ مَا عَدُوِّهِ are you going to fight the son of your brother with the enemy and Al-Abbas did not response so Abu Yusr walks up to him and it's like he's like sizing him up do I fight him do I kill him what is it right so Al-Abbas says to him ما تُرِيدُ إِلَيَّ what are you going to do
he said Al-Asr he said I'm going to capture you فَإِنَّ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ صَلَى اللَّهَ وَعَلَيْهِ سَلَمَ نَهَى عَنْ قَتْلِكَ the Prophet ﷺ told us not to kill you so Al-Abbas صلى الله عنه said لَيْسَتْ بِأَوَّلِ صِلَتِهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم that's not the first beautiful thing he did with his relatives but that's from the kindness and the magnanimity of the Prophet ﷺ that he ordered such a thing so Abu Yusr he says that I captured him I tied him up and Al-Abbas was described by the way one of the descriptions physical stature تَلْ جَمَل that he was as big as a camel when he would stand up huge man so the Sahaba see Abu Yusr bringing Al-Abbas back all tied up legs and arms and they're looking at him like how did that happen right so the Prophet ﷺ he says to him كيف أسرته how were you able to capture him قَالَ لَقَدْ أَعَانَنِي عَلَيْهِ رَجُلٌ مَا رَأَيْتُ قَبْلُ وَلَا بَعْدُ هَيَتُ كَذَا وَكَذَا he said this man helped me and I've never seen this man before not before or after and he starts to describe to the Prophet ﷺ his his way and the Prophet ﷺ smiles he says لَقَدْ أَعَانَكَ عَلَيْهِ مَلَكٌ كَرِيمٌ that it was a noble angel that supported you and being able to capture Al-Abbas like it was the physical discrepancy between Abu al-Yusr and Al-Abbas was so much that it was literally impossible for him to tie him up and to capture him and to bring him forth on that day now subhanAllah this is not an easy situation for one as joyful of a day as this is to the Prophet ﷺ there are two of his family members that deeply troubled him one of them is Al-Abbas the other one is the husband of Zaynab right his son-in-law who has the the necklace of Khadijah رضي الله تعالى عنها come to basically let you know his son-in-law go and the Prophet ﷺ says
you know if you will send back her necklace and give her her prisoner right so the Prophet ﷺ allowed that ransom and he returned back the necklace of the mother to his daughter may Allah be pleased with them all Al-Abbas was very tough the Prophet ﷺ has to treat him the way that all the other prisoners are treated because the Prophet ﷺ doesn't want to create a culture of nepotism right no I'm not going to treat him differently because he's my uncle and because I love him at the end of the day it is how it looks at the end I know maybe his heart is in a certain way and he did certain things but the Prophet ﷺ is not going to treat his uncle different than the others imagine the Ansar in that situation however clearly the Prophet ﷺ is deeply bothered by just the fact that he's tied up and that he's imprisoned in that regard right that he's being held as a hostage and one of the narrations is that one of the Ansar وَعَدُوهُ or a group of Ansar وَعَدُوهُ أَن يَقْتُلُوهُ they said to Al-Abbas we're going to kill you and it pained the Prophet ﷺ just even here like young people in the excitement and the zeal of the battlefield and as they're sort of pushing the prisoners after they capture them and all that like some of them to say that because they don't know what Al-Abbas is doing so they're disgusted by him they see him like the family of the Prophet ﷺ killing the Prophet ﷺ now and the Prophet ﷺ was so bothered by that and he said زعمة الأنصار أنهم قاتلوا like what's happening here how could a group of Ansar say that they would kill him and Umar رضي الله عنه said آتيهم يا رسول الله do you want me to bring them to you يا رسول الله so the Ansar came and when they saw that the Prophet ﷺ was upset by that they said no no إن كان رسول الله رضا فخذه no if this is what pleases you O Messenger of Allah we were saying that because we were upset on your behalf if it makes you happy يا رسول الله go ahead and just set him free
