The Private Dawah
A lot of us call the dawah in early Islam a 'secret' dawah, but this is not a good word to use. The better word to use is it was a private dawah. What is the difference? Secret means nobody knew about it. Private means you kept it to yourself, but it was an open secret. When the Prophet PBUH started preaching Islam, it was a private dawah — rumors spread and the people heard about it. And this is proven by the fact that Amr ibn Abasah came all the way from Yemen [see episode 11]. But because in this early stage the Prophet PBUH was only preaching privately to his friends and those whom he trusted, he said to Amr, "It's too early; don't accept Islam now. When you hear I am victorious, then come back to me."
The Prophet's PBUH dawah went in stages. For the first three years, he PBUH did not preach to the masses. He didn't preach to the pilgrims or the visitors of Makkah or even his own relatives whom he thought would not accept Islam, e.g., Abu Lahab and Abu Jahal — they were not approached. Of course they heard about this new theology being preached — but they didn't do anything to the Prophet PBUH because he PBUH wasn't interfering with the trade of Makkah, nor standing and preaching aloud.
So why was the dawah private?
First and foremost, so that it doesn't result in any confrontation between the Muslims and the Quraysh. No torture, no ridicule. If someone converts to Islam, he's not making a public announcement —he's simply minding his own business and not getting involved with society at a religious level— so there's no reason for the Quraysh to torture or persecute them. The Muslims were being taught their religion —aqidah (عقيدة - Islamic creed), Quran, akhlaq, etc.,— without having to worry about politics and torture. In fact, this is what prepared them with the spiritual boost they needed to face the torture that happened later on.
And of the things we learn from the Prophet's PBUH private dawah is: it shows that in some circumstances, it's permissible to give dawah in private. If the political climate is one of fear/tension, you don't have to go public about your dawah — e.g., in the 1920s and 1930s when communism took over, they would literally kill people for claiming to be Muslim. And our religion does not demand us to be public about our religion if there is a fear of persecution; so we are allowed to stay private, keep a low-key, and mind our own business. But we are never secretive about our religion, so if somebody comes to learn our religion, give him dawah.
Also, notice every single convert at this early stage becomes a leader, a mover and shaker, unlike the bulk of the later converts whom we don't even know their names. There are over 100,000 sahaba, and we only have the names of around 5,000. Why? Because some of them just performed a Hajj with the Prophet PBUH, some of them went in one ghazwa (غزوة - war/battle), and that's it. So their names are not recorded. The names of those that are recorded are few. And of these, the bulk of them we only have one or two incidents recorded. And it is only a handful that we have life stories about — and most of these were the early converts or of the early Ansar. This shows the early converts' Iman was so powerful that they went on to play a significant role in early Islam.
And as we discussed, most of the converts at this early stage were from the lower class — Ammar ibn Yasir, Bilal, et al., [see episode 11]. This is the general rule for any religion. It is so much of a general rule that Heraclius the Emperor of Rome, the first time the Prophet PBUH wrote him a letter, he quizzed Abu Sufyan 10 questions, and one of those questions was, "Who are his (the Prophet's PBUH) converts? The rich and powerful or the weak and downtrodden?" and when Abu Sufyan said, "The weak and downtrodden," Heraclius said, "This is the sign of a true faith — it doesn't appeal to the rich or the elite, whereas the poor understand and accept the Message" [see episode 71]. When you are rich and powerful, you have more to lose when you change the status quo. Allah mentions this in the Quran [11:27] that even the people of Hud said, "We see that no one follows you except the lowliest among us." And Allah SWT mentions, even the people of Musa (the Jews), in the beginning, they were lower class — but in the end, they ended up being the victors:
وَأَوْرَثْنَا الْقَوْمَ الَّذِينَ كَانُوا يُسْتَضْعَفُونَ مَشَارِقَ الْأَرْضِ وَمَغَارِبَهَا الَّتِي بَارَكْنَا فِيهَا
"And We caused the people who had been oppressed to inherit the eastern regions of the land and the western ones, which We had blessed" [Quran, 7:137]. Indeed, the Bani Israel, they eventually became the leaders.
