The rule of the Abbasids

Sayyiduna Abbas (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates: One night I was with the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), and he said: "Look and see whether you can see any star in the sky." I replied: "Yes." The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) asked: "What have you seen?" I replied: "The Pleiades (al-Thurayya)." The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Soon, as many as their number, people from your descendants will become rulers of this Ummah, two of them in a time of trial."
Ahmad and al-Tabarani recorded it; its chain contains Abu Maysarah, the freed slave of Sayyiduna Abbas (may Allah be pleased with him), whom I do not know except from his mention in the biography of Abu Qabil, and the rest of Ahmad's narrators are thiqat (trustworthy).

It is reported about Abu Mu'awiyah that he used to say: "I have a hadith; if I wished, I could gain the world through it, but Allah Almighty will not question me about a hadith that I took to the ruler." My father said: "Which narration is that?" He said: "When Imam Zayd rose in revolt, the next morning I came to my maternal aunt and said to her: 'O mother, Imam Zayd has risen in revolt.' She said: 'This poor man will be killed just as his forefathers were killed.' I said to her: 'People of standing have also gone out with him.' She said: 'I was with Sayyidah Umm Salamah (may Allah be pleased with her), the wife of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), and the people mentioned the caliphate. Sayyidah Umm Salamah (may Allah be pleased with her) said: Once we were with the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), and the people mentioned the caliphate after him and said: (The caliphate will go to) the descendants of Sayyidah Fatimah (may Allah be pleased with her). The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: They will never reach it; rather, the caliphate will be among the descendants of my uncle, who is the full brother of my father, until they hand it (that is, the rule) over to the Dajjal.'"
Al-Tabarani recorded it; its chain contains a group of narrators whom I do not know.

Sayyiduna Anas bin Malik (may Allah be pleased with him) says: If anyone from the Banu Umayyah rules for one year, then someone from the descendants of Sayyiduna Abbas (may Allah be pleased with him) will rule for two years (or several years). A man sitting with Sayyiduna Anas (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "O Abu Hamzah, did the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) say this?" Sayyiduna Anas (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "Yes, just as you are here (it is likewise a fact that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said this)."
Al-Tabarani recorded it in al-Mu'jam al-Awsat; its chain contains Bakr bin Yunus, who is da'if (weak).

Sayyidah Umm al-Fadl (may Allah be pleased with her) narrates: Once I passed by the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) while he was sitting in the Hatim. He said: "O Umm al-Fadl!" I said: "O Messenger of Allah, here I am." The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "You are pregnant with a boy." I said: "How can that be, when Quraysh have agreed among themselves that they will not go to the women?" The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "It will be just as I have said. When you give birth to this child, bring him to me." Sayyidah Umm al-Fadl (may Allah be pleased with her) narrates: When I gave birth to the child, I brought him to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) gave the adhan in his right ear and the iqamah in his left ear, put some of his saliva in his mouth, and named him Abdullah. Then he said: "Take away the father of the caliphs." Sayyidah Umm al-Fadl (may Allah be pleased with her) says: I came to Sayyiduna Abbas (may Allah be pleased with him) and told him about this. He was a well-dressed, handsome man of tall stature. He put on his (going-out) clothes and then came into the presence of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). When the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) saw him, he rose and went towards him, kissed him between his eyes, and then seated him on his right. Then he said: "This is my uncle; let whoever wishes vie (with me) with his own uncle." Sayyiduna Abbas (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "O Messenger of Allah, (that is quite) a statement." The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Why should I not say that this is my uncle, when you are my uncle, the one who remains of my forefathers, my heir, and the best of those of my family whom I will leave behind?" I said: "O Messenger of Allah, Umm al-Fadl has said such and such." The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "It will be so, O Sayyiduna Abbas. This will be after one hundred and thirty-two. Then from among your descendants there will be al-Saffah, al-Mansur and al-Mahdi, and this rule will remain among their descendants until the last of them prays with Sayyiduna Isa bin Maryam (peace be upon him)."
Al-Tabarani recorded it in al-Mu'jam al-Awsat; its chain contains Ahmad bin Rashid al-Hilali, who has been accused (of forgery) in connection with this hadith.

Sayyiduna Uqbah bin Amir (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates: I saw the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) take hold of the hand of his uncle, Sayyiduna Abbas (may Allah be pleased with him), and then he said: "O Sayyiduna Abbas, whenever there is prophethood, it is followed by caliphate. In the last era, people from your descendants will become rulers; they will be seventeen individuals. Among them will be al-Saffah, among them al-Mansur, among them al-Mahdi, who will not be a mahdi (rightly guided), among them al-Jamuh, among them al-Aqib, and among them al-Wahin, who will be from your descendants. Woe to my Ummah because of him: how he will render it barren, bring it to ruin and squander its wealth. He and his followers will not be upon the religion of Islam. When allegiance is pledged to his own son, then at the time of the eighteenth their rule will come to an end, and the people of the West will come out of their homes."
Al-Tabarani recorded it in al-Mu'jam al-Awsat; its chain contains Abd al-Awwal bin Abdullah al-Mu'allim, whom I do not know, and the rest of its narrators are thiqat (trustworthy).

Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said to Sayyiduna Abbas (may Allah be pleased with him): "O uncle, the world will not come to an end until some people from your descendants become rulers in the last era, and then their rule will come to an end; he will be the eighteenth, and with him there will be a tribulation that makes people dumb and deaf. During it, out of every ten thousand people, nine thousand nine hundred will be killed; only a very few will escape it, and their fighting will take place in Iraq." The narrator says: Then Sayyiduna Abbas (may Allah be pleased with him) wept. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) asked him: "Why are you weeping? They will be the worst people of my Ummah, who will pass out of the religion just as an arrow passes through its target. They will seek the world and will have no concern for the Hereafter."
Al-Tabarani recorded it in al-Mu'jam al-Awsat; its chain contains Mina', who is a kadhdhab (liar) and wicked.

Sayyiduna Nufayr bin Malik (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "The descendants of Sayyiduna Abbas (may Allah be pleased with him) will not come to an end until the tribes of the Arabs rise up against them. The situation at that time will be at its harshest for them, when they will have neither any helper in the heavens nor anyone on earth to make an excuse for them. It is as though I can see them even now, riding their mules in the midst of Kufah, and at that time a secluded young woman behind her curtain will say: 'Kill them! May Allah Almighty kill them. Do not show them mercy; may Allah Almighty show them no mercy, for they showed us no mercy for a long time.'"
Al-Tabarani recorded it; its chain contains narrators whom I do not know. Some hadiths of this kind will come later in the chapter on oppressive and tyrannical rulers, if Allah wills.