KHUTAB V: 14. ‘ABDULLAH IBN ‘ABBᾹS (1)

14. ‘ABDULLAH IBN ‘ABBᾹS (1)

One of the great Muslim scholars in Islam was ‘Abdullah ibn ‘Abbās. He was the cousin of the Prophet Muhammad s.a.w.  His father, ‘Abbās, and the Prophet’s father were brothers, sons of Shaybah ibn Hāshim, better known as ‘Abdul-Muṭṭalib. Hāshim (ibn Manāf) was the progenitor of the Banū Hāshim the clan of the distinguished Quraish tribe in Mecca.

          Ibn Abbās was born in 3 BH (618–619 CE). When the Prophet passed away he was a boy of 13 years old. He used to come to the Prophet’s house and sleep there to serve him, such as getting water for his abolution. He was the Prophet’s cousin and the Prophet’s wife wife Maymūnah was his maternal aunt. He lived teaching people various knowledge of Islam, such as, the reading and interpretation of the Qur’ān, Islamic jurisprudence, history and Arabic language literature. Because of his outstanding knowledge he was entitled “the learned of the ummah.” This was the fulfilment of the Prophet’s supplication for him “O Allah, bless him with the full knowledge of the religion and interpretation of the Holy Qur’ān.”

 One day his father ‘Abbas sent him to the Prophet for a certain thing, but he returned without talking to the Prophet. So, ‘Abbas said to him:

          “I have just sent my son to you, but he found someone was with you, so that he could not talk to you.”

          “O uncle, do you know who was that person?”, asked the Prophet.

          “No,” said his uncle.

          “That was Jibrīl; he met me, and your son will never die until he lost his eye-sight and obtained knowledge,” said the Prophet.

          Ibn ‘Abbās saw the angle Jibrīl (Gabriel) in the Prophet’s house twice.. He said that he went to the Prophet’s house while the angel Jibrīl was there. Jibrīl told the Prophet that Ibn ‘Abbās would be حِبْرُ هَذِهِ الأُمَّة   “(lit. “the ink”), the learned man of this ummah (nation).” Ibn ‘Abbās also said that the Prophet patted his shoulder and said: نِعْمَ تُرْجُمَان اْلقُرْآَن أَنْتَ “What an excellent commentator of the Qur’ān you are!” The Prophet also prayed for him: " اللهُمّ فقِّهْهَ فِي الدِّيْنِ وَ عَلِّمْه التَّأْوِيلO Lord, bless him with the full knowledge of the religion of Islam and instruct him in the meaning and interpretation (of the Qur’ān),” and, اللَّهُمَّ عَلِّمْهُ الْحِكْمَةَ وَ تَأْوِيْلَ الْكِتَاب “O Lord, teach him wisdom and the interpretation of the Qur’ān.”

          Ibn ‘Abbās also reported that when the Prophet s.a.w. was on the point of making ablution, he hurried to get water for him, and the Prophet was very pleased with what he did. When he was about to begin the prayer, he indicated that Ibn ‘Abbās should stand beside him, but he stood behind him. After the prayer, the Prophet turned to him, and said: “What prevented you from being at my side, O Abdullah?” He answered: “You are too illustrious and too great in my eyes to stand side by side with you.” Then the Prophet raised his hands to the heaven, and prayed: “O Lord, grant him wisdom.”

Ibn ‘Abbās devoted his life not only in pursuing knowledge, but also to teach people of what he had learned. He taught them various subjects in his house. One of his companions describes what he saw in front of his house.

“I saw people converging on the roads leading to his house

 until there was hardly any room in front of his house. I went

 in and told him about the crowds of people at his door and

 he said: 'Get me water for  wuḍū.  He performed wuḍū and,

 seating himself, said: 'Go out and say to them:  Whoever

 wants to ask about the Quran  and its letters (pronunciation)

 let him enter.' This I did and people entered until the house

 was filled. Whatever he was asked, Abdullah was able to

 elucidate and even provide additional information to what

  was asked. Then (to his students) he said: 'Make way for

 your brothers.' Then to me he said: 'Go out and say: Who

  wants to ask about the Quran and its interpretation, let

  him enter'. Again the house was filled and Abdullah

 elucidated and provided more information

  than what was requested.”

