Prophesy Within al-Abbas RA

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

وصلى الله على خاتم النبيين

والعاقبة للمتقين

It is related in several books of Hadith that sayyidina Abi Huraira رضى الله عنه narrated that the Prophet Muhammad صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم said to his uncle al-Abbas رضى الله عنه:

فِيكُمُ النُّبُوَّةُ وَالْمَمْلَكَةُ

“Within you is prophesy and monarchy”

The muhaddithin reject this Hadith due to the narrator Muhammad b. Abdir-Rahman al-‘Amiri. However, the narrator is actually Muhammad b. Abdir-Rahman b. Thawban al-‘Amiri, who is not weak but thiqa:

If authentic, this Hadith is a predictive statement regarding there being dynastic rule from the progeny of sayyidina Abbas رضى الله عنه, i.e., the Abbasid dynasty. But the same Hadith states that there will also be Nubuwwa or prophesy within sayyidina Abbas رضى الله عنه and his family, the Prophet صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم having addressed him in the second person plural. Perhaps this means that within sayyidina Abbas رضى الله عنه himself and maybe among some saintly individuals from his progeny, there is a trace of or manifestation of Nubuwwa. This is the partial Nubuwwa known as al-Mubashirat, as the Prophet صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم said:

لَا نُبُوَّةَ بَعْدِي إِلَّا الْمُبَشِّرَاتِ

“There is no prophesy after me except the Mubashshirat”

(Musnad Ahmad)

And the Mubashshirat, as the Prophet صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم explained, are the true and pious visions from Allah that one sees and experiences. Regarding the saintly person of sayyidina Abbas رضى الله عنه, it is known that he was very close and dear to the Prophet صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم. Since he outlived his beloved nephew صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم he was a natural candidate to succeed the latter. Although he did not formally succeed him in the institution of khilafa as Allah decreed and favored sayyidina Abi Bakr رضى الله عنه for that office through the consultation of Saqifa Bani Sa’ida. But he (Abbas) was a successor of the Prophet صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم in the spiritual sense, like many other of the Prophets’ eminent companions. Hence, sayyidina Anas رضى الله عنه narrates:

أَنَّ عُمَرَ بْنَ الْخَطَّابِ، كَانَ إِذَا قَحَطُوا اسْتَسْقَى بِالْعَبَّاسِ بْنِ عَبْدِ الْمُطَّلِبِ، فَقَالَ اللَّهُمَّ إِنَّا كُنَّا نَتَوَسَّلُ إِلَيْكَ بِنَبِيِّنَا صلى الله عليه وسلم فَتَسْقِينَا، وَإِنَّا نَتَوَسَّلُ إِلَيْكَ بِعَمِّ نَبِيِّنَا فَاسْقِنَا‏.‏ قَالَ فَيُسْقَوْنَ

Whenever there was drought, Umar b. al-Khattab used to ask Allah for rain through al-Abbas bin Abdul Muttalib, saying, “Allahumma! We used to request our Prophet صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم to ask You for rain, and You would give us. Now we request the uncle of our Prophet to ask You for rain, so give us rain.” And they would be given rain. (Sahih al-Bukhari)

And this Hadith demonstrates that there was a trace of the kamalat of prophesy within sayyidina Abbas which he inherited from his nephew صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم and Allah knows best.