right but the Prophet ﷺ did not want to treat him differently from the others and then create that culture and سبحان الله that night أمسى رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم والأسارة في الوثاق the Prophet ﷺ that night he retired back to his tent and the prisoners of course who would eventually be let go the Prophet ﷺ would show them amnesty and make a way out for all of them but the prisoners were in their chains basically فبات ساهرًا صلى الله عليه وسلم أول الليل the Prophet ﷺ couldn't sleep at night some of the Sahaba came to him and they said يا رسول الله مالك لا تنام what is it O Messenger of Allah we see that you're restless and he said سمعت أنين عمي في وثاقه I heard my uncle groaning in his in his chains right like I heard that and it bothered me I couldn't sleep now some of the Sahaba when they heard that they immediately went to al-Abbas and they loosened the chains when the Prophet ﷺ heard that he was happy he said but do it to all the other prisoners too not just al-Abbas صلى الله عليه وسلم if you're going to loosen the chains of my uncle loosen the chains of all of them make sure they're comfortable and then the Prophet ﷺ went to sleep right like he wasn't comfortable knowing that his uncle was in this situation then comes the time where the Prophet ﷺ now has to negotiate a release for each one of them so the Prophet ﷺ comes to al-Abbas and it's an uncomfortable conversation right you handed me off to the Ansar and now you're in my hands as a prisoner it's a very uncomfortable conversation but the Prophet ﷺ says ransom yourself and right the older brother of Ali and Jafar so free yourself free Naufal ibn Harith the brother of
Abu Sufyan and free Aqeel the son of your brother your nephew Aqeel and as he says that he says to the Prophet ﷺ he says I was already a Muslim and the Prophet ﷺ he says that if that's the case look Allah knows your way and he says if it is indeed what you say Allah is going to reward you but he says but I have to treat you just like everyone else according to the exterior so just ransom yourself so the Prophet ﷺ knew that al-Abbas had with him 20 uqiyas of gold which is a lot of money but that's counted from the spoils of war so al-Abbas ﷺ said Ya Rasulullah can you just use that for my ransom and the Prophet ﷺ says that's not fair because that's counted from the spoils of war so just free yourself I know you have money you can free yourself you can free Naufal you can free Aqeel so he says Ya Rasulullah I don't have that kind of money the Prophet ﷺ says where is that money that you and Umm al-Fadl hid away and you told her if I'm killed in the battle save it for al-Fadl and Abdullah and Qutham the three sons of al-Abbas and Umm al-Fadl and al-Abbas says subhanAllah says I swear you are the messenger of Allah because no one knew about that money except for me and Umm al-Fadl but he says to the Prophet ﷺ Ya Rasulullah what can I do
other than that or how much do I have to give he told al-Abbas to basically give away from another 20 uqiyah of gold some of the narrations say that it was a hundred uqiyahs of gold at the end of the day and that was the largest more people were freed from the ransom of al-Abbas than anybody else and Allah ﷻ revealed as a result of that say O Prophet to the captives in your hands if Allah knows of the good that is in your hearts he will give you something better than what was taken from you and he will forgive you and Allah ﷻ is oft forgiving and most merciful and subhanAllah al-Abbas he used to say about that situation he said that Allah ﷻ gave me so much more that in place of the 20 uqiyahs Allah ﷻ gave me 20 servants and each one of them had money in their hands and they were able to go and work and basically increased my fortune and he said and as for the forgiveness of Allah ﷻ I'm waiting and hoping for the forgiveness of Allah ﷻ so Allah indeed gave me way more than what was taken from me in Badr and I hope for the forgiveness of Allah ﷻ so al-Abbas ﷺ holds that in his heart that I am a Muslim but he didn't make his Islam public and Allah ﷻ blesses him so he goes back and he becomes richer than he was prior to Badr after that al-Abbas ﷺ avoids every other battle against the Prophet ﷺ so he never goes out in Uhud he doesn't go out in Khandaq he stays away from
