Abdullah
was the son of Abbas, an uncle of the noble Prophet.
He was born just three
years before the Hijrah.
When the Prophet died, Abdullah was thus only thirteen years old.
When he
was born, his mother took him to the blessed Prophet who
put some of his saliva
on the babe's tongue
even before he began to suckle. This was the beginning of the close and
intimate tie between
Abbas and
the Prophet that was to be part of a life-long love and devotion.
When
Abdullah reached the age of discretion, he attached himself to
the service of
the Prophet. He would run
to fetch water for him when
he wanted to make wudu. During Salat, he would
stand behind
the
Prophet in prayer and when the Prophet went on journeys or expeditions, he
would follow next in line to
him. Abdullah thus became
like the shadow of the Prophet(s.a.w), constantly in his
company.
In all
these situations he was attentive and alert to whatever the
Prophet (S.a.w) did and
said. His heart was enthusiastic
and his
young mind was pure and uncluttered, committing the Prophet's(s.a.w)
words to
memory with the
capacity and accuracy of a recording
instrument. In this way and through his
constant researches
later,
as we shall see, Abdullah became one of the most learned companions
of
the Prophet(s.a.w), preserving
on behalf of later generations of
Muslims, the priceless words of the Messenger
of God. It is
said that
he committed to memory about one thousand, six hundred
and sixty sayings of the
Prophet which are
recorded and authenticated
in the collections of al-Bukhari and Muslim.
The
Prophet(s.a.w) would often draw Abdullah as a child close to him,
pat him on the
shoulder and pray: "O Lord,
make him acquire a deep understanding of the religion of Islam and instruct him
in the
meaning and
interpretation of things."
There
were many occasions thereafter when the blessed Prophet (s.a.w)would repeat this dua
or prayer for his cousin and before long Abdullah ibn Abbas realized that his life was to be devoted to
the
pursuit of learning
and knowledge.
The
Prophet(S.a.w) moreover prayed that he be granted not just
knowledge and understanding
but wisdom. Abdullah
related the
following incident about himself: "Once the Prophet(s.a.w), peace be
upon him, was on the point
of performing wudu. I hurried to get water
ready for him. He was pleased with
what I was doing. As
he was about
to begin Salat, he indicated that I should stand at his side.
However,
I stood behind
him. When the Salat was finished, he turned to me and
said: 'What prevented you
from being at my side,
O Abdullah?' 'You
are too illustrious and too great in my eyes for me to stand
side by
side with you,' I
replied.
Raising
his hands to the heavens, the Prophet (s.aw) then prayed:
'O Lord, grant him
wisdom." The Prophet's(s.a.w) prayer
undoubtedly
was granted for the young Abdullah was to prove time and again
that
he possessed a wisdom
beyond his years. But it was a wisdom
that came only with devotion and the
dogged pursuit of
knowledge
both during the Prophet's lifetime and after his death.
During
the lifetime of the Prophet, Abdullah would not miss any of
his assemblies and
he would commit to memory
whatever he said.
After the Prophet passed away, he would take care to go to as
many
companions
as possible especially those who knew the Prophet longer
and learn from them
what the Prophet(s.a.w)
had taught them. Whenever he heard that someone knew a hadith of the Prophet
which he did
not know
he would go quickly to him and record it. He would subject whatever he heard to
close scrutiny
and check it against other reports.
He would go to as many as thirty companions
to verify a single
matter.
Abdullah
described what he once did on hearing that a companion
of the Prophet knew a
hadith unknown
to him: "I went to him during
the time of the afternoon siesta and spread
my cloak in front of
his door.
The wind blew dust on me (as I sat waiting for him). If I
wished I could have
sought his permission
to enter and he would
certainly have given me permission. But I preferred to
wait on him
so that he
could be completely refreshed. Coming out of his house
and seeing me in that
condition he said: 'O cousin
of the Prophet!
What's the matter with you? If you had sent for me I would have
come to you.''I am the
one who should come to you, for knowledge
is sought, it does not just come,' I
said. I asked him about
the hadith
and learnt from him."
In this
way, the dedicated Abdullah would ask, and ask, and go
on asking. And he would
sift and scrutinize
the information he had
collected with his keen and meticulous mind.
It was
not only in the collection of hadith that Abdullah specialized.
He devoted
himself to acquiring knowledge
in a wide variety of fields.
He had a special admiration for persons like Zayd
ibn Thabit, the
recorder
of the revelation, the leading judge and jurist consult in
Madinah, an expert
in the laws of inheritance
and in reading the Quran. When Zayd intended to go on a trip, the young
Abdullah would
stand
humbly at his side and taking hold of the reins of his mount
would adopt the
attitude of a humble servant
in the presence of his
master. Zayd would say to him: "Don't, O cousin of
the Prophet."
"Thus
we were commanded to treat the learned ones among us,
" Abdullah would say.
"And Zayd would say to
him in turn: "Let me
see your hand." Abdullah would stretch out his
hand. Zayd, taking
it, would kiss it
and say: "Thus we were commanded to treat the
ahl al-bayt members of the
household of the Prophet(s.a.w)."
As
Abdullah's knowledge grew, he grew in stature. 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
Khalifah Umar ibn al-Khattab often sought his advice on
important matters of
state and described him as
"the young man
of maturity".Sad ibn
abi Waqqas described him with these words:
"I have never seen someone who
was quicker in understanding,
who
had more knowledge and greater wisdom than Ibn Abbas. I have seen
Umar summon
him to discuss difficult problems in the presence of
veterans of Badr from
among the Muhajirin and
Ansar. Ibn Abbas
would speak and Umar would not disregard what he had to
say."
It is
these qualities which resulted in Abdullah ibn Abbas being
known as "the
learned man of this Ummah".
