Fadl ibn Abbas RA (611-639) was a
brother of Abdullah ibn Abbas RA and was
a cousin of Rasulullah ﷺ. Fadl
was the eldest son of Al-‘Abbas ibn ‘Abd al-Muttalib, an uncle of Rasulullah ﷺ and a wealthy merchant of
Makkah, and of Lubaba bint al-Harith, a sister of Rasulullah ﷺ 's wife Maimunah. Fadl ibn
Abbas RA was among those who "stood firm" at the Battle of Hunayn in
630, after which his family emigrated to Madinah.
Fadl ibn Abbas RA married his
cousin, Safiya bint Mahmiya RA and they had one daughter, Umm Kulthum RA, who
was born in Rasulullah ﷺ's
lifetime. Fadl ibn Abbas RA also married Amra bint Yazid of the Kilab tribe,
but this marriage ended in divorce after only a few months.
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| Illustration Only : Fadl Ibn Abas RA |
According to his brother Abdullah
ibn Abbas RA, Fadl ibn Abbas RA was an extremely handsome man. At the Farewell
Pilgrimage in March 632, he rode pillion on Rasulullah ﷺ’s camel. On his own admission, he gazed at a pretty girl
on another camel so intently that Rasulullah ﷺ
had to take his chin and turn his face away from her three times. It was
concerning this incident that Rasulullah ﷺ made
his famous remark: “I saw a young man and a young woman, and I could not trust
Satan with them.”
When Rasulullah ﷺ succumbed to his final
illness, it was Fadl ibn Abbas RA and his cousin Ali who supported him in his final
walk to Aisha's house. After Rasulullah ﷺ 's
demise, Fadl ibn Abbas RA was one of those who entered his grave and helped to
lay his corpse.
Fadl ibn Abbas RA took part in
many battles of the Muslims against Europeans and Persians.
Fadl ibn Abbas RA transmitted
some hadiths about Rasulullah ﷺ,
but he did not live long enough to be known as a great teacher. Fadl ibn Abbas
RA died of the plague in Amwas, Syria, in 18 AH (639 CE), aged about 25
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| Illustration Only - Fadl Ibn Abas following Rasulullah ﷺ |
Fadl ibn Abbas
RA, lowering his gaze?
Lowering One’s Gaze
and Ba’dal Hajj
Narrated
Abdullah ibn Abbas RA: Al-Fadl bin Abbas RA rode behind Rasulullah ﷺ as his companion rider on
the back portion of his she-camel on the day of Nahr (slaughtering of
sacrifice, 10th Dhul-Hijja) and Al-Fadl was a handsome man. Rasulullah ﷺ stopped to give the people
verdicts (regarding their matters). In the meantime, a beautiful woman from the
tribe of Khatham came, asking the verdict of Rasulullah ﷺ. Al-Fadl bin Abbas RA started looking at her as her
beauty attracted him. Rasulullah ﷺ looked
behind while Al-Fadl bin Abbas RA was looking at her; so Rasulullah ﷺ held out his hand
backwards and caught the chin of Al-Fadl bin Abbas RA and turned his face (to
the other side) in order that he should not gaze at her. She said, ‘O Allah’s
Messenger! The obligation of performing Hajj enjoined by Allah on his worshippers
has become due (compulsory) on my father who is an old man and who cannot sit
firmly on the riding animal. Will it be sufficient that I perform Hajj on his
behalf?’ He said, ‘Yes.'” [Sahih Bukhari]
This hadith
gives several important rulings.
One is that Rasulullah ﷺ acted himself, and
made other men act, on Allah’s orders to lower their gazes. [Quran 24: 27-29]
We see in this
hadith, that Rasulullah ﷺ
listened to the woman’s question and answered it while not looking at her. Rasulullah
ﷺ also turned the face of
his cousin to the side who had been staring at the woman’s beautiful face. Rasulullah
ﷺ did not ask the woman to
cover her face.
This incident
took place during Hajj, when even those women who normally cover their faces
are required to leave their faces uncovered. Other ahadith show that the
Sahabiyat would go for Fajr and Isha prayers in Rasulullah ﷺ’s masjid with their faces
uncovered and not be recognized on account of the darkness, not because their
faces were covered.
This topic, of
whether women need to cover the face or can leave it uncovered, has evidence on
both sides of the argument. So long as evidence from the Quran and Sunnah
exists for an opinion, one must refrain from falling into the devil’s trap of
involving oneself in debate over it. It would be much more useful to talk about
Allah Subhana Wa ta’ala) and the Hereafter to the Kuffar (disbelievers) or
Fasiqoon (those acting in clear contradiction to what is well known to be a
part of Islam, such as avoiding alcohol).
From this hadith
we also learn that it is permissible to perform Hajj on behalf of those who are
too old or sick to undertake the journey themselves.
Sahih Al Bukhari
Volume 8, Book 74 [Asking Permission], Number 247
Narrated: Al-Fadl ibn Abbas From
Sunan Abu Dawood
Hadith No: 717
Narrated/Authority of Al-Fadl ibn
Abbas
Listed in: Prayer (Kitab Al-Salat)
Rasulullah ﷺ came to us accompanied by Abbas when we were in open
country belonging to us. He prayed in a desert with no sutrah in front of him,
and a she-ass and a bitch of ours were playing in front of him, but he paid no
attention to that.
Narrated: Fadl ibn Abbas From Sunan
at-Tirmidhi (Jami-al-Tirmidhi)
Hadith No: 385
Narrated/Authority of Fadl ibn
Abbas
Listed in: Salah (Prayers)
Rasulullah ﷺ said, "Salah is in twos, the tashahhud after every
two rakaat. It is to be humble and pleading, fearful and beseeching and to
raise both hands." The narrator explained that the insides of the hands
should be towards the face and raised, and one should plead, "0 my Lord, 0
my Lord!" One who does not do that is like this and like that."
Sahih Al Bukhari Volume 8, Book 74 [Asking Permission], Number 247
Fadl ibn Abbas RA, lowering his gaze?
Sahih Al Bukhari Volume 8, Book 74 [Asking Permission], Number 247:
Muhammad ibn Jarir al-Tabari.
Tarikh al-Rusul wa'l-Muluk. Translated by Landau-Tasseron, E. (1998). Volume
39: Biographies of the Prophet's Companions and Their Successors, p. 201.
Albany: State University of New York Press.
Ibn Ishaq (Guillaume) p. 569.
Tabari (Landau-Tasseron) p. 202.
Muslim 5:2347.
Abu Dawud 19:2979.
Ibn Hajar, Isaba, vol. 7 #11412;
vol. 8 #12064.
Ibn Hajar, Isaba, vol. 8 #12234.
Guillaume, A. (1960). New Life on
the Light of Muhammad, p. 55. Manchester: Manchester University Press.
Bukhari 8:74:247.
Ibn Hanbal, Musnad. Translated by
Al-Khattab, N., vol. 2 p. 218 #1805. Riyadh: Darussalem.
Ibn Hanbal (Khattab) vol. 2 p.
222 #1818.
Ibn Kathir (Le Gassick) vol. 4 p.
265.
Ibn Ishaq, Sirat Rasul Allah.
Translated by Guillaume, A. (1955). The Life of Muhammad, p. 679. Oxford:
Oxford University Press.
Ibn Ishaq (Guillaume) pp.
688-689.
Peshawar Nights on Al-Islam.org
[1]
Tabari (Landau-Tasseron) p. 95.
Hazrat Fadl ibn
Abbas(رضئ اللہ تعالی عنہ)
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