At a glance
- Roles
- Companion · Merchant
- Tradition
- Sunni · Shia (Twelver)
- Era
- The Prophetic Era · The Rashidun Caliphate
- Region
- Arabia
- Review
- Draft Completeness 2/5 · Help complete it
In time
In space
Map: Natural Earth, public domain · places and route from the graph
Family, marriage and kinshipFactions, splits and schisms
Place in the story
- OpponenttowardThe early Muslim community · March 624 CE · Ramadan 2 AH† – March 624 CE · Ramadan 2 AH†Tradition
- Convert to Islam · c. 630 CE · c. 9 AH†Tradition
- Companion · c. 630 CE · c. 9 AH† – c. 653 CE · c. 32 AH†Tradition
- Family of the ProphetTradition
Arabian polytheism (transmitted) · Sunni (transmitted)
Roles are dated and sourced; the museum describes the act and attributes the judgement.
Brief
Al-Abbas was an uncle of the Prophet, a rich merchant of Mecca captured fighting on the Meccan side at Badr, later a Muslim — and the ancestor of the Abbasid caliphs.
Life
Born about 568 CE, al-Abbas traded and held interests in the pilgrims' water supply at Mecca 1. When the Meccan army marched to Badr in 624, he marched with it and was captured; the tradition reports he paid his own ransom, and some reports say he had secretly become Muslim already 2.
He openly embraced Islam around the The Conquest of Mecca (Fath Makka) in 630, fought on the Muslim side at The Battle of Hunayn, and lived on in Medina until about 653 CE, honored as the last surviving uncle 1.
Legacy
From al-Abbas descended the line that, a century later, overthrew the Umayyads and founded the Abbasid caliphate — the dynasty of Baghdad for five centuries. Where claims about the Prophet's family were disputed, the Abbasids' case rested on him.
For young visitors
Al-Abbas was captured at the biggest battle of his time — on the losing side. He later joined the winning side, and his great-grandchildren founded an empire.
Connections
- Born in
- Mecca
- Died in
- Medina
- Child of
- Abd al-Muttalib ibn Hashim
- Sibling of
- Abu Talib ibn Abd al-MuttalibHamza ibn Abd al-MuttalibAtika bint Abd al-MuttalibSafiyya bint Abd al-Muttalib
- Member of
- Banu Hashim
- Participated in
- The Battle of BadrThe Conquest of Mecca (Fath Makka)The Battle of HunaynThe conversion of Abu Sufyan ibn HarbThe affair of the Badr prisonersThe Pledges of AqabaThe rebuilding of the KaabaThe Fulfilled Umrah (Umrat al-Qada)
- Parent of
- Abdullah ibn Abbasal-Fadl ibn al-Abbas
- Spouse of
- Umm al-Fadl Lubaba bint al-Harith
- Mentioned in
- The Farewell Sermon
People and things also explored
MuhammadMeccaAbd al-Muttalib ibn HashimQurayshAbu Talib ibn Abd al-MuttalibHamza ibn Abd al-MuttalibUmar ibn al-KhattabBanu Hashim
Sources
- Ibn Sa'd, Kitab al-Tabaqat al-Kabir (Bewley translation, Ta-Ha)
- Ibn Ishaq / Guillaume, The Life of Muhammad (1955)
Cite this page
islam.museum contributors. “al-Abbas ibn Abd al-Muttalib”. islam.museum, https://islam.museum/en/person/abbas-ibn-abd-al-muttalib/. CC BY-SA 4.0. Accessed 2026-10-12.