So the wisdoms of doing dawah privately in this early stage are:
1) there was no persecution,
2) it was a stage to allow Iman to build,
3) allow the brotherhood to form,
4) each and every one of these converts becomes a role model,
and many other blessings along with these.
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There is no authentic narration, but it seems at this early stage, salah and wudu (وضوء - ablution) were legislated. Jibril AS came down and taught the Prophet PBUH how to do wudu and how to pray although at this stage, prayer was voluntary and not obligatory — it was made obligatory in al-Isra' wal-Mi'raj when the five prayers were set [see episode 22]. (And that's why when Allah made prayer obligatory, the Prophet PBUH didn't need to be taught how to pray — because he already knew how to pray). Also, in this early stage, all the prayers were two rak'at (ركعات) — this is what Aisha RA says in a hadith in Sahih Bukhari.
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Stages of Dawah
The stages of dawah are five — and each is a legitimate stage for any Muslim community in the world to be upon, depending on their circumstance:
1. Private dawah — You don't have to confront the public. Let the public status quo remain if you are too weak or the political climate is too difficult. If the community is going to kill or persecute you, then just be a Muslim in your private life. The Prophet PBUH did this for 3 years.
2. Public dawah with no military confrontation — Peaceful preaching with the tongue. Even if they kill one of you, you can't retaliate. This was the bulk of the Prophet's PBUH dawah — 10 years of Makkah. And of these 10, the last 6 or 7 were extremely difficult to the extent of multiple assassination attempts on the Muslims [as we will discuss in the upcoming few episodes].
3. Dawah with the tongue along with physical fighting to a particular group — Open dawah along with military confrontation to a specific enemy. In the seerah, this happened for the first 6 years after the Hijrah. The Muslims fought only the Quraysh of Makkah — no other tribe unless they allied with the Quraysh to attack Muslims.
4. Open dawah to all, with izzah (honor) — You have political power, but you only attack in defense if you need to, and you don't utilize it for military accomplishments/endeavors. In the seerah, this happened in the Madinan stage after the Treaty of Hudaybiyyah until the Conquest of Makkah. One of the conditions of the Treaty of Hudaybiyyah was no fighting. So there was no fighting even though the Prophet PBUH had the power, the army, and the resources. And this period of peaceful, open dawah turned out to be one of the biggest victories for Islam — as Allah says, "We have given you the biggest victory" [Quran, 48:1]. Of course, Umar RA didn't understand in the beginning, "How is this [humiliating treaty] a victory?!" but as soon as he heard this verse, he was convinced [see episode 66].
5. Open dawah along with physical confrontation to anybody who opposes Islam — This was the stage the Prophet PBUH passed away upon. He was sending out not only delegations, but armies, e.g., to the Romans. And the sahaba continued along this fifth stage which is why they conquered Persia, most of the Roman Empire, took over Damascus, Palestine, Egypt, North Africa, and the Umayyads continued to Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan, parts of India, and went all the way to China, until finally in the midstage of the Abbasids, they decided to go back to the fourth stage (of dawah).
For the bulk of the ummah, when we had a khilafa (خلافة - caliphate), we were upon the fourth stage. This shows military conquest is not a part of Islam, [even though] it is a possible part that the ummah utilized when it wanted/needed to. The main thing is to preach the Message.
Historically speaking, our ummah has utilized all of these ways. And in our times, there is no question that militarily, this is not any time we can do anything, especially as minorities in many lands. So this is the time we talk about public dawah without any confrontation where we preach our Message. And when we see those groups that are violent, we say, "No, this is not the way of our religion. Our Prophet PBUH showed us the clear way — and his methodology is the best methodology, and his seerah is the best seerah."