 Then he held classes on one single subject each day, such as tafsīr (interpretation of the Qur’ān), fiqh (Islamic jurisprudence), ḥalāl and ḥarām, ghazawāt (the Prophet’s military campaigns), poetry, Arab history before Islam, farā’iḍ (laws of inheritance), Arabic language and etymology.

‘Umar often sought the advice Ibn ‘Abbās on important matters of state and described him as a "young man of maturity".  Ibn ‘Abbās said: “Umar used to make me sit with the elderly men who had fought in the battle of Badr. ‘Abd-al-Raḥmān ibn ‘Awf felt it (did not like that) and said to ‘Umar: ‘Why do you bring in this boy to sit with us, while we have sons like him?’  ‘Umar replied ‘Because of what you know of his position’ (i.e., his religious knowledge).”

 “One day ‘Umar called me and made me sit in the gathering of those people, and I think that he called me just to show them (my religious knowledge). ‘Umar then asked them in my presence: ‘What do you say about the interpretation of the statement of Allah’.

إِذَا جَاءَ نَصْرُ اللَّهِ وَالْفَتْحُ . وَرَأَيْتَ النَّاسَ يَدْخُلُونَ فِي دِينِ اللَّهِ أَفْوَاجًا .

 فَسَبِّحْ بِحَمْدِ رَبِّكَ وَاسْتَغْفِرْهُ إِنَّهُ كَانَ تَوَّابًا (النصر:1-3)

  When there comes the help of Allah (to you, O Muhammad

 against your enemies) And the conquest (of Makkah), And you

 see the people enter Allah’s religion (Islam) in crowds. So

glorify the Praises of your Lord, and ask His Forgiveness.

 Verily, He is the One Who Ever accepts the

 Repentance and Who forgives. (Q. 110:1-3)?

 “Some of them said: ‘We are ordered to praise Allah and ask for His forgiveness, when Allah’s help and the conquest come to us’. Some others kept quiet and did not say anything. On that ‘Umar asked me: ‘Do you say the same, O Ibn ‘Abbās?’ I replied: ‘No’. He said: ‘What do you say then?’ I replied: ‘That is the sign of the death of Prophet Muhammad, which God informed him of. God said: “(O Muhammad) when comes the help of God (to you against your enemies) and the conquest (which is the sign of your death) – you should celebrate the praises of your Lord and ask for His forgiveness, and He is the One who accepts the repentance and forgives’. On that ‘Umar said: ‘I do not know anything about it other than what you have said’”.

What Ibn ‘Abbās understood was the deep meaning of this surah, as it was an indication of the completion of the Prophet’s mission in this world, namely, to propagate Islam to people, and after the accomplishment of his mission he should go and meet His Lord.

          The ṣaḥābah Sa‘ad ibn Abī Waqqāṣ said about Ibn ‘Abbās: “I have never seen someone who was quicker in understanding, who had more knowledge and greater wisdom than Ibn Abbas.”

           Masrūq ibn al-Ajda‘ said of him, "Whenever I saw Ibn ‘Abbās, 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."

‘Aṭā’ ibn Abī Rabāh (d. 114/732), one of the great students of Ibn ‘Abbās, the mufti and the scholar of ḥadīth of Makkah, said about him that scholars of the Qur’ān, of Islamic jurisprudence, and of poetry all attended his  majlis (social gathering).

In a hadith on the authority of ‘Umar r.a. the Prophet s.a.w. said:

  إِنَّ أَرْأَفَ أُمَّتِيْ بِهَا أَبُو بَكْر . وَإِنَّ أّصْلَبَهَا فِي أَمْرِ اللهِ لَعُمَر. وَإِنَّ أّشَدَّهَا حَيَاءًاً لَعُثْمَان.

