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58
THE YEAR OF GRIEF
ABU TALIB'S DEATH:
In Rajab, the tenth year of the Prophethood, Abu Talib fell ill and passed away, six months after
leaving the confinement at Ash-Sh‘ib. In another version, Abu Talib breathed his last in Ramadan,
three days prior to the death of Khadijah (May Allah be pleased with her). On the authority of Al-
Musaiyab, when Abu Talib was on the death bed, the Prophet (Peace be upon him) entered the room
where he saw Abu Jahl and ‘Abdullah bin Abi Omaiyah. He requested his uncle:
·
“My uncle, you just make a profession that there is no true god but Allâh, and I will bear
testimony before Allâh (of your being a believer)”.
Abu Jahl and ‘Abdullah bin Abi Omaiyah addressing him said: “Abu Talib, would you abandon the
religion of ‘Abdul-Muttalib?” The Messenger of Allâh (Peace be upon him) constantly requested him
(to accept his offer), and (on the other hand) was repeated the same statement (of Abu Jahl and
‘Abdullah bin Abi Omaiyah) — till Abu Talib gave his final decision and he stuck to the religion of
‘Abdul-Muttalib and refused to profess that there is no true god but Allâh. Upon this the Messenger
of Allâh (Peace be upon him) remarked:
·
“By Allâh, I will persistently beg pardon for you till I am forbidden to do so (by Allâh)”.
It was then that Allâh, the Magnificent and Glorious revealed this verse:
·
“It is not (proper) for the Prophet and those who believe to ask Allâh’s forgiveness for the
Mushrikûn
(polytheists, idolaters, pagans, disbelievers in the Oneness of Allâh) even though
they be of kin, after it has become clear to them that they are the dwellers of the Fire
(because they died in a state of disbelief).” [9:113]
And it was said to the Messenger of Allâh (Peace be upon him):
·
“Verily! You [O Muhammad (Peace be upon him) ] guide not whom you like.” [28:56]
It goes without saying that Abu Talib was very much attached to Muhammad (Peace be upon him) .
For forty years, Abu Talib had been the faithful friend — the prop of his childhood, the guardian of
his youth and in later life a very tower of defence. The sacrifices to which Abu Talib exposed himself
and his family for the sake of his nephew, while yet incredulous of his mission, stamp his character
as singularly noble and unselfish. The Prophet (Peace be upon him) did his best to persuade his
octogenarian uncle to make profession of the true faith, but he remained obdurate and stuck to the
paganism of his forefathers, and thus could not achieve complete success. Al-‘Abbas bin ‘Abdul-
Muttalib narrated that he said to the Prophet (Peace be upon him) “You have not been of any avail
to your uncle (Abu Talib) (though) by Allâh, he used to protect you and get angry on your behalf.”
The Prophet (Peace be upon him) said: “He is in a shallow fire, and had it not been for me, he would
have been at the bottom of the (Hell) Fire.”
Abu Sa‘id Al-Khudri narrated that he heard the Prophet (Peace be upon him) say, when the mention
of his uncle was made, “I hope that my intercession may avail him, and he be placed in a shallow
fire that rises up only to his heels.”
KHADIJAH PASSES AWAY TO THE MERCY OF ALLAH:
Only two months after the death of his uncle, did the Messenger of Allâh (Peace be upon him)
experience another great personal loss viz., the Mother of believers, his wife Khadijah passed away
in Ramadan of the tenth year of his Prophethood, when she was sixty-five years old, and he was
fifty. Khadijah was in fact a blessing of Allâh for the Prophet (Peace be upon him). She, for twenty-
five years, shared with him the toils and trials of life, especially in the first ten years of his ministry
of Prophethood. He deeply mourned over her death, and once he replied in an honest burst of
tender emotions:
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