 بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم والصلاة والسلام على سيدنا محمد وآل بيته الطيبين الطهرين بس بي أبوكم our dear viewers and welcome to a new episode of Shia calendar with me Ali Mashaash we send our warm congratulations to the Imam of our time may Allah hasten his reappearance and to the whole Islamic world on this happy occasion on the 4th of Shaaban which is the birth of Abu al-Fadl al-Abbas peace be upon him today marks the 4th of the holy month of Shaaban on this holiday the quencher of thirst the flag bearer of Imam Hussein's peace be upon him was born his father is the commander of the faithful Imam Ali peace be upon him his mother is Fatima bint al-Husama al-Kilabi who is known as Umm al-Baneen peace be upon her he is the brother of Imam Hussein and Imam al-Hasan peace be upon them he has various epithets that he is known by such as the moon of Bani Hashim the door of invocation the quencher of thirst the guardian of Zainab the courageous one on the bridge the flag barrier and several others he was born on the 26th after Hijra meaning that his brother Imam Hussein peace be upon him was 22 at the time of his birth Abu al-Fadl al-Abbas peace be upon him is an individual that the human mind cannot fathom history has not given us too much about him but from what we do have we are able to paint a beautiful picture my dear viewers the story of al-Abbas peace be upon him begins when his father the commander of the faithful Imam Ali peace be upon him want to his brother al-Aqeel to ask him to find him a wife that comes from a courageous family of valiant warriors and horsemen the Imam peace be upon him knows by the will of Allah that his son Imam al-Hasan peace be upon him will face oppression and so will his daughter Zainab peace be upon her henceforth the Imam peace be upon him is looking for the wife that has been raised by pious courageous and valiant warriors he wants a son to protect the Divine Command of Allah the Imam peace be upon him goes to Aqeel because Aqeel was known to have knowledge of the tribes and their lineages a great son must come from a great mother the Imam peace be upon him is looking for that mother that will raise al-Abbas peace be upon him to be one who understands Imamah means the Divine Authority and Command the report is as follows the Imam says to Aqeel find me a wife that has been born amongst the courageous and valiant warriors from the Arabs so that I may marry her and she will bear for me a child that will be a valiant warrior and a horseman Aqeel said for there is no one amongst the Arabian tribes that are known for their courage than her forefathers the Imam approached peace be upon her and married her she bore for him the valiant warrior al-Abbas peace be upon him and after him Abdullah from the book أم البنين peace be upon her fulfilled the request of Imam Ali peace be upon him and she raised her children under the veil of Imamah the outcome of this beautiful marriage led to four of her children being martyred on the plains of Karbala for the sake of protecting the Imam of their time حسين بن علي peace be upon him أب الفطل العباس peace be upon him was raised in the best of households a household of honor generosity humility knowledge courage any excellent characteristic found in humanity can be found in al-Abbas peace be upon him he was raised by his mother our lady أم البنين peace be upon her to never call his brother حسين by his name but always by master this is what makes أب الفطل العباس peace be upon him so special is the fact that he understands the true meaning of أولاية which is why when we look towards Karbala we see a shrine in his name wherein million of visitors visit him every year visitors totaling number not seen in history 23 million and counting in less than 10 days furthermore the holy infallible imams of the progeny of the prophet peace be upon him and his family have praised their uncle عباس and the best of praises using the most eloquent words we have a report by Imam صادق peace be upon him in which he says our uncle العباس had a penetrating insight into other matters of this world and hereafter he was strong and concrete in his belief means faith he fought the holy war جيهاد with أبو عبد الله peace be upon him and gained grand blessings in his sacrifice and died as a martyr from the book of مقتل الحسين peace be upon him ابن المخنف page 176 أبو المخنف الأزدي says العباس was a courageous and valiant warrior and a horseman wide shoulders and tough body when he rides his horse his feet touch the ground also from the book of مقتل الحسين peace be upon him ابن المخنف page 176 as you can see from the testimony of Imam صادق peace be upon him the great honor and status that أبو الفضل العباس peace be upon him has the greatest test that before him was when he was by the Euphrates river and held the cold thirst quenching water in his hand he could have drank that water but his belief in Allah the Imam of his time overcame his desire to drink he threw the water and said this is not from my religion for me to drink cold water when my brother and his women are thirsty a grand test from أبو الفضل العباس peace be upon him and winning this test could be one of the main reasons in which Allah has given him such a high status that those who have a request go to him and ask him which is why he is known as the door of requests and invocations the visitors today can all testify that he never leaves one who ask him alone and this could be because he never left the side of his brother till both of his hands were cut off and his heart was pierced with the lance أبو الفضل العباس peace be upon him rejected the offer of safety from the enemy and this story is well known and narrated it is reported that when عبد الله ابن أبي محل ابن حزام who is a cousin to أبو الفضل العباس peace be upon him said to him you and your family from the tribe of حزام will be in our safety will you accept أبو الفضل العباس said we do not need your safety for the safety of Allah is more better for us than the safety of the sons of sumaya from the book of تاريخ الطبري volume 4 page 314 أبو الفضل العباس peace be upon him rejected this treacherous offer of this evil man because he knows that truth and honesty lies with his brother حسين and that he has a status and level waiting for him that cannot be reached unless it is via مارتودم what brings even more joy in reading about this incident is the incident that follows in which the cursed man شمر ابن ذي الجوشن said oh son of my sister عبد الله جافر عباس عثمان أمام الحسين peace be upon him said answer him even though he is فاسق فاسق means corrupt disbeliever for he is related to you through some of your uncles they said what is it that you need شمر said oh sons of my sister you are in our safety do not kill yourselves by fighting with your brother حسين and hold your ground by submitting to the commander of the faithful يزيد أبو الفضل العباس peace be upon him said may your hands perish may Allah curse the one who sent you with this provision oh enemy of Allah do you ask us to leave our master and our brother حسين son of Fatima peace be upon her and go under the command of the cursed tyrant who is the son of the cursed forefathers after these words by أبو الفضل العباس peace be upon him الشمر returned to his camp angered by the words uttered by العباس as you can see my dear viewers أبو الفضل العباس peace be upon him never left the side of his brother الحسين بن علي peace be upon him he stayed by his side until he was slaughtered in Karbala on the 10th of Muharram on the day known as عشورا he is buried in Karbala and was buried by his brother's son الإمام السجاد peace be upon him and his golden dome continues to shine with radiance of the divine till today عباس who knows عباس my dear viewers no matter what we say we cannot grasp his status henceforth I will leave you with some words of إمام السجاد peace be upon him concerning his uncle العباس إمام السجاد has said may Allah have mercy on my uncle عباس he gave all he had and sacrificed himself his soul for his brother to the point wherein his hands were cut off which is why Allah has replaced his hands with two wings in which he flies with them amongst the angels of paradise like جعفر بن أبي طالب furthermore my uncle عباس in the eyes of Allah has a status and level that the martyrs envy and wish to reach till the day of judgment from the book of أمال الصدوق page 548 what radiant and eloquent words uttered by إمام السجاد peace be upon him concerning his uncle عباس this gives you a picture and I ask from you my dear viewers to paint this picture in your heads that is all we have for you today my dear viewers until we meet in next episode of shea calendar peace be upon you وسلام عليكم ورحمة الله وبركاته