Part of A summary of the Prophet’s biography (the series is complete)
· Lesson 16 of 182
Summary of the Prophet’s biography | Episode (50-51) | The death of Abu Talib - the intercession of the Prophet, may God bless him and grant him peace, for his uncle
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Transcript
Machine translation — may contain errors
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In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
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Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah.
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A Summary of the Prophetic biography.
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The death of Abu Talib.
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Abu Talib, the uncle of the Prophet (peace be upon him), passed away.
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This occurred after he emerged from the valley (al-Shi'b).
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It took place in the final days of the tenth year of the Prophetic mission.
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There is a difference of opinion regarding the specific month.
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When he fell ill and the Quraysh realized the severity of his condition,
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they said to one another,
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"Let us go to Abu Talib,
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so that he may intercede for us with his nephew and reach a compromise."
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Imam al-Tirmidhi narrated in his Jami',
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as did al-Hakim in his Mustadrak,
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with the wording belonging to al-Hakim,
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on the authority of Ibn 'Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both), who said:
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Abu Talib became ill,
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and the Quraysh came to him.
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The Prophet (peace be upon him) also came.
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There was space for only one man at the head of Abu Talib.
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Abu Jahl stood up to prevent the Prophet (peace be upon him) from reaching Abu Talib.
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He said:
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"O nephew, what do you want from your people?"
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The Prophet (peace be upon him) said:
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"O uncle,
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I only want them to utter a word through which the Arabs will submit to them,
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and by which the non-Arabs will pay them tribute."
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He asked:
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"One word?"
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The Prophet (peace be upon him) replied:
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"One word."
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He asked: "What is it?"
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The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) said:
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"There is no god but Allah."
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He said:
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They replied:
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“Maketh he the gods One Allah? Lo! that is an astounding thing.” (38:5)
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“Maketh he the gods One Allah? Lo! that is an astounding thing.” (38:5)
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He said:
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And regarding them, the following was revealed: ﴾Sad. By the Qur'an, full of reminder...﴿
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until it reached:
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[The verse continues].
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“We have not heard of this in later religion. This is naught but an invention.” (38:7)
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The two Shaykhs (al-Bukhari and Muslim) narrated in their Sahih collections
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on the authority of al-Musayyib ibn Hazn, who said:
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When death approached Abu Talib,
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the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) came to him
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and found Abu Jahl ibn Hisham there,
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along with 'Abdullah ibn Abi Umayyah ibn al-Mughirah.
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The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) said:
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"O uncle,
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say: 'There is no god but Allah,'
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a word I will use to testify for you before Allah."
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Abu Jahl and 'Abdullah ibn Abi Umayyah said:
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"Will you turn away from the religion of 'Abd al-Muttalib?"
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The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) did not cease
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offering it to him,
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while they kept repeating that statement to him,
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until the last thing Abu Talib said to them was:
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"Upon the religion of 'Abd al-Muttalib."
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He refused to say: "There is no god but Allah."
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The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) said:
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"By Allah, I will surely seek forgiveness for you as long as I am not forbidden from doing so."
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Then Allah revealed:
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“It is not for the Prophet, and those who believe, to pray for the forgiveness of idolaters even though they may be near of kin (to them) after it hath become clear that they are people of hell-fire.” (9:113)
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﴾It is not for the Prophet and those who have believed to ask forgiveness for the polytheists,﴿
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﴾even if they were relatives,﴿
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﴾after it has become clear to them﴿
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﴾that they are companions of Hellfire.﴿
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And Allah revealed regarding Abu Talib:
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“Lo! thou (O Muhammad) guidest not whom thou lovest, but Allah guideth whom He will. And He is Best Aware of those who walk aright.” (28:56)
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﴾But Allah guides whom He wills.﴿
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Imam Muslim narrated in his Sahih
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on the authority of Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him), who said:
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The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) said to his uncle:
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"Say: 'There is no god but Allah,'
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and I will testify for you by it on the Day of Resurrection."
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He replied:
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"Were it not that the Quraysh would reproach me,
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saying
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that I only said it out of fear of death,
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I would have gladdened your eyes with it."
