Abis b. Abi Shabib al-Shakiri

Abis b. Abi Shabib al-Shakiri
Native name	عابس بن ابی شبیب الشاکری
Full Name	Abis b. Abi Shabib al-Shakiri
Companion of	Imam Ali,Imam al-Hussain
Lineage	Banu Shakir
Place(s) of Residence	Kufa
Death/Martyrdom	61/680
Cause of Death/Martyrdom	Martyred in the Battle of Karbala
Burial Place	Karbala
Activities	participating in the battle of Siffin and Event of Ashura

Abis b. Abi Shabib al-Shakiri was injured in the Battle of Siffin and martyrs of Karbala.

Lineage

Abis's father has been recorded as Shabib, Habib, Shibth or Layth.

He was from Banu Shakir clan of the great Banu Hamdan tribe. People of this tribe were brave ones at war and thus Arabs called them Fatayan al-Sabah, meaning "the Youths of the Morning".

Banu Shakir tribe including Abis b. Abi Shabib al-Shakiri were among the lovers of the Ahl al-Bayt and the followers of Imam Ali who loved him exceptionally.

Abis was perfect in the good qualities of his tribe. He was one of the Shia noblemen and their chiefs. He was a brave man, a competent speaker, striving worshiper of the day and night.

In the Battle of Siffin

Abis was injured on his forehead in the Battle of Siffin, the mark of which remained on his forehead forever.

Supporting Imam Hussain

After Muslim ibn Aqil entered Kufa, he went to the house of Mukhtar b. Abi Ubayd. The Shia of Kufa gathered in the house of Mukhtar. Muslim entered Kufa on the fifth of Shawwal. According to the narration of Tabari, he resided at the house of Mukhtar bin Abi Ubaydah and the Shi’a came to visit him. Then when a group of people gathered, he read the letter of Imam Hussain to them, hearing which they started weeping. In this gathering, Abis was the first person who arose and after Praising and Glorifying Allah said, “Now then! I do not speak for the people, nor am I aware as to what is con­cealed in their hearts, and thus I do not want to deceive you. By Allah! I only say that which is in my heart. By Allah! I shall respond to you whenever you call out, and shall fight your enemies by your side. And in your presence I shall strike them with the sword until I meet Allah, and I do not intend anything except Allah’s favor (in lieu of all this).”

Then, Habib b. Mazahir stood up and announced his readiness for helping Imam Hussain. The speeches these two persons prepared the ground for allegiance of people and more than 18 thousand people gave allegiance to Muslim.

Delivering the Letter of Muslim to Imam

After many of the people of Kufa gave allegiance to Muslim, he wrote a letter to Imam and invited him to Kufa and sent this letter by Abis b. Abi Shabib with his slave. He delivered it to Imam in Mecca.

After delivering the letter, Abis accompanied Imam Hussain and his caravan from Mecca to Karbala.

Participating in the Battle on the Day of Ashura

Abis performed the noon prayer and went to the battlefield and was martyred, When most of the companions of Imam Hussain were martyred and a few were left,Abis turned to his servant Shawdhab and said, "what do you want to do?"

Shawdhab said, "Together with you, I will defend the son of the Prophet."

Abis said, "I did not expect from you other than this…If I had anyone dear than you, I would send him to the battlefield before myself, since today is the last chance to act and tomorrow is the day of reckoning and no act would be beneficial then."

After the martyrdom of his servant Shawdhab, Abis went to Imam Hussain and said, "O Aba Abd Allah! By God I swear that on the earth, whether far or near, I have no one dearer than you. If I had the power to keep off the oppression from you by something even more valuable than my life and blood, I would definitely do so."

He then said, "May peace be upon you O Aba Abd Allah! I testify that I am upon your guidance and the guidance of your father! Greetings be upon you O Aba Abd Allah! Beware that I am steadfast upon the way of you and your father and I will be guided to the right path." After he received permission from Imam, he went to the battlefield.

Rabi b. Tamim al-Hamdani, who was in the army of Umar b. Sa'd, said, "when I saw Abis was coming to the battlefield, I recognized him. I had seen his fights in different battles and I knew that he was among the bravest people, so, I told the army of Umar b. Sa'd, This man is the lion of all lions. This is son of Shabib. Lest anyone should ever go to fight him.'" 'Abis was shouting far cries and asking for someone to go fight him, but no one dared to go to the battlefield.

When 'Abis saw that no one was going to fight him, took off his armor and his helmet and attacked the army of Kufa and disarranged the army. By the order of 'Umar b. Sa'd, they stoned him.

Rabi' b. Tamim said, "By God I swear that I saw him injured and killed more than 200 people, but finally, they besieged him and beheaded him. I witnessed that the head of 'Abis b. Shabib was being handed to each other by them and they argued to attribute his killing to themselves, until 'Umar b. Sa'd said, "Do not argue with each other! By God I swear not one person could have killed this man.'"

The headless body of Abis was moved to the tent of martyred by Imam Hussain and after the Event of Ashura, he was buried by Banu Asad tribe.

Abis was among those companions of Imam Hussain, whose name has been mentioned in Ziyarat Rajabiyya of Imam al-Hussain and Ziyarat al-Nahiya al-Muqaddasa (non-famous). He has been greeted well in the two Ziyara as following, "Peace be upon 'Abis b. Shabib al-Shakiri."

Source

• WikiShia, An online encyclopedia of the school of Ahl al-Bayt
• Shaykh 'Abbas Qummi , Nafasul Mahmum; Relating to the heart rending tragedy of Karbala