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Islam of Abu Talib (Part 4 of 4) Certainly what has been said about this topic in the last
parts, must have
left some questions unanswered, and this article would focus
on the
attitude adopted by Abu Talib ( May Allah bless his soul )
towards his
nephew, the Prophet Muhammad ( Peace be upon him and his
cleansed progeny
), and his contribution towards spreading Islam, and the
declaration of his
faith in several occasions reported by the Sunnis.

The readers of Islamic History know how the Quraish clans
delivered to Abu
Talib an ultimatum, to stop his nephew from defaming their
fathers and
belittling their gods and ridiculing their minds; otherwise,
they would
confront him and the Prophet (PBUH&HF) on a battlefield
untill one of the
two parties perished.

Abu Talib had no doubt that
his acceptance of the
Quraishite challenge meant his death and total annihilation
of his clan;
yet he did not pressure his nephew to stop his campaign.

He
only informed
him of the Qurashite ultimatum, and he told him kindly
Save me and yourself, my nephew, and
burden me not with what I cannot
bear.

When the messenger rejected the ultimatum, declaring to his
uncle that he
would not exchange his message with the possesion of the
whole universe,
Abu Talib immediately reversed his attitude and decided to go
along with
the Messenger to the end.

This is evident from the
statement he made to the
prophet (PBUH&HF)
Come back, my
nephew, go on, say what ever you like.

I shall
never
let you down at
any time.

Sunni references - Ibn Husham,
Biography of the Prophet, v 1 p 266 - Tabaqat of Ibn
Sa'ad, v 1 p 186 - History of
Tabari, v 2 p 218 - Deewan e Abu
Talib, p 24 - Sharah of Ibn al
Hadid, v 3 p 306 - History of Ibn
Katheer, v 2 p 258 - History of Abul
Fida, v 1 p 117 - Al Seerah al
Halabiyyah, v 1 p 306
Abu Talib fulfilled this huge promise with distinction.

When
a Meccan threw
some dirt on the Messenger while he was prostrating, Abu
Talib went on
brandishing his sword and holding the hand of his nephew
untill he came to
the sacred mosque.

A group of the enemies were
sitting there, and when some
of them tried to stand for Abu Talib, he said to them
By the One in whom
Muhammad (PBUH&HF) believes, if any one from you
stands up I will
hit him with my sword.
See few lines later below for the Sunni references.

When a person wants to swear, he swears by something that has
sanctity for
him, and not something that he does not believe in it.

The
above
diplomatic/political statement proves for those who have
intelligience that
he believed in the God of Muhammad (PBUH&HF), The One,
The Great.

Then Abu Talib asked the Prophet (PBUH&HF) who was the
person responsible
for the shameful act, and upon his ( Prophet's ) answer,
Hamza as
instructed by Abu Talib smeared the dust on the individuals
who showed
animosity towards the Prophet (PBUH&HF).

It was
on this occasion that Abu
Talib said :

I believe that
Mohammed's faith is the best of all the religions
of the Universe.

Sunni references - Khazanatal Adaab
by Khateeb Baghdadi, v 1 p 261 - Tareekh of Ibn
Katheer, v 3 p 42 - Sharh of Ibn al
Hadid, v 3 p 306 - History of Abul
Fida, v 1 p 120 - Fath al Bari (
Sharah of Sahih Bukhari ), v 7 p 153 - Al Isaba, v 4 p
116 - Al Seerah Al
Halebiyyah, v 1 p 305 - Talba tul Talib,
p 5
The above highlighted part is another obvious statement which
proves his
Islam.

The Quraish could see that despite their obstructive efforts
the progress
of Islam had continued.

They now decided to put an
end to the Prophet and
his family in a state of siege and excommunication till they
were all done
away with.

With this end in view a pact was drawn,
to which each tribe was
a party and it was to the effect that none should have
marital ties with
Banu Hashim or do any buying or selling with them; and none
was to
associate with them or allow any provision to them.

This
was to continue
till the Prophet's family handed him over for execution.

This
pact was then
hung on the door of the Kaaba.
Thus forced Abu
Talib with the whole family
moved to a mountain cave known as ' Shi'b Abi Talib '.

Now
the Hashmites
were entirely alienated from the rest of the town dewelers.

The
fortress
was also beleagured at times by the Quraish to enforce the
ban in all its
rigour, and to prevent the possibility of supplies.

They
found themselves
sometimes reduced to starvation for want of supplies.

Under
constant
surveillance by the Quraish, Abu Talib even feared night
attacks and for
this reason he was on guard for the safety of Muhammad (PBUH&HF),
and often
chaged room as a precaution aganist sudden violence.

