The Intercession of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) for His Uncle Abu Talib in Mitigating the Punishment
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The Shaykh : The third intercession: His intercession for his uncle Abu Talib. The complete aspect of his specificity in this is that Abu Talib died upon disbelief. There is no wonder that the uncle of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) died upon disbelief, just as Azar, the father of Ibrahim, died upon disbelief. There is no wonder in this; rather, it is evidence of the perfection of Allah’s power that a disbeliever emerges from the loins of the messengers, and that a messenger emerges from the loins of a disbeliever. Is that not so?
Who is the one from whose loins a disbeliever emerged, while he was a messenger?
The student: ... .
The Shaykh : O man, fear Allah. Who?
The student: ... .
The Shaykh : You have done well. Noah, from whose loins a disbeliever son emerged, while he was among the resolute messengers.
And who is the one who emerged from the loins of a disbeliever? Ibrahim (peace and blessings be upon him). He said to his father Azar:[Al-An'am 6:74] And Allah is Able over all things.
Abu Talib died upon disbelief, and the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) said:Sunan an-Nasa'i 2035Sahih (Darussalam) So Allah the Exalted revealed: [At-Tawbah 9:113] Then Allah the Exalted responded to Ibrahim’s seeking of forgiveness for his father, saying: [At-Tawbah 9:114] This is what Allah the Mighty and Majestic loves. Whoever claims to love Allah but does not disavow the enemies of Allah is a liar. When it became clear to him that he was an enemy of Allah, he disavowed him. [At-Tawbah 9:114] Our Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) interceded for his uncle Abu Talib, but did he intercede for him until he came out of the Fire? No, by Allah. He interceded for him until he was in a shallow part of the Fire, with two slippers of fire on his feet from which his brain boils. I seek refuge in Allah. And he sees that he is the most severely punished of people, while he is the least of them. But he sees that he is the most severely punished so that he does not find comfort in those who are more severe. Do you understand this word? This person, when he is punished and it is said to him, “So-and-so is punished more than you,” the punishment is lightened for him, because some people are punished more than he is. But when he sees that he is the most severely punished of people, does he find comfort or not? Because he sees the others below him, so his sorrow increases. Well, so the intercession was beneficial for him, and this is specific to the Messenger. Why? Because intercession is not beneficial for a disbeliever, as Allah the Exalted said: [Al-Muddaththir 74:48] And as Allah the Exalted said: [Al-Anbya 21:28] And Allah the Exalted is not pleased with a disbeliever. But in this case, Allah permitted His Messenger to intercede for him to mitigate his punishment.
And at that time, I ask: Why was Abu Talib specifically granted the permissibility of intercession for him, while he was a disbeliever? Because of his white-handed services in defending Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) and the religion of the Messenger. We ask Allah for safety. He defended the Messenger and said, addressing Quraysh:
: “They have certainly known that our son is not a liar with us, nor does he concern himself with the words of falsehood.”
He is not a liar nor a sorcerer, and he said regarding the Islamic religion:
"And indeed, I know that the religion of Muhammad *** is the best of the religions of the earth in religion
“Were it not for the blame or fear of insult, *** I would have been lenient and clear regarding that.”
The one who reads these verses says the man is a Muslim, but the criterion is the end. He attended his death, I mean Abu Talib, and the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) was with him, presenting to him the oneness of Allah. He said:Sahih al-Bukhari 3884 And there were with him two men from Quraysh, and a bad companion is all evil and bad. They said to him: “Do you desire to turn away from the religion of Abd al-Muttalib?” Who is Abd al-Muttalib?
The student: ... .
The Shaykh : There is no god but Allah. Abd al-Muttalib is the grandfather of Abu Talib? Muhammad ibn Abdullah ibn Abd al-Muttalib. If Abu Talib is his uncle, what is the name of Abu Talib’s father? Abd al-Muttalib. They said to him: “Do you desire to turn away from the religion of Abd al-Muttalib?” They did not come with anything but his father, in order to kindle in his heart the passion of the pre-Islamic age of ignorance. So the last thing he said was that he was upon the religion of Abd al-Muttalib, and he refused to say: There is no god but Allah.
O Allah, conclude for us with the testimony of the oneness of Allah. O Allah, make us among those whose last word from this world is: There is no god but Allah.
