Qutham ibn al-Abbas

ProfileQutham ibn al-Abbas

Qutham (may Allah be pleased with him) was the youngest son of al-Abbas and Lubabah, known as Umm al-Fadl, and the brother of Abdullah ibn Abbas and al-Fadl. According to the early biographies, he was said to resemble the Prophet ﷺ closely in looks, and some say he was the one most like him, though he was a small child when the Prophet ﷺ died.

Qabus told that Umm al-Fadl said to the Prophet ﷺ that it was as if she had seen, in a dream, one of his limbs in her house. He said that what she saw was good: Fatimah would give birth to a boy and she would nurse him. Fatimah gave birth to Husayn, and she nursed him with the milk of Qutham. She said that she brought him to the Prophet ﷺ and put him in his lap, and he urinated, and she struck him on the shoulder. The Prophet ﷺ said that she had hurt his son, and asked Allah to have mercy on her (Sunan Ibn Majah, graded sahih). Lubabah told that Husayn was in the lap of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ and urinated on him. She asked him to put on another garment and give her his wrapper to wash, and he said that the urine of a girl is washed and the urine of a boy is sprinkled (Sunan Abi Dawud, graded hasan sahih).

Ikrimah told that Ibn Abbas said that in the year of the Conquest of Makkah the Prophet ﷺ came and mounted Qutham in front of him and al-Fadl behind him, or Qutham behind him and al-Fadl in front of him (Sahih al-Bukhari). According to the early biographies, he took part in the burial of the Prophet ﷺ.

According to the early biographies, he lived a long time, and took part in the conquests, in Syria, Iraq and Persia, and was known for his dignity and for refusing extra shares offered to him for his courage. According to the early biographies, he took part in the opening of Samarkand, and died there as a martyr, and his grave is there.

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