Editorial status: draft awaiting review by qualified scholars. Report corrections through the contact page.
Al-Abbas ibn Ali عليه السلام, Abu al-Fadl, was the eldest of the four sons of Imam Ali عليه السلام and Umm al-Banin and the standard-bearer of his brother Imam al-Husayn عليه السلام at Karbala. Refusing a safe-conduct that would have spared him, he fell on the day of Ashura while trying to bring water to the camp, and he is remembered as the model of loyalty.
Son of Umm al-Banin
The zahoor of al-Abbas was in Medina, and he grew up in the household of Imam Ali عليه السلام, with his full brothers Abd Allah, Ja‘far and Uthman, the sons of Umm al-Banin of the Kilab tribe. Abu al-Faraj al-Isfahani records his titles Qamar Bani Hashim and al-Saqqa’, the water-bearer, and the beauty for which he was known.
Standard-bearer at Karbala
On the morning of Ashura Imam al-Husayn عليه السلام gave him the standard, as al-Mufid records. On the eve of the battle Shimr, who belonged to his mother’s tribe, brought a safe-conduct for the sons of Umm al-Banin; al-Tabari records that they refused it, unwilling to be safe while the grandson of the Prophet ﷺ was not. Earlier, when the camp was cut off from the Euphrates, al-Abbas had led a party that broke through and brought back water.
On the day of Ashura he set out again for the river. Al-Mufid names Zayd ibn Warqa’ and Hakim ibn Tufayl as those who struck him down; later accounts, among them Ibn Shahrashub, describe how both his hands were cut off before he was killed. He was buried where he fell, near the river; his shrine stands a short distance from that of Imam al-Husayn عليه السلام.
In the words of the Imams
Al-Saduq records Imam Ali ibn al-Husayn عليه السلام as saying: may God have mercy on my uncle al-Abbas, who gave his life for his brother until his hands were cut off, and God gave him two wings with which he flies with the angels in Paradise, as He gave Ja‘far ibn Abi Talib. The ziyarah for him narrated from Imam al-Sadiq عليه السلام in Kamil al-Ziyarat greets him as the righteous servant, obedient to God, to His Prophet and to the Imams.
Differing reports
- Date of zahoor: 26 AH is usually given, and 4 Sha‘ban is the commonly observed day; the early sources do not fix it.
- How he was killed: al-Mufid names his killers without describing his hands; the account of both hands being cut off comes from later works and from the words attributed to Imam al-Sajjad عليه السلام.
Sources
- Kitab al-Irshad fi Ma‘rifat Hujaj Allah ‘ala al-‘Ibad — al-Mufid, Muhammad ibn Muhammad ibn al-Nu‘man (d. 413 AH / 1022 CE). chapter on Imam al-Husayn
- Maqatil al-Talibiyyin — Abu al-Faraj al-Isfahani, Ali ibn al-Husayn (d. 356 AH / 967 CE)
- Tarikh al-Rusul wa al-Muluk — al-Tabari, Muhammad ibn Jarir (d. 310 AH / 923 CE). year 61 AH
- al-Khisal — al-Saduq (d. 381 AH / 991 CE)
- Kamil al-Ziyarat — Ibn Qulawayh, Ja‘far ibn Muhammad (d. 368 AH / 978–9 CE)
- Manaqib Al Abi Talib — Ibn Shahrashub, Muhammad ibn Ali (d. 588 AH / 1192 CE)