anything he's unable to be forced or pushed to go out in opposition to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ and one of the reasons for that could be and Allah knows best that the elders of Quraish had died in Badr anyway and the only people that could exert that type of pressure and force him out were people that were of his of his same ranking and now you had sort of a second generation who al-Abbas was older than so al-Abbas could hold himself back and not be forced to go out and to fight against the Prophet ﷺ so now where does the reunion start to happen? Prophet ﷺ loves al-Abbas ﷺ and he was his shadow in Mecca ﷺ the first incident that we see is that he helps facilitate the Nikah of the Prophet ﷺ and his sister-in-law Maymunah bint al-Harith ﷺ in Umrat al-Qadar which is seven years after Hijrah so if you remember the story of Maymunah ﷺ she is now two husbands down she's alone she asks Umm al-Fadl the wife of al-Abbas do you think the Prophet ﷺ would marry me and al-Abbas is worried about her being alone he's worried about her age he's worried about her circumstances so al-Abbas proposes to the Prophet ﷺ the idea and the Prophet ﷺ out of his love for al-Abbas and his love to honor him immediately accepts on the basis of al-Abbas proposing on her behalf so the Prophet ﷺ has this relationship with al-Abbas ﷺ that he doesn't like to turn down a request so long as it's not unjust it does not exceed the boundaries right of the standards that the Prophet ﷺ has set for everyone else so you have the wedding of Maymunah ﷺ and the Prophet ﷺ in Umrat al-Qadar the Umrah after Hudaybiyyah
and al-Abbas ﷺ was a big part of that Nikah facilitating that Nikah celebrating with the Prophet ﷺ and you know coming closer he still hasn't officially embraced Islam then as the Prophet ﷺ makes his plans towards the Fatih towards the conquest there are narrations that al-Abbas ﷺ tried to make hijrah to Medina so he could get the full reward and come with the Prophet ﷺ into Mecca and the Prophet ﷺ stopped him and said to him Ammi you are to the Muhajireen like I am to the Prophets I am the last of the Prophets you're the last of the Muhajireen the reward is with you you don't have to make the trip all the way to Medina and come back basically we'll meet you halfway right and indeed subhanAllah you'll find that the Prophet ﷺ will meet al-Abbas ﷺ and al-Abbas basically now maps out Mecca for him right helps coordinate all of the terms of entering into Mecca the forgiveness of the enemies the reconciliation with the family but not all of the Ansar understood that still there's this idea that this was a person that held out with you Ya Rasulullah so in one situation you had a group of people that you know basically got into it with al-Abbas ﷺ and the Prophet ﷺ said هذا العباس عم نبيكم أجود قريش كفى وأوصلها this is my uncle al-Abbas the most generous man of Quraish and the most concerned with continuing the ties keeping the ties of kinship amongst Quraish right and you have to honor him and the Prophet ﷺ mentioned him as بقية آبائي عم بقية آبائي he is what's left of my forefathers
right so he's what's left of my father and my father's father and beyond because العم سنو الوالد the uncle is like the father so this is what's left of my father and this is what's left of my forefathers honor him رضي الله تعالى عنه and you had a situation where some of the people argued with him and the Prophet ﷺ said ما بال رجال يؤذونني في العباس وإن عم رجلي صنو أبيه من أذى العباس فقد أذاني that what is it with some people that are hurting me by hurting my uncle don't they know that the uncle is like the father whoever hurts al-Abbas has hurt me in another narration the Prophet ﷺ said you know after hearing that some of the Ansar basically had cut off al-Abbas رضي الله عنه and didn't want to talk to him and they kind of disrespected him summarizing the story when the Prophet ﷺ heard that he said والله لا يدخل قلب رجل الإيمان حتى يحبكم لله ولقرابتي Prophet ﷺ said to al-Abbas I swear that no one will have faith enter their heart until they love you for the sake of Allah and for my sake because you are my relative so many different you know situations where the Prophet ﷺ said فإن العباس مني وأنا منه لا تسبوا أمواتنا فتؤذوا أحياءنا that al-Abbas is from me and I am from him do not curse the dead and hurt the living because some of the Ansar we're talking about the forefathers and some of the Quraysh from that side in that regard so this is the Prophet ﷺ sort of establishing with the Ansar he's not going to be treated like an enemy who just became Muslim he is my uncle from now on and al-Abbas رضي الله عنه is alongside me just as it started so when it comes to Fatih Mecca he's negotiating on behalf of the Prophet ﷺ with the enemies