Abdullah
ibn Abbas was not content to accumulate knowledge. He felt
he had a duty to the
ummah to educate
those in search of knowledge
and the general masses of the Muslim community. He
turned to
teaching
and his house became a university - yes, a university in the
full sense of the
word, a university with
specialized teaching but with the difference that there was only one teacher
Abdullah ibn Abbas.
There was
an enthusiastic response to Abdullah's classes. One of
his companions described
a typical scene 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 wudu.'
He
performed wudu 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."
And so it
continued with groups of people coming in to discuss fiqh (jurisprudence),
halal and haram(the
lawful and the prohibited in Islam), inheritance laws, Arabic language, poetry
and etymology.
To avoid
congestion with many groups of people coming to discuss
various subjects on a
single day,Abdullah
decided to devote one day exclusively for a particular discipline. On one day,
only the
exegesis
of the Quran would be taught while on another day only
fiqh (jurisprudence).
The maghazi or campaigns
of the Prophet, poetry,
Arab history before Islam were each allocated a special
day.
Abdullah
ibn Abbas brought to his teaching a powerful memory and
a formidable intellect.
His explanations
were precise, clear and logical.
His arguments were persuasive and supported by
pertinent
textual
evidence and historical facts.
One
occasion when his formidable powers of persuasion was used
was during the
caliphate of Ali(r.a).A large
number of supporters of
Ali (r.a) in his stand against Muawiyah had just deserted
him.
Abdullah ibn Abbas
went to Ali and requested permission to speak
to them. Ali (r.a) hesitated fearing
that Abdullah would be in
danger
at their hands but eventually gave way on Abdullah's optimism
that
nothing untoward would
happen.
Abdullah
went over to the group. They were absorbed in worship.
Some were not willing to
let him speak but
others were prepared
to give him a hearing.
"Tell
me" asked Abdullah, "what grievances
have you against the cousin of
the Prophet, the husband of
his
daughter and the first of those who believed in him?"
"The
men proceeded to relate three main complaints against Ali(r.a).
First, that he
appointed men to pass judgment
in matters
pertaining to the religion of God - meaning that Ali(r.a) had agreed
to
accept the arbitration
of Abu Musa al-Asbari and Amr ibn al-As
in the dispute with Muawiyah. Secondly,
that he fought
and did not
take booty nor prisoners of war. Thirdly, that he did not insist on
the
title of Amir al-Muminin
during the arbitration process although the Muslims had pledged allegiance to
him and he was their
legitimate
amir. To them this was obviously a sign of weakness and a sign that
Ali(r.a) was prepared to bring his
legitimate position as
Amir al-Muminin into disrepute.
In reply,
Abdullah asked them that should he cite verses from the
Quran and sayings of
the Prophet to which
they had no objection and
which related to their criticisms, would they be
prepared to change
their
position. They replied that they would and Abdullah proceeded: "Regarding
your statement that Ali(r.a) has
appointed men to pass
judgment in matters pertaining to Allah's religion, Allah
Glorified and
Exalted
is He, says: 'O you who believe! Kill not game while in the sacred precincts or
in pilgrim garb. If any of
you do so intentionally, the compensation is an offering, of a domestic animal
equivalent to the
one he
killed and adjudged by two just men among." "I adjure you,
by God! Is
the adjudication by men in
matters pertaining to the
preservation of their blood and their lives and
making peace
between them more
deserving of attention than adjudication over
a rabbit whose value is only a
quarter of a dirham?"
Their
reply was of course that arbitration was more important in the
case of
preserving Muslim lives and making
peace among them than
over the killing of game in the sacred precincts for
which Allah
sanctioned
arbitration by men.
"Have
we then finished with this point?" asked Abdullah and their
reply was:
"Allahumma, naam - O Lord,
yes!" Abdullah went on: "As for
your statement that Ali fought and
did not take prisoners of war
as the
Prophet did, do you really desire to take your "mother" Aishah
as a
captive and treat her as fair game in
the way that captives are
treated? If your answer is "Yes", then you
have fallen into kufr
(disbelief).
And if you say that she is not your "mother", you would also
have
fallen into a state of kufr for
Allah, Glorified and Exalted is He,
has said: 'The Prophet is closer to the
believers than their ownselves
and his wives are their mothers (entitled to respect an consideration).'
(The
Quran, Surah al- Ahzab,
34:6).
"Choose
for yourself what you want," said Abdullah and then he asked:
"Have
we then finished with this
point?" and this time too their reply was: "Allahumma, naam - O Lord,
yes!" Abdullah went on: "As for your
statement that Ali has surrendered the title of Amir al-Muminin, (remember)
that the Prophet himself,
peace and blessings of God be
on him, at the time of Hudaybiyyah, demanded that
the
mushrikin
write in the truce which he concluded with them: 'This is
what the Messenger of
God has agreed...'
and they retorted: 'If we believed that you were the Messenger of God we would
not have
blocked
your way to the Kabah nor would we have fought you. Write
instead: 'Muhammad
the son of Abdullah.'
The Prophet conceded their demand while saying: 'By God, I am the Messenger of
God even
if they
reject me." At this point Abdullah ibn Abbas asked the
dissidents:
"Have we then finished with this
point? and their
reply was once again: "Allahumma,
naam - O Lord, yes!"
One of
the fruits of this verbal challenge in which Abdullah displayed
his intimate
knowledge of the Quran and
the sirah of the Prophet(s.aw)
as well as his remarkable powers of argument and
persuasion, was
that the
majority, about twenty thousand men, returned to the ranks
of Ali(r.a). About four
thousand however remained
obdurate. These
latter came to be known as Kharijites.
On this
and other occasions, 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 which has more food or
drink
or frui 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 which fail 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.
He passed
away at the age of seventy one in the mountainous city of Taif.
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