Abdullah ibn Abbas

Abdullah ibn Abbas (c. 619-687 CE) was a first cousin of the Prophet Muhammad, son of the Prophet's uncle al-Abbas ibn Abd al-Muttalib and of Umm al-Fadl Lubaba. Tradition places his birth in Mecca about three years before the Hijra (the community's migration to Medina), making him a young teenager when the Prophet died. He is remembered above all as a foundational figure in tafsir (Qur'anic exegesis, the disciplined interpretation of scripture), and is honoured with the epithets al-Hibr ("the learned one," literally "the ink") and Tarjuman al-Qur'an ("interpreter of the Qur'an").

Reports describe him teaching in Medina, organising lessons by subject. In the first Muslim civil wars he sided with Ali ibn Abi Talib, the Prophet's son-in-law, and is reported to have served as governor of Basra and to have taken part in Ali's campaigns; sources also report a dispute over the Basra treasury. Later, when Abdullah ibn al-Zubayr claimed the caliphate, Ibn Abbas reportedly refused allegiance and was exiled to Ta'if, where he died, traditionally in 68 AH (687-8 CE), though some accounts give 69 or 70 AH.

A vast body of exegesis was later attributed to him. Modern and classical scholars caution that much of this is unreliable: the popular printed "Tafsir Ibn Abbas" (Tanwir al-Miqbas) is widely judged a later, falsely attributed compilation. Sunni tradition ranks him the greatest exegete among the Companions; Shia tradition values him as a loyal supporter of Ali and his sons.