ʿAlī ibn al-Madīnī (1) said, “I know of no report from ʿAbbad except this one.”
“ʿAbbad ibn Bishr ibn Qayzi al-Ashhalī!” Ibn al-Athīr remarks: “There is confusion regarding the name of his grandfather.” He clarifies: “His correct lineage is ʿAbbad son of Bishr, son of Waqsh, son of Zughbah, son of Zaʿūrāʾ, son of ʿAbd al-Ashhal, son of Jusham, son of al-Ḥārith, son of al-Khazraj, son of al-Aws—an Awsī.”
He was martyred—may Allah be pleased with him—on the Day of al-Yamāmah.
As for ʿAbbad ibn Bishr ibn Qayzi, he was one of the Helpers from Banū Ḥārithah; during the Prophet’s lifetime ﷺ he led his people in prayer.
He is credited with a hadith about turning in prayer to face the Kaʿbah (2). Allah knows best.
ʿAbbad ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn al-Zubayr said, “My father named me ʿAbbad only after him (3)—meaning the Ashhalī.”
Among his poetry:
“I called out to him, but he gave no heed to my voice …
then he appeared, climbing up from the top of a rocky rise.
I called again, and he said, ‘Who is calling?’ …
I replied, ‘Your brother, ʿAbbad ibn Bishr.’”
= 4/42, through the isnad of Amr b. Yahya, from Abbad b. Tamim, from Abd Allah b. Zayd b. Asim; in all of these versions the wording is: “The Ansar are the inner garment (shi‘ar) and the rest of the people are the outer garment (dithar).”
Ahmad also records it in his Musnad—from Abu Hurayra, 2/419, and from Abu Qatada, 5/307—while Ibn Majah includes it in the Introduction (no. 164) through the chain: Abd al-Muhaymin b. Abbas, from his father, from his grandfather.
(1) The word “b.” (son of) is missing from the printed text.
(2) Ibn Mundah transmitted the report, as cited by Ibn al-Athir in Usd al-ghabah 3/149 and by al-Hafiz in al-Isabah 5/310, through Ibrahim b. Jaʿfar b. Mahmud b. Muhammad b. Maslama, who said: “My father related to me from his grandmother Tawilah bt. Aslam b. Umayrah: We were praying the noon—or the afternoon—prayer among the Banu Haritha, having already completed two rak‘as toward Bayt al-Maqdis, when a man came and informed us that the qibla had been changed to the Sacred Mosque. We immediately turned; the men moved to the women’s place and the women to the men’s.” She added: “The man who brought the news was Abbad b. Bishr.” All the transmitters in this chain are trustworthy. Al-Hafiz repeats the report in al-Isabah under Tawilah’s entry and attributes it to al-Tabarani. Al-Haythami cites it in Majmaʿ 3/14, likewise assigning it to al-Tabarani, and notes that its narrators are reliable.
(3) Reported by Ibn Abd al-Barr in al-Istiyab 5/312 and by al-Hakim 3/229.