Every community throughout the world, its leaders and ulama (علماء - scholars) can see which of these five is best for their community, as each of these is a legitimate means of our Prophet PBUH.
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The Open Preaching
So now we move on to the second stage of the five, which is open preaching with no public conflict from the Muslim side; open preaching without any command for warfare. This open preaching began three years after iqra came down. Allah revealed a number of verses which commanded the Prophet PBUH to preach openly. Two of them are the most important: (1) Surah al-Hijr (سورة الحجر) verse 94, "Go forth and proclaim what We have commanded you, and turn away from the mushrikun" [15:94]—and the Prophet PBUH understood this is a command to go public. (2) Then a verse came down which is even more explicit; the verse that is commonly associated with the public dawah, Surah al-Shu'ara (سورة الشعراء) verse 214, "And warn your close relatives" [26:214]—the word "ashira (عشيرة)" [in the verse] not only applies to his uncles and aunts, but all of his tribesmen — thus this referred to the Quraysh and all the people of Makkah who were his kith and kin.
Thus, the Prophet PBUH realized he needed to go public. And looking at the source books of seerah, it appears the Prophet PBUH did this in two stages:
The first stage: He went public to the Banu Hashim only — that is his immediate tribe. Recall the [noble] people of Makkah were all Quraysh. So the Prophet PBUH invited his immediate tribe —his immediate uncles and aunts, over 40 of the adults— to his own house and told Ali ibn Abi Talib to prepare food and soup. The Prophet PBUH was the first to eat and he blessed it — and the narrator says, "Even though the food was in one plate, all 40 ate to their fill as if they ate the entire plate themselves. And they drank the soup to their fill as if they drank from the one cup alone." After a while, Abu Lahab sensed that something was going to happen —he was scared that the Prophet PBUH would make public what was now private— so before they finished eating, Abu Lahab stood up, gave an excuse and left. And of course, he was a senior — so when he left, it destroyed the aura that was being created that something was going to happen — so a number of others left with him.
The Prophet PBUH understood that was a tactic of Abu Lahab; so a few days later, he PBUH did the same thing — he told Ali to make another meal, invited them again, and this time, before they could finish, he stood up and began preaching. He began by praising Allah SWT and giving khutbat al-hajah, and then said, "O Bani Abdul Muttalib, I do not know of any Arab before me who is coming to his people with a message that is better than what I am coming to you with. I am coming to you with something that will give you this world and the Hereafter; I am coming as a Messenger from Allah SWT that if you leave your idolatry and turn to Him, then Allah will give you all the good of this world and give you the Jannah in the Next." And he went on preaching and preaching. Before this time, they might have heard that the Prophet PBUH was preaching, but they had not been approached directly. This was the first time the Message of Islam openly reached many of their ears. And at this, Abu Lahab became irritated and said to the people around the Prophet PBUH, "This seems to be an unworthy Message. We have our ways — the ways of our forefathers. Who does this young man think he is to come and oppose the ways of our forefathers?"
Abu Lahab was the only one who was harsh. The rest of his uncles and aunts took the Message not that seriously. And in one of the source books, it is said that Ali RA stood up and said, "O Messenger of Allah, I will help you."
At this point, his immediate relatives did not accept nor did they reject.