The important point is that Abu Talib, because of his defense of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) and his defense of Islam, Allah permitted His Messenger to intercede for him.
Who is the one from whose loins a disbeliever emerged, while he was a messenger?
The student: ... .
The Shaykh : O man, fear Allah. Who?
The student: ... .
The Shaykh : You have done well. Noah, from whose loins a disbeliever son emerged, while he was among the resolute messengers.
And who is the one who emerged from the loins of a disbeliever? Ibrahim (peace and blessings be upon him). He said to his father Azar:
Do you take idols as deities? Indeed, I see you and your people to be in manifest error."
أَتَتَّخِذُ أَصْنَاماً آلِهَةً إِنِّي أَرَاكَ وَقَوْمَكَ فِي ضَلالٍ مُبِينٍAbu Talib died upon disbelief, and the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) said:
I will keep on asking for Allah's forgiveness for you unless I am forbidden to do so.
لأستغفرن لك ما لم أُنْه عنكIt is not for the Prophet and those who have believed to ask forgiveness for the polytheists, even if they were relatives, after it has become clear to them that they are companions of Hellfire.
مَا كَانَ لِلنَّبِيِّ وَالَّذِينَ آمَنُوا أَنْ يَسْتَغْفِرُوا لِلْمُشْرِكِينَ وَلَوْ كَانُوا أُولِي قُرْبَى مِنْ بَعْدِ مَا تَبَيَّنَ لَهُمْ أَنَّهُمْ أَصْحَابُ الْجَحِيمِAnd the request of forgiveness of Abraham for his father was only because of a promise he had made to him. But when it became apparent to Abraham that his father was an enemy to Allah, he disassociated himself from him
وَمَا كَانَ اسْتِغْفَارُ إِبْرَاهِيمَ لِأبِيهِ إِلَّا عَنْ مَوْعِدَةٍ وَعَدَهَا إِيَّاهُ فَلَمَّا تَبَيَّنَ لَهُ أَنَّهُ عَدُوٌّ لِلَّهِ تَبَرَّأَ مِنْهُIndeed was Abraham compassionate and patient.
إِنَّ إِبْرَاهِيمَ لَأَوَّاهٌ حَلِيمٌSo there will not benefit them the intercession of [any] intercessors.
فَمَا تَنْفَعُهُمْ شَفَاعَةُ الشَّافِعِينَand they cannot intercede except on behalf of one whom He approves
وَلا يَشْفَعُونَ إِلَّا لِمَنِ ارْتَضَىAnd at that time, I ask: Why was Abu Talib specifically granted the permissibility of intercession for him, while he was a disbeliever? Because of his white-handed services in defending Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) and the religion of the Messenger. We ask Allah for safety. He defended the Messenger and said, addressing Quraysh:
: “They have certainly known that our son is not a liar with us, nor does he concern himself with the words of falsehood.”
He is not a liar nor a sorcerer, and he said regarding the Islamic religion:
"And indeed, I know that the religion of Muhammad *** is the best of the religions of the earth in religion
“Were it not for the blame or fear of insult, *** I would have been lenient and clear regarding that.”
The one who reads these verses says the man is a Muslim, but the criterion is the end. He attended his death, I mean Abu Talib, and the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) was with him, presenting to him the oneness of Allah. He said:
O my uncle! Say: None has the right to be worshipped except Allah, an expression I will defend your case with, before Allah.
يا عم، قل: لا إله إلا الله كلمة أحاج لك بها عند اللهThe student: ... .
The Shaykh : There is no god but Allah. Abd al-Muttalib is the grandfather of Abu Talib? Muhammad ibn Abdullah ibn Abd al-Muttalib. If Abu Talib is his uncle, what is the name of Abu Talib’s father? Abd al-Muttalib. They said to him: “Do you desire to turn away from the religion of Abd al-Muttalib?” They did not come with anything but his father, in order to kindle in his heart the passion of the pre-Islamic age of ignorance. So the last thing he said was that he was upon the religion of Abd al-Muttalib, and he refused to say: There is no god but Allah.
O Allah, conclude for us with the testimony of the oneness of Allah. O Allah, make us among those whose last word from this world is: There is no god but Allah.
The important point is that Abu Talib, because of his defense of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) and his defense of Islam, Allah permitted His Messenger to intercede for him.