Al-Abbas ibn Abd al-Muttalib

Guardian of Zamzam, secret ally before Fath, and the rally-cry that reversed a rout.

The account

Uncle of the Prophet ﷺ and custodian of the pilgrims' water, Abbas attended the Second Aqabah as his nephew's guarantor before his own Islam, and served the believers from inside Makkah until he emigrated just before the Opening, where he escorted Abu Sufyan to safety and Islam. At Hunayn, when the army broke in the defile, the Prophet ordered Abbas, a man of mighty voice, to call: "O companions of the tree! O companions of Surat al-Baqarah!" and the Ansar wheeled back through their own rout: labbayk, labbayk. In the famine year, Umar sought rain by his du'a: "O Allah, we used to seek rain by Your Prophet, and we seek it by his uncle." The riba of Jahiliyya was abolished at the Farewell Hajj beginning with his own claims.

The facts

OfficeSiqayah, Zamzam
HunaynThe rally voice
HonorUmar's istisqa by him

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BeforeKhalid ibn al-Walid AfterAbu Sufyan ibn Harb

On the Companions page The Path