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Then Allah revealed:
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“Lo! thou (O Muhammad) guidest not whom thou lovest, but Allah guideth whom He will. And He is Best Aware of those who walk aright.” (28:56)
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Al-Hafiz Ibn Kathir said:
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Allah says to His Messenger (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him):
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"Indeed, O Muhammad,
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“Lo! thou (O Muhammad) guidest not whom thou lovest, but Allah guideth whom He will. And He is Best Aware of those who walk aright.” (28:56)
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meaning, that is not within your power.
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Your duty is only to convey the message,
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and Allah guides whom He wills."
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He possesses the ultimate wisdom and the irrefutable argument.
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As the Almighty said:
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﴾Not upon you is their guidance,﴿
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﴾but Allah guides whom He wills.﴿
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And He said:
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“And though thou try much, most men will not believe.” (12:103)
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This verse is more specific than all of this,
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for He said:
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“Lo! thou (O Muhammad) guidest not whom thou lovest, but Allah guideth whom He will. And He is Best Aware of those who walk aright.” (28:56)
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﴾But Allah guides whom He wills.﴿
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﴾And He is most knowing of the [rightly] guided.﴿
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Meaning, He is most knowing of who deserves guidance
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and who deserves to be led astray.
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It is established in the two Sahih collections
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that this was revealed regarding Abu Talib, the uncle of the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him).
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He used to protect him, support him, and stand by his side,
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loving him with a natural love, not a religious one.
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When death approached him and his time arrived,
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the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) called him
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to faith and to enter Islam.
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But the divine decree had already preceded him,
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and he was snatched away from his hand.
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He remained in the state of disbelief he was in.
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To Allah belongs the ultimate wisdom.
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Imam Ibn al-Qayyim said:
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Allah the Almighty said to His Messenger (peace be upon him):
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“And thus have We inspired in thee (Muhammad) a Spirit of Our command. Thou knewest not what the Scripture was, nor what the Faith. But We have made it a light whereby We guide whom We will of Our bondmen. And lo! thou verily dost guide unto a right path,” (42:52)
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And He said: ﴾And for every people is a guide.﴿
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The guide is the one who directs them
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on the path to Allah and the Hereafter.
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This does not contradict His saying:
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“Lo! thou (O Muhammad) guidest not whom thou lovest, but Allah guideth whom He will. And He is Best Aware of those who walk aright.” (28:56)
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And His saying:
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“Is he, the evil of whose deeds is made fairseeming unto him so that he deemeth it good, (other than Satan's dupe)? Allah verily sendeth whom He will astray, and guideth whom He will; so let not thy soul expire in sighings for them. Lo! Allah is Aware of what they do!” (35:8)
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﴾And He guides whom He wills.﴿
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For Allah, glory be to Him,
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spoke of both.
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His messengers are guides in the sense of showing the way and clarifying it,
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while He is the Guide in the sense of granting success and inspiration.
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The messengers are truly the guides,
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and Allah, glory be to Him, is the One who grants success and inspiration,
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the Creator of guidance in the hearts.
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Al-Hafiz Ibn Kathir said:
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Allah did not decree faith for him
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due to the great wisdom He possesses in that regard,
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and the decisive, ultimate, and irrefutable argument
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which must be believed in and submitted to.
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Were it not for what Allah forbade us from
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regarding seeking forgiveness for the polytheists,
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we would have sought forgiveness for Abu Talib and prayed for mercy upon him.
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The intercession of the Prophet (peace be upon him)
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for his uncle Abu Talib.
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The two Shaykhs narrated in their Sahih collections
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on the authority of al-'Abbas ibn 'Abd al-Muttalib (may Allah be pleased with him),
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who said to the Prophet (peace be upon him):
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"What have you done for your uncle?
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By Allah, he used to protect you and get angry on your behalf."
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The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) replied:
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"He is in a shallow part of the Fire.
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Were it not for me, he would have been in the lowest depths of the Fire."
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The two Shaykhs narrated in their Sahih collections
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on the authority of Abu Sa'id al-Khudri (may Allah be pleased with him), who said:
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The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him)
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had his uncle Abu Talib mentioned in his presence.
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The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) said:
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"Perhaps my intercession will benefit him on the Day of Resurrection,
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so he is placed in a shallow part of the Fire that reaches his ankles,
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causing his brain to boil."
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Al-Hafiz said in al-Fath:
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The benefit that Abu Talib received was one of his (the Prophet's) unique characteristics,
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by the blessing of the Prophet (peace be upon him).
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[End of segment].