Ali bin Abdullah bin Abbas relates that Sayyiduna al-Abbas (may Allah be pleased with him) freed seventy slaves at the time of his death.

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Abu Rafi' (may Allah be pleased with him), the freed slave of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him): I was a slave of Sayyiduna al-Abbas bin Abd al-Muttalib (may Allah be pleased with him). I had accepted Islam, Umm al-Fadl (may Allah be pleased with her) had also accepted Islam, and Sayyiduna al-Abbas (may Allah be pleased with him) had also become Muslim, but he used to conceal his Islam out of fear of his people. Abu Lahab had not taken part in the Battle of Badr; rather he had sent in his place al-As bin Hisham, who owed him a debt. He had said to him: "Go to this fight in my place and I will forgive you your debt," and so he did. When the news of the defeat at Badr arrived and Allah humiliated and disgraced Abu Lahab, I was at that time a weak man, and I used to carve cups in a chamber. By Allah, I was sitting in the chamber carving my cups, and Umm al-Fadl was with me, when that wicked Abu Lahab came dragging his feet and sat down by the tent-rope of the chamber, behind my back. The people began saying: This is Abu Sufyan bin al-Harith coming. Abu Lahab said: "O my nephew, come to me." So Abu Sufyan came and sat by him, and the people also came and stood around the two of them. Abu Lahab asked: "O my nephew, how did things go for the people in the battle?" He said: "Nothing at all. By Allah, no sooner did we meet them than we handed them our shoulders; they killed us however they wished and took us captive however they wished. And by Allah, I do not blame the people." Abu Lahab asked: "Why?" He said: "Because I saw men clothed in white on piebald horses. By Allah, they spared nothing, and nothing could stand before them." Abu Rafi' says: I lifted the curtain of the chamber and said: "By Allah, those were the angels!" At that Abu Lahab raised his hand and slapped me in the face. I grappled with him, but he lifted me up, threw me to the ground and sat on top of me. Seeing this, Umm al-Fadl got up, took one of the posts of the chamber and struck him on the head so hard that it left a very deep and ugly wound on his head, and she said: "O enemy of Allah, did you think him weak because his master is not here with him?" So he got up humiliated. By Allah, after that he lived only seven nights, until Allah afflicted him with the disease of 'adasah' (a plague-like pustule), which killed him. His sons left him like that for two or three nights and did not bury him, until his corpse began to rot. A man of Quraysh said to his sons: "Are you not ashamed? Your father is rotting in the house." They said: "We fear the contagion of this sore." And Quraysh feared adasah just as plague is feared. The man said: "Come, I am with you." Abu Rafi' says: By Allah, they did not wash him; rather they threw water on him from a distance, then they carried him and dumped him beside a wall in the upper part of Makkah and threw stones over him.

It is narrated from Urwah bin al-Zubayr that Sayyiduna al-Abbas bin Abd al-Muttalib (may Allah be pleased with him) had accepted Islam and remained in Makkah in charge of his siqayah (the service of giving water to the pilgrims), and he had not (at that time) emigrated.

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Jabir (may Allah be pleased with him): My maternal uncle Jadd bin Qays took me (to Makkah) with the seventy riders of the Ansar who came as a delegation to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). At that time I was so young that I did not even have the strength to throw a stone. The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) came out to us, and with him was his paternal uncle Sayyiduna al-Abbas (may Allah be pleased with him). He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "O uncle, take the pledge for me from these maternal uncles of yours (the Ansar)." The Ansar said: O Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him), lay down whatever conditions you wish for your Lord and for yourself. He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "For myself I take this covenant from you: that you will protect me just as you protect your wealth and your lives." They asked: If we do that, what reward will we get? He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Paradise." This hadith has a sahih (authentic) chain of transmission, but the two Shaykhs did not record it. And there is no report more authentic than this hadith about Sayyiduna al-Abbas (may Allah be pleased with him) being among the early Muslims.