At the close of the third year of the Interdict, Mohammad (PBUH&HF)
told
his uncle Abu Talib, that Allah had shown His disapproval of
the convention
against him, and had sent out worms to eat every word of the
document
placed in the Kaaba, except His own name written thereon.

Abu Talib believing his nephew (PBUH&HF) as the receiver
of the revelations
from heavens, unhesitantly went to the Quraish and told them
what Muhammad
(PBUH&HF) had spoken.

The discussion is
recorded as follows
Muhammad has informed us and I ask
you to confirm it for yourselves.
For if it is true then I ask you to
rethink, instead of troubling
Muhammad or putting our patience to
the test.

Believe us, we would
prefer to lay down our lives; rather
hand over Muhammad to you.

And if
Muhammad proves to be wrong in his
words, then we would hand over
Muhammad to you unconditionally.

Then
you have the liberty of treating
him any way you like; kill him or
keep him alive.

To these proposals of Abu Talib, the Quraish agreed upon to
inspect the
document, and to their ashtonishment they found it worm
eaten; only the
name of Allah was still there and no more, and they said that
it was an
enchantment of Muhammad (PBUH&HF).

Abu Talib
enraged upon the Quraish and
demanded that the document be declared void and the ban be
removed.

Then he
clutched to one end of the cloth of the Kaaba, as he raised
the second hand
in the air and prayed
O Lord ! Help us
against those, who have subjugated us to
torture .

Sunni references :

- Tabaqat of Ibne
Sa'ad, v 1 p 183 - Seerah of Ibn
Hisham, v 1 p 399 and p 404 - Aiwanul Ikbar by
Qutaiybah, v 2 p 151 - Tareekhe Yaqoobi,
v 2 p 22 - Al Istiab, v 2 p
57 - Khazantul Ihbab
by Khateeb Baghdadi, v 1 p 252 - History of Ibn
Katheer, v 3 p 84 - Al Khasais al
Kubra, v 1 p 151 - Al Seerah Al
Halebiyyah, v 1 p 286
Once during the childhood of the Prophet (PBUH&HF) on the
occasion of a
scarcity of rains Abu Talib took him (PBUH&HF) to the
Holy Kaaba and
standing with his back touching the wall of the sanctuary
lifted up the
Prophet (PBUH&HF) in his lap and sought medium in his
prayers to the
Almighty for the rains.

The Prophet (PBUH&HF)
also joined him in his
prayers with his face upturned.

The prayers were
not finished when the
clouds began to appear and the rain fell in torrents.

This
incident is
alluded in the following verses composed by Abu Talib:

Don't you see that
we have found Mohammed a prophet like Moses;

he is already
predicted in the previous Scriptures.

He is the
illumined face which is the medium for the rains; he is
the spring for the
orphan and a protector for the widow.

Sunni references - Sharah of
Bukhari by Qastalani, v 2 p 227 - Al Seerah Al
Halebeyah, v 1 p 125 Another verse that testify's to the belief of Abu Talib is as
follows
To exalt him He
derived his name from His own; the One on
High is called
Mahmud while He named him Mohammed There is no doubt
that Allah appointed Muhammed as a prophet,
therefore Ahmed is
the most exalted personality in the entire
Universe.

Sunni references - Dalail al-Nubuwwah,
by Abu Nu'aym, v 1 p 6 - History of Ibn
Asakeer, v 1 p 275 - Sharah of Ibn al
Hadid, v 3 p 315 - History of Ibn
Katheer, v 1 p 266 - Tareekhe Khamees,
v 1 p 254
Abu Talib was a man of great faith and had strong belief in
the
truthfulness of Mohammed (PBUH&HF).

He lived
with that mission for about
eleven years, and the difficulties for Muhammad and him
increased in size
by the passage of time.

This was especially
noticeable after his death,
since the Quraish subjected him to more sufferings;
sufferings that were
not imaginable during the life time of Abu Talib.

Ibn
Abbas narrates a
tradition that when a person from the Quraish put dirt on his
head, he went
home.

It was on this occasion that the Prophet (PBUH&HF)
remarked :

The Quraish
never met me with such treatment during the life time
of Abu Talib, since they were
cowards .

Sunni references - History of
Tabari, v 2 p 229 - History of Ibn
Asakeer, v 1 p 284 - Mustadrak of Al
Hakim, v 2 p 622 - History of Ibn
Katheer, v 3 p 122 - Al Faiq by Al
Zamakshari, v 2 p 213 - Tareekhe Khamees,
v 1 p 253 - Al Serah Al
Halebiyyah, v 1 p 375 - Fathul Bari, v 7
p 153 and p 154 - Seerah of Ibn
Husham, v 2 p 58
The Marriage Ceremony of the Prophet (PBUH&HF)
Abu Talib addresses the men of Quraysh, who were present at
the marriage
ceremony as follows:
Praise be to Allah Who made us from
the seed of Abraham and progeny of
Ishmael.

