Abbas ibn Abd al-Muttalib

Photo: stux, Pixabay licence

العباس

al-ʿAbbās

Person

An uncle of the Prophet and a Companion, ancestor of the Abbasid caliphs.

What it means

Abbas (d. about 653) was the Prophet’s uncle and close in age to him. His son Abdullah ibn Abbas became one of the great early authorities on the interpretation of the Quran. The Abbasid dynasty took its name from him.