The Mufassir of this Ummah
Known as Ḥabr al‑Ummah — the Scholar of this Ummah, and Al‑Baḥr — the Ocean, due to the vastness of his knowledge. If one were to say this is the most knowledgeable companions of the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ, it would most likely be that you were referring to 'Abd Allāh Ibn 'Abbās (Raḍiyallāhu ‘anh). When the Sahabah (Raḍiyallāhu ‘anhum) had an issue amongst themselves, they defaulted to him and agreed with his opinion. He was from Ahl al‑Bayt - the blessed family of the Prophet ﷺ, being his first cousin as well as his devoted mentee.
'Abd Allāh Ibn 'Abbās (Raḍiyallāhu ‘anh) was born in the boycott approximately 3 years before Hijrah. His taḥnīk was performed uniquely by the prophet Muhammad ﷺ using only His ﷺ saliva, due to the scarcity of food at the time. His mother, Lubābah bint al‑Ḥārith (Raḍiyallāhu ‘anha), was among the earliest Muslims — some narrations mention that she embraced Islām on the very same day as Khadījah (Raḍiyallāhu ‘anha). Scholars note that the second woman to accept Islām was either Lubābah (Raḍiyallāhu ‘anha) or Fatimah bint al‑Khattāb (Raḍiyallāhu ‘anha). His father, al‑‘Abbās ibn ‘Abd al‑Muṭṭalib (Raḍiyallāhu ‘anh), was the uncle of the Prophet ﷺ.
From an early age, following his Hijrah to Medinah at approximately 10 years of age, 'Abd Allāh Ibn 'Abbās (Raḍiyallāhu ‘anh) wholeheartedly attached himself to the prophet ﷺ, following him home, fetching his wudhu water and carrying his sandals - trying to serve the Messenger of Allāh ﷺ in every way he could — seeking closeness, knowledge, and blessings.
‘Abd Allāh ibn ‘Abbās (Raḍiyallāhu ‘anh) had a khālah (maternal aunt) Maymūnah (Raḍiyallāhu ‘anha) who was married to the prophet Muhammad ﷺ. One night, he asked her (Raḍiyallāhu ‘anha) if he could spend the night while the prophet ﷺ was present. He was not yet bāligh, and after seeking permission from the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, she allowed him to stay. That night, ‘Abd Allāh ibn ‘Abbās (Raḍiyallāhu ‘anh) remained in the home of the prophet ﷺ and joined him in Qiyām al‑Layl. He stood to the right of the prophet ﷺ, but slightly behind him. During the prayer, the prophet ﷺ gently took his arm and brought him forward to stand beside him - Ibn ‘Abbās (Raḍiyallāhu ‘anh) stepped back again. This happened twice. After the prayer, the prophet ﷺ asked him why he kept moving back. Ibn ‘Abbās (Raḍiyallāhu ‘anh) replied, “O Messenger of Allāh ﷺ, is it befitting for anyone to stand next to you in prayer when you are the Messenger of Allah ﷺ?” Hearing this, the prophet ﷺ embraced him and made a special duʿā’ for him: اللَّهُمَّ عَلِّمْهُ الْكِتَابَ وَالْحِكْمَةَ “O Allāh, teach him the Book and its wisdom.” The prophet ﷺ also made the following duʿā’ for him: اللَّهُمَّ فَقِّهْهُ فِي الدِّينِ وَعَلِّمْهُ التَّأْوِيلَ “O Allāh, make him a scholar of the religion and teach him the interpretation (of the Qur’an).”
The prophet ﷺ always made duʿā’ for knowledge for ‘Abd Allāh ibn ‘Abbās (Raḍiyallāhu ‘anh) - this was a sign of the prophet’s ﷺ love for him, as the only duʿā’ that Allāh Subḥānahu wa Ta‘ālā commands us to recite is رَبِّ زِدْنِي عِلْمًا “My Lord, increase me in knowledge.”