He granted as a
Sacred house and a place of pilgrimage.

He
made us to dwell in a secure
sanctuary (haram), to which the fruits of
everything are brought.

He
made us, moreover, arbiters in men's
affairs, and blessed for us this
land in which we dwell.

Then he said:
Were Muhammad (PBUH&HF), the son
of my brother 'Abdullah son of Abdul
Muttalib ', to be weighed any man
among the Arabs, he would excel him.
Nor would any man be comparable to
him.

He is peerless among men, even
though he is a man of little welath.

Yet
riches are only transient
possesions, and an epheramel
security.

He has expressed a desire for
Khadijah, and she likewise has shown
interest in him.

As for any bride
gift (mahr) you demand, both the
part to be presented now and the one
presented at a later date - it will
be of my own wealth.

Sunni reference:

- Seerah al-Halabiyyah, vol 1 p 139
Abu Talib's (May Allah bless his soul) last breath In spite of his concealing his faith, Abu Talib, on more than
one occasion
made his belief in Islam clearly known (as already mentioned
above) long
before his death.

But it would be interesting to
quote his saying at his
deathbed.

While on his death bed, Abu Talib said to the Hashimites :
I command you to
be good to Mohammed.

He is the most trustworty
of the Quraish and
the ever truthful of the Arabs.

He brought a
message which is
accepted by the heart and denied by the tongue
for fear of
hostility.

By God whoever walks in the way of
Mohammed shall be
on the right road and whoever follows his
guidance shall
have the happy future.

And you Hashimites,
respond to Muhammaed's invitation and believe
him.

You
will succeed and be well guided; certainly he is the
guide to the right
path.

Sunni references - Al Muhabil Dunya,
v 1 p 72 - Tareekhe Khamees,
v 1 p 339 - Balughul Adaab,
v 1 p 327 - Al Seerah Al
Halebeyah, v 1 p 375 - Sunni al Mutalib,
p 5 - Uruzul Anaf, v 1
p 259 - Tabaqat of Ibn
Sa'ad, v 1 p 123
It is reported in the book of al-Bayhaqi (Dalail al-Nubuwwah)
that when Abu
Talib was at the point of death, he was seen moving his lips.

al
Abbas (the
Prophet's uncle) bent down to listen to what he was saying.

he
then lifted
his head and said:
By Allah, he has
uttered the word which you requested,
^^
O Messenger of
Allah!.
Sunni references:

- Dalail al-Nubuwwah by al-Bayhaqi, vol 2 p 101 - Ibn Hisham, Cairo Edition, p146 as quoted in Siratun Nabi,
by Shibli Numani, v1, pp 219-220 Also in the same book, it is related that the Prophet (saw)
stood at the
funeral of Abu Talib and said:
You have indeed
acted kindly to your next of kin;
may you be well
rewarded, O uncle.

Sunni references:

- Dalail al-Nubuwwah by al-Bayhaqi, vol 2 p 101 - Ibid, vol 2 p 103 - History of Khateeb Baghdadi, vol 13 p 196 - History of Ibn Katheer, vol 3 p 125 - al Isaba, vol 4 p 116 - Tadhkirat Sibt, p 2 - History of Yaquubi, vol 2 p26 Some Shi'ite references on Abu Talib Abu Abdillah, Imam Ja'far al-Sadiq (AS) said:
The case of Abu
Talib was like that of the people
of the Cave [Quran
18:9-26];

they concealed their
faith and
disclosed shirk.

Yet Allah bestowed upon
them double
reward.

Shia Reference:

- al Kulayni in al
Kafi, vol 1 p 448 - al Amini, al
Ghadir, vol 7 p 330
In another tradition, Imam Jafer al-Sadiq (AS) said:
While Imam Ali
(AS) was sitting with Ruhbah in Kufa, surrounded
by a group, a man
stood up and said : ' Commander of the Believers,
you are in this
great position at which God has placed you while
your father is
suffering in hell.

' The Imam replied, saying : Be
silent.

May
God disfigure your mouth.

By the One Who sent
Mohammed
(PBUH&HF) with the truth, if my father intercedes for
every sinner on
the face of the earth, God would accept his
intercession.