The second stage: A few days/weeks after the previous event, this was when the Prophet PBUH went public to the whole city of Makkah. Reported in Bukhari: "The Prophet PBUH climbed the Mountain of Safa (the closest mountain to the Ka'bah), and he PBUH began calling the people." (Note 1: Safa was much taller than it is now. And for a person in Makkah to climb to the top of Safa, it was the equivalent of "I have an announcement to make!") (Note 2: We have to realize Makkah only had around 1,000 people — small little village. So one voice crying from the top of Safa was enough to tell the people something was going on. So when the Prophet PBUH called all the tribes, everyone stopped doing what they were doing, and they came and listened.) The Prophet PBUH waited for everyone to assemble, and then he said, "What do you know from me — how do you trust me?" They said, "We know nothing but good from you — you are our son and the son of our brother; you are our nephew." "Have you heard any lie from me?" "We have heard nothing but good. You are al-Amin (الأمين - the Trusted One)." And then the Prophet PBUH said, "If I were to tell you that there is an army coming to attack, would you believe me [without any checking, just with my word]?" They said, "Yes, we never heard you ever say a lie." So here is when the Prophet PBUH said, "Then know therefore, I am a Warner sent by Allah, to proclaim the coming of severe punishment on the Day of Judgment unless you turn to Allah and leave your idolatry. O tribe of Ka'b ibn Lu'ayy, save yourselves from the Fire of Hell — I will not be able to help you. O Bani Murrah ibn Ka'b, save yourselves from the Fire of Hell — I will not be able to help you. [O Bani Kilab ibn Murrah, O Bani Abd Manaf, so on and so forth…]"—he began with the furthest tribe that was related to him, and worked his way inward, closer and closer, until he got to, "O Banu Hashim," and then he began mentioning his uncles and aunts by name, "O Hamzah ibn Abdul Muttalib", "O Safiyyah bint Abdul Muttalib," et al. And he concluded with the person who was the dearest and most beloved to him, "O Fatima bint Muhammad, you need to save yourself from the Fire of Hell — I will not be able to help you on the Day of Judgment…"—and with Fatima, he PBUH added one phrase:—"...Except that from this world, I will give you all that I have." Meaning, "I'm your father — you ask me anything that I have, it is yours. But in the Hereafter, I cannot save you from Allah's punishment." When the Prophet PBUH finished this very emotional Message, this is when Abu Lahab stood up, picked up some sand and threw it in the direction of the Prophet PBUH. And this is meant to show vulgarity and say, "What's this [Message]? It's not even worth this sand I'm throwing!" It was a sign of great arrogance to throw sand at somebody. Then he said, "May you be cursed, O Muhammad! Is this why you called us here?!" And this is when Allah revealed in the Quran Surah al-Masad (سورة المسد) [Quran, 111:1-5]:
تَبَّتْ يَدَا أَبِي لَهَبٍ وَتَبَّ
مَا أَغْنَىٰ عَنْهُ مَالُهُ وَمَا كَسَبَ
سَيَصْلَىٰ نَارًا ذَاتَ لَهَبٍ
وَامْرَأَتُهُ حَمَّالَةَ الْحَطَبِ
فِي جِيدِهَا حَبْلٌ مِّن مَّسَدٍ
Abu Lahab was the first person to publicly oppose and ridicule the Message of Islam. In the house of the Prophet PBUH a few days ago, he wasn't too rude. But now in public, because of the ostentatious desire to assert masculine bravado, he opposed the Prophet PBUH in a vulgar manner. And it is because of this arrogance that Allah SWT responded back in kind.
And this is of course the sunnah of Allah SWT — never has a Messenger been sent except that he has to face struggles and hardships against his own people. Most of mankind do not want to change their lifestyles. It's difficult to give up what you are used to; it's difficult to lead a religious life.
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Wisdom We Learn From the Prophet's PBUH Dawah So Far
Of the benefits we gain here is that every single person needs to be responsible first and foremost for his immediate family — and *then* for society at large. Indeed, initially, the Prophet PBUH is told to preach to his own relatives. So much so that when a Yemeni comes to him, he tells him, "Not now." So the responsibility of the da'i (داعي) for immediate family is much more than for anyone else. Indeed, the Prophet PBUH first called the Banu Hashim, and *then* the people of Makkah.