he's advising the Prophet ﷺ as to how he should enter into Mecca and he's the one who tells the Prophet ﷺ you know what give Abu Sufyan some sort of a some sort of a name here right he's a person who has a big ego he needs his name to be mentioned and he has a position with his people mention his name so that you can win his heart over as well he's reconciling right with all of the relatives of the Prophet ﷺ that cut him off so he's the one that goes to Abu Sufyan ibn Harith he's the one that goes to the children of Abu Lahab he's the one bringing everyone back to the Prophet ﷺ and subhanAllah it's full circle with the Ansar he negotiated the hijrah and he's negotiating the Fatih think about that he negotiated the hijrah to Medina on behalf of the Prophet ﷺ and now he's negotiating to Mecca on behalf of the Prophet ﷺ for the Prophet ﷺ to enter and for this to be a peaceful transfer and a place where the Prophet ﷺ can take his rightful place as the Prophet ﷺ enters into Mecca many things will happen now al-Abbas got really rich after Badr really really rich as a result of the ayah of the Quran Allah knew what was in his heart and so when you hear the khutba of the Prophet ﷺ in Mecca in this new Mecca when the Prophet ﷺ abolishes al-riba he abolishes usury he only mentions the name of al-Abbas whoever owes al-Abbas money his riba it's gone consider riba to be abolished right why did he mention al-Abbas particularly for one just like when the Prophet ﷺ said if Fatima ﷺ was to steal then I would treat her the same way I'd apply the had to her and apply the punishment to her likewise this starts with my own family that riba is gone we're not doing usury anymore we're not doing interest in Mecca anymore this
has to go but some of them also say that al-Abbas had the largest amount of debt that was owed to him so when the Prophet ﷺ says all the riba that people owe to you which is basically late fees it's all gone now al-Abbas says what about the principal what about the money itself and this is where the Prophet ﷺ encourages him to forgive the principal too but doesn't require it of him but Allah ﷻ on the day of judgment will forgive some people and enter them into his shade on the day of judgment just because they forgave alone and when al-Abbas is prompted with the reward of that day that whoever forgives alone or is lenient with the one that owes the money Allah ﷻ will forgive them or shade them on the day of judgment al-Abbas ﷺ forgives the principal as well so he establishes a position a new position with the Prophet ﷺ in that regard and subhanAllah he's a man that Allah ﷻ just kept on giving money to al-Abbas ﷺ will stay wealthy for his entire life when it comes to the battle of Hunayn al-Abbas was the one holding the reins of the Prophet ﷺ's animal so he's one of those who stayed the course with the Prophet ﷺ and of course and and also because he was known for his loud voice when many people fled from the Prophet ﷺ it was al-Abbas who called the people back with his voice and he said come back he's the messenger of Allah ﷺ come back he's the messenger of Allah ﷺ where are you going come back to the Prophet ﷺ so it was his voice that galvanized the army once again to surround the Prophet ﷺ and to fight and to eventually attain victory with the Prophet ﷺ now here's where the story becomes so beautiful in the aftermath
when the Prophet ﷺ brings him back to Medina and you can kind of see this in these stories the Prophet ﷺ so happy to have his family back al-Abbas is a long lost father imagine the father that comes back to you right a parent that comes to visit you this is al-Abbas coming into Medina for the first time so the Prophet ﷺ is going to build a home for him right next to his the Prophet ﷺ is going to hold his hand and introduce him to other people this is my uncle he's like my father he's what's left of my father I did not see any person this is Aisha speaking the daughter of who Abu Bakr as-Siddiq I did not see any person who the Prophet ﷺ would honor more than al-Abbas who would treat with more respect and more love than al-Abbas he would keep him close to him ﷺ he would kiss his forehead ﷺ he kept putting him on that pedestal of being like a father to him one of the du'as that he made for al-Abbas ﷺ as al-Abbas was donating so generously right and giving so much of his sadaqah he said so he made du'a for Allah to forgive all of his sins the concealed and the public the small and the large to leave absolutely nothing and for Allah to bless him and his children his children are over 15 by the way amongst them is Abdullah ibn Abbas who now is close to the Prophet ﷺ in a way that no one else is close to him looked like the Prophet ﷺ there's even shi'ar about Qutham