‘Abd Allāh ibn ‘Abbās (Raḍiyallāhu ‘anhu) would closely accompany the Prophet ﷺ, learning the Tafsīr of the Qur’ān directly from him. He himself said that there was not a single āyah in the Qur’ān except that he asked the Prophet ﷺ where it was revealed, why it was revealed, and the context surrounding its revelation. This is how he became the scholar of the Qur’ān, despite not being around for the majority of Its revelation. His attentiveness can be demonstrated the amount of hadith he narrated from prophet ﷺ - he narrated over 1600 hadith with meticulous detail from the age of 10-13 (he was only with prophet ﷺ for 3 years). Ibn ‘Abbās’ (Raḍiyallāhu ‘anhu) narrations include many of the narrations regarding the wudhu of the prophet ﷺ the Hajj of the prophet ﷺ.
After the death of the prophet ﷺ ‘Abd Allāh ibn ‘Abbās (Raḍiyallāhu ‘anhu) sought knowledge from all the Ṣaḥābah, often sleeping outside their doors, eager to learn all that the prophet ﷺ had taught them, writing down what they would say - living by knowledge must be sought, it does not come to you. It is from him we get the story of how Salman al‑Fārsī (Raḍiyallāhu ‘anhu) became Muslim. He became the most knowledgeable of the Qur’ān, authority on Ḥadīth, and the most knowledgeable on the Fatāwā / Fiqh of the al‑Khulafā’ ar‑Rāshidūn
During the time of ‘Umar ibn al‑Khaṭṭāb (Raḍiyallāhu ‘anhu), ‘Abd Allāh ibn ‘Abbās (Raḍiyallāhu ‘anhu) established his house as the first true university of Islam, allocating a days for different disciplines — Fiqh, Tafsīr, Qur’ān, Ḥadīth al‑Ḥalāl wa al‑Ḥarām, Arabic language, poetry, and history.
Highlighting his true mastery in Fiqh and his wisdom, in one of his gatherings a man asked if he would be forgiven by Allāh Subḥānahu wa Ta‘ālā if he killed someone, ‘Abd Allāh ibn ‘Abbās (Raḍiyallāhu ‘anhu) said yes. Another man asked the same question the same day to which ‘Abd Allāh ibn ‘Abbās (Raḍiyallāhu ‘anhu) replied no. Afterwards ‘Abd Allāh ibn ‘Abbās (Raḍiyallāhu ‘anhu) said he could understand that the first man had actually killed someone and was asking if he had a pathway to redemption with Allāh Subḥānahu wa Ta‘ālā and that the second man wanted a license to kill, with a Fatāwā with a path back to Allāh Subḥānahu wa Ta‘ālā.
Ibn ‘Abbās (Raḍiyallāhu ‘anhu) went to debate the Khawārij when they broke away from the Ummah after the arbitration at Ṣiffīn, and asked them to present their objections. They listed three issues and Ibn ‘Abbās (Raḍiyallāhu ‘anhu) refuted every single point using clear Qur’ānic evidence and Sunnah, showing that they had misunderstood the verses they relied upon and were applying them out of context. His knowledge, clarity, and reasoning convinced the majority of them to abandon their rebellion and repent, leaving only a smaller faction who persisted in extremism.
At the age of around 70, of ‘Abd Allāh ibn ‘Abbās’ (Raḍiyallāhu ‘anhu) life he became blind and was told he could not make Sujood, but continued to make Sujood and continued to recite وَإِن تَعُدُّوا نِعْمَتَ اللَّهِ لَا تُحْصُوهَا “And if you were to count the blessings of Allah, you would never be able to”. He also continued to teach people, walking amongst them, correcting them. ‘Abd Allāh ibn ‘Abbās’ (Raḍiyallāhu ‘anhu) was offered various roles and governorships but he saw Fitnah that was taking place and having witnessed the golden age of Islām, he wanted nothing to do with that type of behavior and went to At-Ta’if (due to its proximity to everything else) and remained there until he passed away. He was succeeded by his students, a lot of whom were freed slaves and the top scholars of this Ummah - Mujāhid ibn Jabr, Ṭāwūs, ʿAṭā’ ibn Abī Rabāḥ, Saʿīd ibn Jubayr, & ʿIkrimah (Raḍiyallāhu ʿanhum)
Faiz Mohammed | Sanatayn Student
