Abbas ibn Ali

Al-Abbas ibn Ali ibn Abi Talib (, 15 May 647 10 October 680 CE), also known as Abu al-Fadl, was a son of Ali ibn Abi Talib, the fourth caliph in Sunni Islam and the first imam in Shia Islam. His mother was Fatima bint Hizam, commonly known as Umm al-Banin. Abbas fought as the standard-bearer of his half-brother Husayn ibn Ali in the Battle of Karbala on 10 Muharram 61 AH (10 October 680) against the army of the Umayyad caliph Yazid ibn Mu'awiya. He was killed in a desperate attempt to bring water from the Euphrates river to quench the unbearable thirst of the besieged family of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. Abbas is said to have inherited Ali's boldness and bravery, and was praised by Shia imams for his faith and fortitude in defending Husayn. Abbas is regarded by Shia Muslims as an ultimate paragon of courage and self-sacrifice. The shrine of Abbas and the nearby mausoleum of Husayn in Karbala are destinations for pilgrimage. Titles The of Abbas was Abu al-Fadl. Another epithet of him was Qamar Bani Hashim, and he is often described as tall and handsome. Abbas is said to have inherited the boldness and bravery of his father Ali ibn Abi Talib, always carrying the victorious standard on the battlefield. Abbas is indeed celebrated as and in Persian language. He is also known as Alam-d'ar for his role in the Battle of Karbala, and as al-Saqqa' and Abu al-Qirba ( means 'a water-skin') for his desperate attempt on the evening of Ashura to bring water from the Euphrates river to quench the unbearable thirst of the besieged Ahl al-Bayt. The Islamicist J. Calmard draws a parallel between Abbas and Muhammad ibn al-Hanafiyya, an elder son of Ali and his standard-bearer, saying that Abbas fulfilled the same warrior functions near Husayn. Birth and early life Abbas was born in Medina to Ali and Fatima bint Hizam ibn Khalid ibn Rabi'a, a woman from the Banu Kilab tribe. Abbas had three full brothers, named Abd Allah, Ja'far and Uthman. Their mother Fatima thus became known as Umm al-Banin. Abbas' brothers were all killed in the Battle of Karbala just before him. Some sources refer to him as al-Abbas al-Akbar to distinguish him from another son of Ali, named al-Abbas al-Asghar. Abbas' date of birth is disputed. According to the Sunni historian Ibn Sa'd, he had not yet reached puberty when Ali was assassinated in 661, whereas some others have written that Abbas was thirty-four at that time.