would hug him and kiss him and play with him in Mecca because he would say he was the one who looked like my nephew Muhammad ﷺ the most so Abdullah is now sleeping in the house of the Prophet ﷺ and shadowing him the 10-year-old who becomes a scholar of the ummah over the next three years with the Prophet ﷺ Abdullah narrates to us the qiyam of the Prophet ﷺ from inside his home when the Prophet ﷺ makes hajj you know who narrates most of the hajj of the Prophet ﷺ al-Fadl ibn Abbas the oldest son of al-Abbas who's behind the Prophet ﷺ on the camel on the donkey and the Prophet ﷺ is talking to him and instructing him and telling him what to do so all these narrations of the children of al-Abbas sitting behind the Prophet ﷺ on the animal because now the family is back together Prophet ﷺ has his uncle he has his cousins he brings them into his household ﷺ and he brings them to a certain position when the Prophet ﷺ passes away al-Abbas was one of those who participated in the washing and the preparation of the Prophet ﷺ and he maintained his special place with the family and the companions of the Prophet ﷺ so there's a narration from Suhaib I saw Ali ﷺ kissing the hands and the feet of al-Abbas ﷺ and saying oh my uncle be pleased with me oh my uncle be pleased with me so the family of the Prophet ﷺ the younger ones now see al-Abbas as sort of the the anchor of the family right in al-Madinah after the death of the Prophet ﷺ and as is narrated in al-Dhahbi ﷺ he says وَبِكُلِّ حَالَ لَوْ كَانَ نَبِيُّنَا صَلَى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَامًا مِمَّن يُؤْرَثْ لَمَا وَرِثَهُ أَحَدٌ بَعْدَ بِنتِهِ وَزَوْجَاتِهِ إِلَّا الْعَبَّاسِ
and if the Prophet ﷺ would have left behind any inheritance no one would have inherited anything from him other than his wives and his daughters other than al-Abbas so he would have been the sole inheritor of the Prophet ﷺ other than his wives and his daughters ﷺ or in that case his daughter being Fatima al-Zahra رضي الله تعالى عنها so now where did the story start to come Umar رضي الله تعالى عنه loves al-Abbas so much because he knows how much the Prophet ﷺ loved him so you have this whole body of literature of Umar رضي الله عنه honoring al-Abbas رضي الله تعالى عنه so from the spoils of war Umar رضي الله عنه for example would give five thousand to every Badri everyone that participated in battle Badr he'd give four thousand to all the companions that didn't attend and then he'd give twelve thousand to al-Abbas because he knew the Prophet ﷺ's honor for him there's also a narration that one time Umar رضي الله عنه may Allah be pleased with him they saw al-Abbas رضي Allah تعالى عنه coming down the road and they both got off of their camels as if to attend to him رضي Allah عنه and like clear the road for him can you imagine Umar رضي Allah عنه honoring you that way like getting down from their camels like they don't even want to be on a camel around al-Abbas رضي Allah تعالى عنه and be higher than him and one time Umar رضي Allah عنه being who he is he was walking in the streets of Medina and he's al-Abbas had you know the mizab that's on top of the Kaaba that pours the water Abbas had a similar pipe on top of his home so the water was pouring in the street Umar didn't like that so Umar رضي Allah عنه saw it and he broke it took it down al-Abbas came out and he said that that was put up wallahi with the permission of the prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم Umar رضي Allah عنه was so
shook Umar رضي Allah عنه got down and he said wallahi you're gonna stand on my back and put it back the way you want it so Umar رضي Allah عنه got down and insisted al-Abbas رضي Allah عنه stand on his shoulder stand on his back so he can reach the exact place and put it exactly the way that you want to and he apologized to him رضي Allah عنه then two beautiful stories with him in the khilafah of Umar and both of them subhanAllah are some of the most famous episodes in the life of Sayyidina Umar رضي Allah عنه one of them is Aam al-Ramadah the year of the famine the year of the famine and in that famine so many people died because they didn't have water they didn't have food right it was one of the most difficult years in the life of the companions may Allah be pleased with them and they kept on making dua to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala for rain to come and the rain was not coming so Umar رضي Allah عنه did something very interesting he basically called the people for salat al-istisqa' for the prayer of rain but he brought Umar رضي