ʿAlī b. ʿAbd Allāh b. al-ʿAbbās, Abū Muḥammad (ca. 40–ca. 118/660–736), was the celebrated forebear of the ʿAbbāsid caliphs, via whom they traced their genealogy back to the Prophet’s uncle (q.v. ‘ʿAbbāsids’).

The ʿAbbāsids made use of their ancestry in order to legitimise their rule, and in fact most of the reports about their forebears were apparently either altered or fabricated. One might speculate that the reason for this is the more distinguished pedigree of their major rivals, the ʿAlids (descendants of Imam ʿAlī b. Abī…