Shia reference:

al-Ihtijaj, by al-Tabarsi, v1, p341 Now, I would like to end this discussion with the following
thoughtful
questions:
- Why is it that
we accuse Abu Talib of paganism, when he
chose
to believe in the Prophet's (PBUH&HF) message and
declared
it by
political statements and sometimes by frank declarations?

- What benefit
does it have for us to daclare him Kafir when
there
are strong proofs to the contrary? Do we get any other
benefit except to make ourselves Kafir by pronouncing one of
the
early
Muslim as Kafir?

- Why do we accuse
him of paganism when he defended the
Prophet (PBUH&HF) by all of what he had of men and
means?

Why do we attribute paganism to such a personality
who
was so benevolent to all the Muslims by guarding the
life
of the Messenger of Allah (PBUH&HF) for 11 years ?

- Why do we
attribute paganism to the man who read the Nikah
for
the Prophet (PBUH&HF) ? How can your mind comprehend
the
notion of a pagan/disbeliever carrying out the ceremony
of the
marriage for a Prophet?

- Isn't this
ungratefulness in the worst form ?

- Isn't this the
worst insult in reward of the great favor that
he did
for the Prophet (PBUH&HF) ?

Indeed his presence in relation to the continuity of Islam
was NOT
incidental and we Muslims all owe him! May Allah grant us his
intersession.

End of Part 4 of 4 Some Side Comments on Abu Talib I brother mentioned
I had a carefull examination of what
you wrote but one thing is not
clear wheather Abu Talib did ever
uttered 'my god'.

So far you
informed there is that Abu Talib
several times uttered ' Mohammed's
god' and seemed he had faith in that
god but he could never say 'my
god'.

That obviously
reveals that he never explicitly uttered Islamic
belief although it seems that he
believed it.

Here I present two references that testify to the fact that
Abu Talib uttered the credo of Islam before his death.

I
am
sure that I cited this reference in Part # 2 of my article (
s ),
perhaps you missed it .

Ibn Ishaq says that while dying Abu
Talib's lips were in motion.

Abbas
who was an unbeliever till then put
his ear to the lips and then said
to the Prophet that he was reciting
the KALIMA the Prophet had wanted
of him.

- Ibn Hisham, Cairo Edition, p 146 ( as quoted by Shibli
Numani ) A similar tradition is as follows .

Abu Talib moved
his lips as he was about to die.

Abbas then
heard what he
uttered, and he said to the Prophet that Abu Talib
had uttered the
KALIMA that was required by you.

- Tarike Abul Fida, V 1 p 120 Thus his Shahadah before his death is established by the
Sunni historians.

However my argument was that he UTTERED shahadah from the
very begining of
Islam, but NOT in public.

So it is natural that no
explicit proof for that
could be found in the history, for history is written based
on the public
news (and not private ones!).

However, there are
implicit proofs in the
history which could lead even Sunnis to believe that he was a
Muslim long
before his death.

One could be what you refered to.

He
said to the
unbelievers that I swear by the God of Muhammad!.

Does
history have
another example where an unbeliever swears by the name of God
who does not
believe? When one wants to seawr, he/she swears by something
that is
eminent for him/her.

Otherwise he/she does not make
his statement any more
credible for others.
Let me give you an example.

If
a man goes to court
here in USA, if he is Christian he will have to swear by
Bible.

But if he
declares to be non-Christian, then he will have to swear by
his holy book
(or any imortant thing otherwise) and not the bible because
his swear by
bible does not make the court convinced because he performed
the oath.
Please think about it.

Quraish have had many
important Gods at that time
(like Hubal and Uzza).

Why should Abu Talib leave
all of them beside and
swears by the God that he does not believe in?!

The Sunni brother further commented:
Is it possible for some one to be a
Muslim without explicitly
pronouncing this belief ? True, he
was a monothiest and not a Mushrik.
But All monotheists are not Muslim.
Your
kind opinion please .

Islam is the state of submission in ones heart.

A
Hypocite, though declares
that he is Muslim, is indeed non-Muslim.

For this
very reason, it is
difficult to judge if one is Muslim or not.

However
you are right.
One has
to utter Shahadah to become Muslim, but he does NOT have to
do it in public
if he fears of prosecution or if he finds out that by
concealing his belief
he can serve better to his nobel thoughts.
This is
called Taqiyyah.

So one
can Utter his Shahadah privately (for instance when he is
alone or when he
is with the Prophet (PBUH&HF) alone) and he will be
Muslim.
In fact Taqiyyah and hypocracy are two opposite extremes.

I
have a file on
that which I will send you shortly Insha Allah, which proves
it from Quran
and the Hadith prespective as well as Logic.