Hazrath Abbas (RA), son of Abdul Muttalib and Prophet’s (Pbuh) uncle took part in the battle of Badr, along with his brother Abu Sufian as unbelievers. He was captured and brought as captive to Madina along with the other unbelievers and his hands were tied and he was put n fetters.
The story of his conversion to Islam and spiritual enlightenment is well documented in history. Maulana Jalaluddin Rumi (RA) in his book, “Fihi Ma Fihi” (Signs of the Unseen-the Discourses of Jalaluddin Rumi) recounts the confession of faith by Hazrath Abbas as follows:
“It occurs to me to interpret a verse of the Quran, even if it is not pertinent to this discussion. Anyway, since it occurs to me now, I may as well say it out”
God said, “O Prophet, say unto the captives who are in your hands, if God hath known any good to be in your hearts, He will give you better than what hath been taken from you, and He will forgive you, for God is Gracious and Merciful”. (Surah 8, Ayat 70).
The reason for the revelation of this verse is as follows: The blessed Prophet had defeated the infidels. He took many prisoners and had them bound hand and foot. Among these prisoners was his uncle Abbas. All night along, the prisoners wailed in their fetters and bemoaned their miserable, wretched condition. Having given up all hope, they were waiting for the sword to end their lives, when the Prophet saw them and laughed.
“You see,” they said, “he does have humanity in him. The claim that he is not human is untrue, for here, seeing us in these bonds and fetters as his prisoners, he rejoices exactly as a carnal man would rejoice in glee if he had conquered his enemy and seen him vanquished.”
The Prophet, however read their thoughts and said, “Oh, No, I am not laughing because I see my enemies vanquished or because I am rejoicing at seeing you at a loss. I am laughing because with my inner eye, I see myself forced to drag with chains and fetters a group of people out of hell’s fiery furnace and black smoke into the eternal garden of heavenly paradise. They are bewailing and lamenting, saying, ‘Why are you taking us away from this place of perdition into that asylum and rose-bower?’ That is why I am laughing. Since you still do not have the power of vision to comprehend and see clearly what I am saying, God commands me to say this to you: ‘First you gathered many hosts and much might and relying totally upon your own strength, valour and might, you told yourselves that you would do this, and so would utterly vanquish the Muslims. You thought no was stronger than you. You could not imagine anyone mightier than yourselves. Now that all you had planned has turned out otherwise, and now that you lie trembling in fear, you have not repented of your malady and are in desperate straits. You still cannot conceive that anyone could be more powerful than you are. It is therefore necessary for you to see me in my might and power, and yourselves as subject to my wrath in order that things may be made easy for you. Do not despair of me in your fear, for I am able to deliver you from this fear and lead you to safety. He who can bring forth a black cow from a white one can bring forth a white cow from a black one.’”
“He causeth the night to succeed the day, and He causeth the day to succeed the night.( Surah 35, Ayat 13).
He bringeth forth the living out of the dead, and bringeth forth the dead out of the living.” ( Surah 30, Ayat 19).”
‘Now in your present state as prisoners, despair not of my presence in order that I may take you by the hand, for “none despaireth of God’s mercy, except the unbelieving people.” ( Surah 12, Ayat 87).
Then the Prophet continued saying, “Now God says, O prisoners, if you turn away from your former belief and perceive Me in both states of fear and hope and realize that you are subject to My Will in all conditions, I shall release you from this state of fear. I shall restore to you all your property that has been plundered and lost, nay, I shall restore it to you many times more. I shall pardon you and to your wealth in this world, I shall join the wealth of the next world also.”
“I repent,” said Abbas. “I have turned away from what I was.”
“God requires a token of this claim you make,” said the Prophet. “It is easy to lay claim to love. But the proof of it remains otherwise.”
“In God’s name,”asked Abbas, “what token do you require?”
“Give to the armies of Islam all the wealth you have left. If you have truly become a Muslim and wish well to the religion and community of Islam, give in order that the army of Islam may be strengthened,” said the Prophet.
“O Apostle of God,’ said Abbas, “what have I left? Everything has been plundered. I have not so much as an old straw mat left to my name.”
“See,” said the Prophet, “you still have not become righteous. You have not turned away from what you were. Let me tell you how much wealth you have, where you have hidden it, to whom you have entrusted it and in what spot you have buried it.”
“Oh no,” cried Abbas.
“Did you not entrust a certain amount to your mother? Did you not bury it under a wall and stipulate that if you came back, she was to give it to you and if you did not return alive, she was to spend it on a certain thing, give so much to a certain person and keep a certain amount for herself,” said the Prophet.
Abbas raised his finger and professed the faith sincerely, saying, “O Prophet, in truth I used to think that you had good luck through the machinations of fortune, as did many ancient kings like Haman, Shaddad and Nimrod. However, when you told me what you said, I know for certain that this good fortune is mysterious and divine in origin.”
“You speak the truth,” said the Prophet. “This time, I heard that girdle of doubt you wore inwardly, snap. The sound of its breaking reached that ear of mine that is hidden in the depths of my soul. Whenever anyone’s girdle of doubt, polytheism or infidelity snaps, I can hear the sound of it breaking with my inner ear, my soul’s ear. Now you have truly become righteous and professed the faith.”
Hazrath Abbas(RA) became one of the closest confidant and companion of the holy Prophet (Pbuh). His descendants established the Abbassid dynasty which ushered in a period of great prosperity, learning and expansion of Islam for over five centuries.