Allah عنه he brought al-Abbas رضي Allah عنه with him the uncle of the prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم there are multiple narrations but he prayed with al-Abbas رضي Allah عنه he led the people in prayer and he brought forth al-Abbas رضي Allah عنه and he said and there are multiple narrations he said إِنَّ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ ﷺ كَانَ يَرَى لِلْعَبَّاسِ مَا يَرَى الْوَالَدُ لِوَالِدِهِ he said the prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم used to see al-Abbas the way that a child sees his parent the way a son sees his father فَيُعَظِّمُهُ وَيُفَخِّمُهُ وَيَبَرُّ قَسَمَهُ he said that the prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم used to honor him he used to hold him in high esteem he used to fulfill oaths on his behalf so he says فَاقْتَدُوا أَيُّهَا النَّاسُ بِرَسُولِ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم فِي عَمِّهِ الْعَبَّاسِ so seek that blessing from Allah
سبحانه وتعالى with the presence of al-Abbas رضي Allah تعالى عنه amongst us and he said holding you can imagine the scene in the عام الرماد he says اللَّهُمَ إِنَّا كُنَّ إِذَا قَحَطْنَا عَلَى عَهْدِ نَبِيِّكَ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَنِهِ وَسَلَمْ تَوَسَّلْنَا بِهِ when the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم was alive and we used to go through difficulty we used to say oh Allah we have Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم amongst us we used to come near to you by the presence of the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم but now of course the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم has passed and he says وَإِنَّا نَسْتَسْقِي إِلَيْكَ بِعَمِّ نَبِيِّكَ الْعَبَّاسِ صلى الله عليه وسلم and now we're seeking blessing from you oh Allah we have the uncle of the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم amongst us and he said اللَّهُمَ هذا عَمُّ نَبِيِّكَ نَتَوَجَّهُ إِلَيْكَ بِهِ فَاسْقِنَا oh Allah this is the uncle of the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم he's with us we're seeking that ease we're seeking that relief so pour the rain upon us and Abbas is making du'a Umar is making du'a and subhanAllah the rain filled al-Madinah and filled all of the valleys around in a way that they had never seen prior to the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم and subhanAllah one of the amazing things here al-Abbas ibn Utbah ibn Abi Lahab you hear the name al-Abbas ibn Utbah ibn Abi Lahab remember we talked about Utbah ibn Abi Lahab and Utbah رضي الله عنه became Muslim he had a son that he named al-Abbas and he was a righteous man he's one of the narrators of hadith al-Abbas who's named after his uncle al-Abbas the grand uncle a grandson of Abu Lahab he was there at that moment and he had a poem that's narrated in the seer قَالَ بِعَمِّي سَقَى اللَّهُ الْحِجَازَ وَأَهْلَهُ عَشِيَّةَ يَسْتَسْقِي بِشَيْبَتِهِ عُمَرٍ
قَالَ بِعَمِّي سَقَى اللَّهُ الْحِجَازَ وَأَهْلَهُ عَشِيَّةَ يَسْتَسْقِي بِشَيْبَتِهِ عُمَرٍ he said that by my uncle allah subhanahu wa ta'ala gave water to the people of hijaz and it's and uh on that evening when umar radiallahu anhu sought blessing by the white hair of the uncle he approached allah with al-abbas during that drought seeking his favor and he did not leave until the rain came upon us amongst us as the messenger of allah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam and his legacy within us is there any greater honor for one to boast about than this than this prize than this man amongst us right and the legacy that's amongst us so it was like it was a sense of fakhr in a way that's pleasing in a way that's not that's not sinful like we have al-abbas amongst us radiallahu ta'ala anhu in that regard the other incident that i'll mention that i'll come to his death because of the sake of time is one is something subhanallah that's actually extremely powerful uh the other momentous occasion you think about with umar radiallahu anhu amongst the many is his entering into jerusalem may allah subhanahu wa ta'ala free jerusalem may he free palestine may he restore it to its glory may he allow us to see the beauty of the sahaba's presence once again in al-aqsa in al-quds in gaza in rafah specifically subhanallah all these places where this keeps coming up allahumma ameen so one of the narrations by the way is that one of the people that was with umar on that day was al-abbas he took al-abbas with him when he entered into jerusalem now if you remember umar radiallahu ta'ala anhu did something very peculiar on the way to entering jerusalem he had a mawla he had a servant that was with him and as he was getting
