Many works mention the life of Al-Abbas (peace be upon him), with little reference to the lady who shared his life until his martyrdom (peace be upon him). Some works may even lack such references. I decided to shed light on the wife of Al-Abbas (peace be upon him), recalling everything said about her and presenting the differences regarding her name, children, and marriage.
Her Name:
Her name is Lubaba – with a “u” sound in the “L”, two “b”s and an “a” between them, and a short “ta” at the end. She was the daughter of Ubayd Allah bin Al-Abbas bin Abdul Muttalib, and she was one of the noble women of her time, distinguished in lineage, purity, and chastity, as she belonged to the Hashemite family.
In a manuscript of the genealogy book by Yahya bin Al-Hussein, her name is recorded as “Umama.” This is a unique manuscript, and it says: “And the descendants of Al-Abbas are from Ubayd Allah, and his mother is Umama bint Ubayd Allah bin Al-Abbas bin Abdul Muttalib.” However, this source is not reliable because the manuscript lacks scholarly documentation. It is more likely that the word “Umama” is a scribal error, and it should have been “Lubaba,” as the two names are quite similar in structure and appearance.
Sayed Al-Aaraji, in his work Malahil Al-Darb, confirmed that Al-Abbas’ (peace be upon him) wife was Lubaba bint Abdullah, saying: “Lubaba bint Abdullah went to Al-Abbas bin Amir al-Mu’minin (peace be upon him).” However, this is a clear error in the book.
Sheikh Hussein Hadi Al-Qurashi and Muhammad Ali Yusuf Al-Ashiqir mentioned that her name was Lubaba bint Ubayd Allah bin Al-Abbas bin Abdul Muttalib. Again, this is another scribal mistake.
There is another narration claiming that her name was Lubaba bint Hudham Al-Kalbi, or sometimes Al-Kalabi.
Her Father:
Her father was Ubayd Allah bin Al-Abbas, known for his nobility among the Arabs. He was the governor of Yemen during the caliphate of Imam Ali (peace be upon him). However, Ubayd Allah left Yemen due to an invasion ordered by the criminal Muawiya bin Abi Sufyan, with the army led by Basr bin Abi Arta’a, whose record was full of crimes that violated ethics and honor.
Her Mother:
Her mother was Umm Hakim Juwayriya bint Khalid bin Qiradh Al-Kinaniyah, who was known for her beauty and wisdom. When Basr bin Arta’a killed her sons, Abdul Rahman and Quthm, while they were still young boys, she lost patience and sorrowfully wandered around her house, tearing her hair and lamenting their loss. She recited this poem in mourning for them:
O you who feel for my two sons, who were Like two pearls, shattered by the shell’s loss.
O you who feel for my sons, who were My hearing, my heart, and now my soul is taken.
I was told of Basr, and I could not believe What they claimed, and the lies they contrived.
I mourn on my two sons, sharpening The grief, and thus lies are perpetrated.
Until I met men of noble lineage, Whose honor was in their words.
Now I curse Basr with the right curse, This, by the life of my father Basr, is excess.
Who has been humiliated by a bitter anguish Upon two boys who strayed when the ancestor passed.
Her grief was so profound that a man from Yemen, moved by her sorrow, contacted Basr and, gaining his trust, devised a way to kill Basr’s sons. He took them to the Wadi Awtas and killed them before fleeing.
When the news reached Imam Ali (peace be upon him), he prayed against Basr: “O Allah, strip him of his faith and reason.” Basr went mad and was eventually reduced to playing with his own filth, asking those around him, “Look, how these two boys, the sons of Ubayd Allah, feed me this filth?” They had to tie his hands to prevent him, and he would cry, “You prevent me while Abdul Rahman and Quthm feed me?” He died in 86 AH during the reign of Al-Walid bin Abdul Malik.
Her Husband:
Her husband was Al-Abbas bin Ali bin Abi Talib bin Abdul Muttalib bin Hashim bin Abdul Manaf bin Qusayy bin Kilab bin Murrah bin Ka’ab bin Lu’ay bin Ghalib bin Fihr bin Malik bin Al-Nadr bin Kinana bin Khuzaymah bin Mudrikah bin Ilyas bin Mudar bin Nizar bin Ma’ad bin Adnan.
The exact date of their marriage is unclear from the narrations, but since Al-Abbas was fourteen years old when his father, Amir al-Mu’minin (peace be upon him), was martyred, it can be inferred that their marriage probably took place during the time of Imam Al-Hasan Al-Mujtaba (peace be upon him).
It is narrated that after Al-Abbas’ martyrdom, Lubaba married Zayd bin Al-Hasan bin Amir al-Mu’minin (peace be upon him), and she gave birth to Nafisa, who later married Al-Walid bin Abdul Malik bin Marwan.
In a third narration, after Zayd bin Al-Hasan, she married Al-Walid bin Utbah bin Abi Sufyan, and she gave birth to Al-Qasim.
The researcher disagrees with the previous two narrations, as she found no reliable source to support them. Additionally, Al-Abbas (peace be upon him) is considered infallible, so it would be unlikely for someone married to him to marry another man. Lubaba stayed with Sayyida Zaynab (peace be upon her) during the journey of Karbala, and despite her youth, the grief of losing Al-Abbas (peace be upon him) overwhelmed her. She returned to her Lord, content and satisfied.
Her Children:
There are conflicting reports regarding the number of her children. Some say she had only one child, Ubayd Allah bin Al-Abbas (peace be upon him), as mentioned in most sources like Sharh al-Akhbar and Sirrat al-Silsilah.
Others claim that Al-Abbas (peace be upon him) had children named Al-Hasan, Ubayd Allah, Muhammad, Al-Fadl, and Al-Qasim, and some say that he had two daughters.
Ibn Shahr Ashub mentioned in Manaqib Ahl Al-Bayt that Muhammad bin Al-Abbas was martyred at Karbala with his father. As for Al-Hasan, he was mentioned by Ibn Qutaybah in his Kitab al-Ma’arif, and his mother was a concubine, as noted by Al-Bari in Al-Jawhar fi al-Nasab.
There are those who mention only Ubayd Allah and state that he was the only descendant of Al-Abbas (peace be upon him).
Her Role at Karbala:
It is not far-fetched to believe that Al-Abbas brought his family to Karbala, as many of the martyrs did. Narrations from the events of Ashura mention that Al-Abbas had his own separate tent. Before his martyrdom, he went to this tent to bid farewell to his wife and children.
Lubaba supported her husband, encouraging him to stand firm with his brother, Imam Husayn (peace be upon him), and she continued to share the pain and hardship with Sayyida Zaynab (peace be upon her) even after Al-Abbas’ (peace be upon him) martyrdom. She joined the caravan of captives from Karbala to Sham and returned to Madinah.
Her Death:
The date of her death is disputed. Some say she died two years after the martyrdom of Al-Abbas (peace be upon him), while another narration states she passed away in 63 AH, at the age of 25 or 28 years.
In conclusion, I found that throughout her life, Sayyida Lubaba was the subject of many conflicting narrations that are difficult to verify, with much scribal confusion. Most authors in history, hadith, and genealogy have made notable errors in their accounts.
And my success is only through Allah, the Almighty, in Him I trust, and to Him I return.
Dr. Rafah Abdul Hussein Mahdi Al-Fatlawi – University of Karbala / College of Islamic Sciences