 وَإِنَّ أَقْرَئَهَا لَأُبَيّ . وَإِنَّ أَفْرَضَهَا لَزَيْد . وَإِنَّ أَقْضَاهَا لَعَلِيَ . وَإِنَّ أَعْلَمَهَا بِاْلحَلالِ

وَاْلحَرَامِ لَمُعَاذ. وَإِنَّ أَصْدَقَهَا لَهْجَةً لَأَبُو ذَرّ .وَإِنَّ أَمْيَنَ هَذِهِ اْلأُمَّةِ لَأَبُو عُبَيْدَة

 عَامِرُ بْنُ اْلجَرَّاح . وَإِنَّ حِبْرَ هَذِهِ اْلأُمَّةِ لَعَبْدُ اللهِ بْنُ اْلعَبَّاس

Verily, the most kind (gracious) of my ummah (community,

 nation) to my ummah is Abū Bakr, and verily, the firmest

among them is ‘Umar, and the most modest among them is

 ‘Uthmān, and the most knowledgeable of the recitation of the

Qur’ān among them is Ubayy, and the most knowledgeable

of the  law of inheritance is Zayd (ibn Thābit), and the most

 knowledgeable of Judicial decision is ‘Ali, and the most

 knowledgeable of ḥalāl and ḥarām is Mu‘ādh, and the

 rightest manner of speaking is Abū Dharr, and the  

most truthworthy of this ummah is Abū ‘Ubaydah

‘Ᾱmir ibn al-Jarrāḥ, and the Ḥibrul Ummah  

–(lit. “Ink of the  Nation” because of deep

 Knowledge) is Abdullah ibn ‘Abbās.

Besides memorizing the Qur’ān, Ibn ‘Abbās was said to have memorized about 1660 sayings of the Prophet recorded and authenticated in the collections of Imam al-Bukhārī and Mulim.

  Among Ibn ‘Abbās’s famous sayings are:

- If scholars take (treat) knowledge properly, as it should be, Allah would love them, as well as the angels, and pious people among His servants, and people would respect them due to their merit and the elevated place of knowledge.

- Good deed will not be complete, unless it is accompanied with three things: do it quickly, consider it a small thing, trivial, and keep it secret. If you do it quickly you set it up; if you consider it trivial, you make it great; if you keep it secret, you treat it with respect.

- Beware of talking of what concern you if it is not in its proper place, and do not argue with a foolish man, nor a mild-tempered man, as (if you do so) the foolish man would hurt you, and the mild-tempered man would detest you. 

- O people who commit sin! Do you know what the sin of Prophet Ayyūb (Job, a.s.) was, that Allah tested him with his self (sickness) and his wealth? It was because a poor man asked him to help him, but he did not do it. 

          At the later period of his life, Ibn ‘Abbās became blind of old age, probably from what we call cataract. Mu‘āwiyah who had not been in good terms with him, said to him: أَنْتُمْ يَا بَنِي الْعَبَّاس , لَقَدْ فَقَدْتُمْ أَبْصَارَكُمْ     (“O you, the descendants of al-‘Abbās, you have lost your eye-sight”). Ibn ‘Abbās replied: وَأَنْتُمْ يَا بَنِي أًمَيَّة , لَقَدْ فَقَدْتُمْ بَصَائِرَكُمْ  (“And you, O the descendants of Umayyah, you have lost your insight”.  The term بَصَائِر is the plural ofبَصِيْرَة   meaning: insight, discernment, (power of) mental perception. What Ibn ‘Abbās means is that although he lost his eye-sight fromgetting old, Mu‘āwiyah and his clan Banī Umayyah are worse, for he and his clan have lost their mind by rebelling against Ali, the appointed legal caliph.  (CIVIC, 26.04.13)