close as he's getting close um you know he was taking turns with that servant upon the animal right and so for part of the journey umar holds it for him and for part of the journey he holds it for umar and umar insisted that this be the way and that as they got close to the entrance of jerusalem his uh his mawla tried to give him back the camel and he refused he said nope fair is fair justice is justice and umar radiallahu anhu even fell into a mud puddle so he got some mud on his on his garment so it's like he's entering into jerusalem as the new conqueror if you will and he's got dirt on his stove and he's holding the mawla right he's holding a servant on his camel and coming into jerusalem now we all know the story after that right abu ubaidah radiallahu ta'ala anhu comes to umar radiallahu ta'ala anhu and he's like come on like you could have done this a little bit differently this makes us look bad and umar says the very famous sentence we're a people that sought honor through islam or that allah gave honor to through islam and if we seek it through anything else allah will humiliate us we know that conversation but here's what we actually don't see and this is authentically narrated that al-abbas radiallahu ta'ala anhu was in front of umar radiallahu anhu like he had a certain presence to him and he had a nice horse and he was in front of umar radiallahu ta'ala anhu riding into jerusalem that day and he was a beautiful man al-abbas radiallahu anhu was an extremely beautiful man a person of stature and presence so all the patriarchs actually went to al-abbas and they started
to give him salam and humble themselves to him and then and then al-abbas realized that they thought he was the khalifa that's how great his presence was and that's how much umar had honored him in the entrance into jerusalem al-abbas said i'm not him and he pointed to umar he said that's him that's the man you're waiting for it's like wait what because al-abbas clearly looked like the man but it was umar radiallahu ta'ala anhu walking with the dirt on him radiallahu ta'ala anhu which in and of itself was was a form of beauty and honor and nobility may allah subhanahu wa ta'ala be pleased with them all allahumma ameen to fast forward uh to the death of this man so if you lived in medina we're talking about two decades plus where that's like walid an-nabi saysam that's the father of the prophet everyone surrounds him everyone wants to be around him everyone wants to serve him everyone wants to kiss his hand everyone wants to bring things to him they want to honor him they remember how much the prophet used to honor him and he dies in the era of utman radiallahu ta'ala anhu shortly after his wife lubaba radiallahu ta'ala anhu so lubaba passes away may allah be pleased with her and then al-abbas passes away soon afterwards and his was performed by ali by ibn abbas and his brothers uh kotham and ubaidullah may allah be pleased with them all and this is where it becomes extremely interesting that this is very likely the largest janaza of the sahaba in medina of a companion in medina but this may have been the largest janaza when people heard that amr rasulillahi sallallahu alayhi wa sallam passed away they flooded
medina from every single direction so the valleys came all the outskirts came medina became overwhelmed by the people who came to pray upon al-abbas radiallahu ta'ala anhu and it was so much and this is really interesting because you get to see the human side that uh it actually became chaos they were having trouble burying him they were having trouble getting him from the janaza to the baqir because so many people were trying to jump and trying to be a part of carrying the body and it became so chaotic it's really interesting when you read this in the books of sirah like othman had to send security to basically push the people away from bennu hashim like let the family take the man to his grave because everyone was trying to be close to al-abbas radiallahu anhu carry him and it was getting so hard to just bury him so it was a scene just to bury him radiallahu ta'ala anhu and it is of course as we said considered one of the largest janazahs in the history of islam possibly the largest janazah of a companion of the prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam abdullah ibn abbas radiallahu ta'ala anhuma he narrates the famous statement he says that when my father was buried and i was so sad abdullah loved his his father so much he said that a bedouin man came up to me and he said to me that better for you or better for al-abbas sorry better for you than al-abbas is the reward that you now have for grieving your father so what allah is going to give you as you grieve your father of ajr is better than when you had your father with you i know you loved your father but this is even better and allah is better than you for al-abbas the way that allah will be with