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From this point onwards, the Prophet PBUH started preaching everywhere: in public venues, in front of the Ka'bah, when hujjaj/visitors came to Makkah the Prophet PBUH would speak to them in the marketplaces of Mina, etc. This is when the dawah became public — and of course, this is when the public opposition began as well:
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Opposition From the Quraysh
How did the Quraysh oppose the Message of Islam? By many ways — and note these aren't necessarily chronological:
1. Appealing to the Highest Authority
The first thing is that they tried to appeal to the highest authority which was Abu Talib. Recall there was no one ruler in Makkah. They didn't have a king. They were too arrogant to appoint one person. What they did have was Dar al-Nadwa, which was an assembly of a group of senior people none of whom was in charge but had a big say in the matters of the community. Who were these people? They were the representatives of each of the subtribes of Makkah. Even though Makkah didn't have one unified ruler, each of the subtribes did — the Banu Hashim had their ruler/leader, and the Banu Makhzum, Banu Abd al-Dar, etc., had theirs. And the affairs of that one tribe were in accordance with what each chieftain said. The leader of the Banu Hashim was of course Abu Talib. And it was of the ways of the Arabs that the leader of each tribe was never deposed, never gotten rid of, and never disobeyed. He is given the utmost respect. (And then when he dies, one of his sons takes over — just like when Abdul Muttalib died, Abu Talib took over).
So when the Prophet PBUH started preaching, some of the fellow tribesmen of the Banu Hashim went to Abu Talib gently and said, "O Abu Talib, this is your nephew cursing our idols and preaching a Message that is different than our forefathers'. Surely you cannot let this happen." — Now is this true? Has the Prophet PBUH ever cursed their idols? Allah says:
وَلَا تَسُبُّوا الَّذِينَ يَدْعُونَ مِن دُونِ اللَّهِ فَيَسُبُّوا اللَّهَ عَدْوًا بِغَيْرِ عِلْمٍ
"And do not curse those they invoke other than Allah, lest they insult Allah in enmity without knowledge" [Quran, 6:108]. So the Prophet PBUH never cursed their idols. And yet they accused him of this. — And how did Abu Talib respond? He did not want confrontation, so he just gave them some gentle words and let them go their way. He simply sidetracked hoping that the matter would go away. But it didn't. A few weeks later, they came to Abu Talib again. As more and more people convert to Islam, as more and more of the hujjaj go back bearing the news that "there is a man in Makkah preaching a new Message," they realize that action has to be taken. So they increase the pressure on Abu Talib. They try to threaten, bribe, and cajole him. "We cannot take this anymore — your nephew is insulting our forefathers." And note this is the way of everybody who opposes Islam, even in our time: they take a small thing and make it so big as if the world is going to collapse. The Prophet PBUH never cursed their forefathers — it's his own forefathers. He PBUH is simply preaching tawhid. But they make a true statement like "idolatry is not a good way; it's foolish," and exaggerate it twenty times saying, "Well if you're saying it's foolish, this means you're saying our forefathers were foolish, which means you're cursing them."
They then said to Abu Talib, "You stop him from preaching, or you hand him over to us and we do as we please!" Abu Talib had never been confronted by his people in this manner.
Realize, every leader is outwardly powerful, but inwardly very weak — every leader is dependent upon the people who follow him for that leadership. Every leader has to appease his own people. Even if you are a tyrant, you have to have a core group of people whom you appease — that you give them everything they want and overlook any crime they would do. It is only Allah AWJ who is truly al-Malik (الملك - the King). Every other king is dependent on the people around them. They need to have viziers, ministers, army, etc. And when your own people oppose you, you don't have any power.
Now, notice they said, "You hand him over to us and we do as we please"—what do they mean by this? Once again, we need to understand the way of the Arabs: they could not harm one of their own tribesmen unless the chief of the tribe allowed it. This is their law. If they were to disobey this, they would face shame and ridicule. So as long as Abu Talib did not hand over the Prophet PBUH, they could not do anything. So what they did was they went to Abu Talib and demanded one of the two things, "You stop him from preaching, or you hand him over to us and we do as we please!".