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Abu Rafi' (may Allah be pleased with him): We, the family of al-Abbas (the household of Sayyiduna al-Abbas), had accepted Islam, but we kept our Islam hidden. I was a slave of Sayyiduna al-Abbas (may Allah be pleased with him) and used to carve cups. When Quraysh set out for the Battle of Badr, we began waiting for news. Then al-Haysuman al-Khuza'i came with the news. That news made us feel strength within ourselves, and the report of the victory of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) made us very happy. By Allah, I was sitting on the platform of Zamzam carving cups, and Umm al-Fadl (may Allah be pleased with her) was sitting with me; we were delighted at the news of the victory of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), when that vile Abu Lahab came dragging his feet; Allah had humiliated and disgraced him through that news. He came and sat by the tent-rope of the chamber. The people said: "This is Abu Sufyan bin al-Harith who has come," and the people gathered around him. Abu Lahab said to him: "O my nephew, come to me." He came and sat in front of him. Abu Lahab asked: "Tell me how the people fared." He said: "Yes. By Allah, as soon as we faced those people, we handed them our shoulders; they struck us with their swords wherever they wished. But by Allah, I do not blame the people, because we were up against men clothed in white riding piebald horses. By Allah, they spared nothing." Abu Rafi' says: I lifted the tent-rope of the chamber and said: "By Allah, those were the angels!" Hearing this, Abu Lahab raised his hand and gave me a violent slap on the face. I grappled with him, but I was a weak man; he lifted me up, threw me to the ground, climbed onto my chest and began beating me. Seeing this, Umm al-Fadl (may Allah be pleased with her) rushed to one of the posts of the chamber, seized it and began saying: "Did you think him weak because his master is not present?" And she struck him on the head with that post, which gave him a very ugly wound. He went away from there humiliated, dragging his feet. Then Allah afflicted him with the disease of 'adasah', that is, a plague-like contagious pustule. By Allah, only seven days after this incident he died. His sons left him lying in the house for three days and did not bury him, until his corpse began to rot. The people of Quraysh feared this disease just as plague is feared, until a man of Quraysh said to his sons: "Woe to you! Are you not ashamed that your father is rotting in the house and you are not burying him?" They said: "We fear catching the contagion of this sore." He said: "Come, I will help you." By Allah, they did not wash him; rather they threw water on him from a distance, because they did not want to go near him. Then they carried him to the upper part of Makkah, propped him against a wall there, and piled stones over him.

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Abu Rafi' (may Allah be pleased with him): I was a slave of Sayyiduna al-Abbas bin Abd al-Muttalib (may Allah be pleased with him). Islam had entered our household (the household of al-Abbas), so Sayyiduna al-Abbas, Umm al-Fadl and I had accepted Islam. But Sayyiduna al-Abbas (may Allah be pleased with him) feared his people and disliked opposing them, so he used to conceal his Islam. Abu Ahmad mentioned only this text with this chain and narrated it as mursal. These are all the reports that have reached us which indicate that Sayyiduna al-Abbas bin Abd al-Muttalib (may Allah be pleased with him) had accepted Islam before the Battle of Badr. Now hear the reports that indicate the opposite.

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Anas bin Malik (may Allah be pleased with him) that some men of the Ansar sought permission from the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) and said: "Permit us to let go of the ransom of our sister's son al-Abbas (that is, to waive it)." He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "By Allah, you will not leave (of it) even a single dirham." This hadith is sahih (authentic) on the condition of the two Shaykhs (Bukhari and Muslim), but they did not record it.

It is narrated from Sayyidah Aishah (may Allah be pleased with her) that when the people of Makkah sent the ransom for their captives, Sayyidah Zaynab (may Allah be pleased with her), the daughter of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), sent as ransom for (her husband) Abu al-As the necklace which Sayyidah Khadijah (may Allah be pleased with her) had given her at the time of her marriage. When the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) saw it, he (peace and blessings be upon him) was overcome with intense tenderness, and he (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "If you see fit, release her captive for her and return her property to her." The Companions said: Yes, O Messenger of Allah, and they returned the necklace. She relates that Sayyiduna al-Abbas (may Allah be pleased with him) said: O Messenger of Allah, I was (already) a Muslim. The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Allah knows best about your Islam. If the truth is as you say, Allah will reward you for it. But (according to outward appearances) pay the ransom for yourself, for your nephews Nawfal bin al-Harith bin Abd al-Muttalib and Aqil bin Abi Talib bin Abd al-Muttalib, and for your ally Utbah bin Amr bin Jahdam." He said: O Messenger of Allah, I do not have that much wealth. He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Then where is the wealth which you and Umm al-Fadl buried in the ground, and you said to her: If I am killed (in battle), this wealth is for my sons al-Fadl, Abdullah and Qutham?" At that he said: By Allah, O Messenger of Allah, I bear witness that you are the Messenger of Allah, for this was something that no one knew except me and Umm al-Fadl. O Messenger of Allah, now count towards this ransom the twenty uqiyah of wealth which you people took from me (in the battle). He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "I will do so." So al-Abbas (may Allah be pleased with him) paid the ransom for himself, his nephews and his ally, and Allah, the Mighty and Majestic, revealed this verse: "O Prophet, say to those captives in your hands: If Allah knows any good in your hearts, He will give you better than what was taken from you, and He will forgive you; and Allah is Forgiving, Merciful" [Surah al-Anfal: 70] . (Sayyiduna al-Abbas (may Allah be pleased with him) says:) In place of those twenty uqiyah, Allah gave me in Islam twenty slaves, each of whom has wealth with which he trades, and along with that I hope for the forgiveness of Allah, the Mighty and Majestic. This hadith is sahih (authentic) on the condition of Imam Muslim, but the two Shaykhs did not record it.

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) used to honour and revere Sayyiduna al-Abbas (may Allah be pleased with him) just as a son honours his father, and this is a special distinction which Allah Almighty granted, out of all people, to Sayyiduna al-Abbas (may Allah be pleased with him) alone. This hadith has a sahih (authentic) chain of transmission, but the two Shaykhs did not record it.

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Al-Abbas is from me and I am from him." This hadith has a sahih (authentic) chain of transmission, but the two Shaykhs did not record it.