al-abbas now is greater than how you will be with al-abbas radiallahu ta'ala anhu he was 86 years old when he passed away and as uh as a zahabi says that no one from his offspring lived as long as him that he has this huge dome that is upon his grave in al-baqir so if you actually put up the picture i just want you to see how this looked historically speaking that was what was on top of the grave of al-abbas radiallahu ta'ala anhu for a long time there's another picture as well so you can just imagine if you walked into al-baqir back then when they started to build on top of the graves that some of those that came after built this humongous stone over him and now after the tombs are gone can you show that this is al-abbas radiallahu ta'ala anhu's grave today so if you go there in al-baqir it's distinct in that regard those are some of the descendants that are behind him one of the graves is for zain al-abidin radiallahu ta'ala anhu and may allah be pleased with him and ja'far al-sadiq and others from the uh the inheritors of banu hashim so he had this distinct presence now to summarize as well when the prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam says that of the sadaqah jari of a person is a righteous son that would make du'a for him right a righteous son that would make du'a for him so you think of abdullah ibn abbas the scholar of the ummah and a righteous son that makes du'a for you who's greater than abdullah ibn abbas radiallahu ta'ala anhu right to make du'a for you and to praise you in this regard he had over 15 or about 15 children he had al-fadl he was the oldest one abdullah al-bahr
who was the ocean of knowledge as they mentioned him obeyed allah he had kutham who looked like the prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam he had abdul rahman who died in ash-sham he had a son named ma'bad who was a martyr uh in africa he had a daughter named um habib uh he had other scholars from his children he had a son named kathir wakana faqihan who was a faqih he had a son named tammam wakana min ashadi quraish who was considered from the strongest of quraish he had a daughter named umaymah may allah be pleased with them all so he had an incredible legacy in terms of his offspring and of course that's why you have what's known as the abbasid khilafah which are literally the offspring of al-abbas who established one of the longest khilafahs the longest dynasties in the history of islam and al-dhahabi says that kingdom was placed in the offspring of al-abbas and it continued that way so al-dhahabi as he's writing this in the 13th century he says that 39 khilafah from the descendants of al-abbas have continued until today and it has been 600 years so he's talking about how this is all sort of from the dua of the prophet that allah would bless the descendants of al-abbas and of course just like any dynasty in islam has its good and it has its bad it has its ups and it has its downs its pros and its cons but there is no doubt that of the offspring of al-abbas there are many muslims many scholars many warriors many thinkers and allah knows best some of you might also be from the offspring of al-abbas in some capacity
because it's spread his lineage spread throughout the muslim world may allah join us with him and with the family and the companions of the prophet and with our beloved prophet as i said we are going to be taking a break from the first for some time inshallah we're going to have a series for dhul hijjah and if allah permits i'll be leaving for hajj a week from today so i ask for your dua inshallah as i depart on tuesday and i ask allah subhanahu wa ta'ala to accept and to allow us to all be gathered in the baqi' of the prophet and then to be gathered around the hell of the prophet on the day of judgment you
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