And this is when Abu Talib went to the Prophet PBUH and said to him, "O my nephew, my people have come to me and said such-and-such. So be merciful to yourself and be merciful to me — do not place me in a situation I cannot bear." This is emotional blackmail at its best — and this was of the most difficult encounters for the Prophet PBUH. Abu Talib loved the Prophet PBUH more than he loved his own children, and remember Abu Talib is the Prophet's PBUH real blood uncle — and the Prophet PBUH had the same type of love for Abu Talib, like a father. And here Abu Talib is begging and pleading with the Prophet PBUH, "Have some mercy on me, I am an old man, how much can I bear?" Here is when the Prophet PBUH said, "O my uncle, wallahi, even if they were to give me the sun in my right hand and the moon in my left hand, I could not give up this Message until I succeed in what I am doing or I die a death in this path preaching what I am preaching." In another version which is probably more authentic, he said to his uncle, "Do you see the sun, O my uncle?" "Yes." "Wallahi, I have no more power to stop preaching than you do to light your stick with this sun." What is the symbolism of the phrase here? There's a dual meaning. (1) The Prophet PBUH is saying that the light of Islam is brighter than the light of the sun and moon, 'I cannot extinguish it. If they were to give me all of this light, I have a light that is brighter — I cannot eclipse it. Nothing can eclipse this light.' (2) The Prophet PBUH is saying, 'Even if they were to give me something that is beyond this world (the sun and the moon), I could not give up what I am doing until I meet my death or I succeed in my Message.'
When Abu Talib saw this persistence and sincerity, he said, "Do what you will, my nephew. Fa wallahi, I will never come to you again to stop you. You have my protection."
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2. Proposing a (Treacherous) Bargain to Abu Talib
When the Quraysh heard that Abu Talib tried and failed, they went back to him — but this time with the whole delegation. So not just the Banu Hashim, but all the tribes. And note, this is the stepping stone — and the next step of course is the Boycott [see episode 18]. For now, they say to him, "We have a proposition — we have chosen the most noble young man among us, the son of al-Walid ibn al-Mughira; and one son for one son: we will hand over Umara ibn al-Walid (عمارة بن الوليد) to you, and he will become yours (your son), and in return, you hand over your nephew to us and we do as we please." At this, Abu Talib became very angry and said, "What an evil, treacherous bargain! What kind of foolish bargain is this? You want me to take care of one of your own so that I fatten him (with my food) while you take my son and you kill him?"
Upon this, Mut'im ibn Adi (مطعم بن عدي) stood up and said, "O Abu Talib, I think your people have done as much as they humanly can. You must accept one of their offers." Who is Mut'im ibn Adi? He is the seniormost person in all of Makkah; he has the most sense, and he is the least hostile to anybody. So for him to take sides, this is a big deal.
(Tangent: After the Battle of Badr, the Prophet PBUH said about Mut'im one of the highest praises to a pagan: "If Mut'im ibn Adi were alive right now and he said to me one word about these 72 prisoners, I would have freed them all for his sake." Subhan'Allah, *that* is praise. Why did the Prophet PBUH praise him so much? Because he did a lot for Islam — even though he wasn't a Muslim. No doubt, he is taking sides against the dawah of the Prophet PBUH right now at this stage of early Islam — but this was probably the worst thing that he did. Over the next 10 years, we will see he did a lot of positives for the Muslims. And because of this, the Prophet PBUH praised him after the Battle of Badr. And this, by the way, shows us that there are some kafirs that are very good with genuine hearts that help Islam. So you don't treat all non-Muslims the same. There are many non-Muslims who stand for human rights, civil rights, and even Muslim rights; and we should help them and praise them like the Prophet PBUH did about Mut'im ibn Adi.)
Now it's literally the whole of Makkah against Abu Talib. And it is a very precarious situation, because you don't know what's going to happen now. Most likely, what would have happened if Allah had not willed otherwise is they would have told Abu Talib, "You are no longer the leader of the Banu Hashim"—and this would have been the first time in the history of the Arabs that a tribal leader had been replaced while he is still alive, healthy, and mentally capable.
