Birth and early life[edit]

Abbas was born in Medina to Ali and Fatima bint Hizam ibn Khalid ibn Rabi'a, a woman from the Banu Kilab tribe.^[1] Abbas had three full brothers, named Abd Allah, Ja'far and Uthman.^[2] Their mother Fatima thus became known as Umm al-Banin (lit. 'mother of the sons').^[1] Abbas' brothers were all killed in the Battle of Karbala just before him.^[2] Some sources refer to him as al-Abbas al-Akbar (lit. 'the elder/greater Abbas') to distinguish him from another son of Ali, named al-Abbas al-Asghar (lit. 'the younger/smaller Abbas').^[1] Abbas' date of birth is disputed. According to the Sunni historian Ibn Sa'd (d. 845), 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. The Shia scholar Bahr al-Ulum (d. 1797) reports 4 Shaban 26 (15 May 647) as the birthdate of Abbas.^[1] Naturally, much of what exists in sources about Abbas is in connection to the Battle of Karbala.^[1]