4 of 4 · 18 AH, the Year of Ashes · d. 32 AH · Madinah
Al-'Abbas ibn 'Abd al-Muttalib رضي الله عنه
Rain Through the Prophet's Uncle
The Prophet ﷺ once defended al-'Abbas when he was criticised over his zakah, saying: "Do you not know that a man's uncle is like his father?" (Sahih Muslim 983).
Years later, in the time of 'Umar, Arabia was struck by a terrible drought. 'Umar went out to pray for rain with al-'Abbas beside him, and said: "O Allah, we used to seek nearness to You through our Prophet and You gave us rain; now we seek nearness to You through the uncle of our Prophet, so give us rain." And they were given rain (Sahih al-Bukhari 1010).
Al-'Abbas lived into the caliphate of 'Uthman and died in Madinah in 32 AH, in old age, and was buried in al-Baqi'. His son 'Abdullah became the great scholar of the Qur'an, and from his descendants came the Abbasid caliphs.
The Companions honoured the Prophet's ﷺ family after him, putting his uncle at the front of their prayers.
How do you honour the elders of your family and community?
- Sahih Muslim 983 Sahih · in the two Sahihs
- Sahih al-Bukhari 1010 Sahih · in the two Sahihs
- Ibn Sa'd, al-Tabaqat al-KubraHistorical report
- al-Dhahabi, Siyar A'lam al-Nubala'Historical report
What the hadith grades mean
- Sahih (authentic): an unbroken chain of trustworthy, precise narrators, free of hidden flaws or contradiction. It is acted upon.
- Hasan (good): like sahih, but a narrator's precision is slightly lighter. It is also accepted and acted upon. "Hasan sahih" means it reaches sahih by its routes.
- Da'if (weak): a break in the chain or a narrator who is not reliable enough. It is not used to establish beliefs or rulings.
- Very weak (munkar, matruk): a seriously flawed chain or a narrator accused of lying. It is not relied on at all.
- Mawdu' (fabricated): falsely attributed to the Prophet ﷺ. It may not be narrated as his words except to warn against it.
- The two Sahihs: every hadith with a full chain in Sahih al-Bukhari and Sahih Muslim is accepted as sahih by the scholars of hadith.
- Historical report: biographies and histories (Ibn Ishaq, Ibn Sa'd, al-Tabari) record events with chains that are often incomplete. They are used for the story, not for rulings.
- Hadith scholars grade a narration; the four madhhabs do not. Where a hadith carries a ruling, the page shows which schools act on it.
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