But Abu Talib took on a bravery that is unbelievable. He said to Mut'im ibn Adi directly, "O Mut'im, this is a plot that you have hatched. To stand up at this time and publicly take sides, you had this planned from before. — Do as you please. I will not budge from my position." Subhan'Allah. This is genuine bravery. He had no support whatsoever — it was literally his honor and prestige against the whole of Quraysh.
And Abu Talib was one of the greatest poets of the Quraysh. His poetry is absolutely phenomenal. In fact, Ibn Hajar and many others say his poetry was more profound and even better than the Mu'allaqat (المعلقات - the Seven Hanging Poems) in the Ka'bah. And his poetry is recorded in many books: Ibn Ishaq, Ibn Hisham, the Tabaqat of Ibn Sa'd, etc. And after the incident with Mut'im, he composed a series of poems chastising his own relatives accusing them of being traitors to their own way of life, that they are not respecting the sanctity of their own relatives.
And Allah AWJ willed that the Quraysh backed down even though Abu Talib literally had no power on his side. It was the sense of dignity and sincerity and the strength of convictions that won the day — by the blessings of Allah AWJ.
In this one incident, we open up the window to see the wisdom of the whole "phenomenon of Abu Talib":
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The Phenomenon of Abu Talib
What does Sh. Yasir mean by "the phenomenon of Abu Talib"? The Prophet PBUH did not love anybody more than he loved Abu Talib — and yet Abu Talib did not convert to Islam.
As we know, in the later stage of the seerah when the Prophet PBUH was around 50[1], he begged and pleaded with Abu Talib on Abu Talib's deathbed:
أي عم: قل لا إله إلا الله كلمة أحاج لك بها عند الله
"O my uncle, I beg you say 'la ilaha illaLlah (لا إله إلا الله - there is none worthy of worship except Allah)' so that I will be able to argue in front of Allah to save you." And Abu Talib was about to say it —in his heart, he knew that the Message of the Prophet PBUH was true; he had seen too many signs and miracles; and he knew the Prophet PBUH too well, that he couldn't tell a lie— but there was one thing more precious to him than his nephew, and that was his father — the lineage and prestige that "you are the son of Abdul Muttalib." He happened to be the son of the most famous Arab of the generation. That prestige of lineage, which was everything for the Arabs, was what prevented Abu Talib from saying the kalimah (كلمة - the word, i.e., the shahada) — he was about to say it, but Abu Jahal was standing there, and he said to him, "Are you going to leave the religion of your father?" And this caused the mouth of Abu Talib to close — and that's when the malak al-mawt (ملك الموت - angel of death) came and took his ruh (soul).
Even though he died without having said the kalimah, the Prophet PBUH was so emotionally moved he said, "I will ask Allah to forgive you, until He stops me." Realize a prophet is not allowed to do anything without the permission of Allah. E.g., recall why did Allah SWT do what He did to Yunus AS? Because Yunus AS left his people without Allah's permission [see Quran, 37:139-142]. As a prophet who represents the Message and shariah of Allah, he is not allowed to do anything except with the permission of Allah. And our Prophet PBUH as well — he would not do anything unless Allah told him. But here, his emotions were so high he PBUH continued to ask forgiveness for his uncle (without permission), until Allah revealed multiple verses in the Quran. One such is:
مَا كَانَ لِلنَّبِيِّ وَالَّذِينَ آمَنُوا أَن يَسْتَغْفِرُوا لِلْمُشْرِكِينَ وَلَوْ كَانُوا أُولِي قُرْبَىٰ
"It's not befitting for the prophet and the believers to seek forgiveness for pagans even if they are close relatives" [9:113].
And of other verses is:
إِنَّكَ لَا تَهْدِي مَنْ أَحْبَبْتَ وَلَٰكِنَّ اللَّهَ يَهْدِي مَن يَشَاءُ
"You are not able to guide those whom you love, but Allah guides those whom He pleases" [28:56].
And this is what Sh. Yasir calls "the phenomenon of Abu Talib." Here is the Messenger of Allah PBUH, and Abu Talib is the most beloved person to him, the one whom he loves like no one else so much so many years later when the Muslims conquered Makkah, when Abu Bakr comes to the Prophet PBUH with his own father Abu Quhafa —a pagan and enemy to Islam— being carried by the people to finally accept Islam as an old man of 80 years old, when he (Abu Quhafa) puts his hand on the Prophet's PBUH hand and recites the kalimah, Abu Bakr began to cry and says, "Wallahi, what I would give, even my father's hand, if I could see the hand of Abu Talib in your hand to accept Islam"—i.e., Abu Bakr would even give up his own father's Islam because he wanted the Islam of Abu Talib — showing he knew how much the Prophet PBUH loved Abu Talib. Yet Allah did not allow him to die in Islam.
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Wisdoms From the Phenomenon of Abu Talib
The Prophet PBUH did not love anybody more than he loved Abu Talib — and yet Allah did not allow him to die in Islam.
Why? What is the wisdom?
In the incident with Mut'im we saw the wisdoms:
1) The one person who could have protected the Prophet PBUH *had* to remain a pagan. *If* he converted, immediately he would have lost the leadership, the status, and the protection he could have offered. And Allah knows best; Allah knows better even than Rasulullah PBUH. The Prophet PBUH needed Abu Talib — and his one claim to power and fame was that he was the son of Abdul Muttalib so nobody could oppose him. And it was because of that power the Prophet PBUH could preach as he preached. It was only after the death of Abu Talib when Abu Lahab took charge that the Prophet PBUH had to leave Makkah [see episode 19].
2) To show that nobody can dictate to Allah what He wants to do — not even the Prophet PBUH. As Allah says in the Quran, "You are not able to guide those whom you love, but Allah guides those whom He pleases" [28:56]. This is a clear indication that the Prophet PBUH is just a human — he is not a god, demigod, or the son of a god. He does not control the lives of anyone, including his own uncle. Even in his first khutbah, he PBUH told his own daughter that he wouldn't be able to protect her from the Fire of Hell. (Side note: There are many Muslim groups out there that have taken the love of Rasulullah PBUH to an extreme level and made him out to be literally a god or a demigod. But this is wrong. We can see even in his own lifetime he PBUH couldn't protect his own uncle.)
[Transcriber's note: Remember, we are listing the various manners with which the Quraysh opposed the Message of Islam, and these points are not necessarily chronological. At this juncture of the seerah, Abu Talib is still alive; and his demise shall transpire in episode 19.]
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Different Statuses of the Four Direct Uncles of the Prophet PBUH
Notice as well, we see the four uncles of the Prophet PBUH —all of them children of Abdul Muttalib— each of them occupies such a different level. All of them direct uncles. Two Muslims, two non-Muslims:
1. The highest of them is Hamzah (حمزة) — the Sayyid al-Shuhada (سید الشهداء - Leader of the Martyrs) [see episode 48].
2. Abbas (العباس) — a great Muslim (who converted later on) — but he cannot be compared to Hamzah or the Ten Elites.
3. Abu Talib (أبو طالب) — the highest person ever amongst the non-Muslims in the history of our religion. No non-Muslim occupies a rank higher than him. And in a hadith in Sahih Muslim, it's reported that al-Abbas asked the Prophet PBUH, "O Messenger of Allah, your uncle (Abu Talib) benefited you so much. Weren't you able to benefit him back?" The Prophet PBUH said, "Yes, I did. Because of my du'a for him, he has been removed to one of the outlying perimeters of the Fire of Hell. Were it not for my du'a, he would be in the pits and the depth of the Fire of Hell." In another version, we read Abu Talib has the least punishment out of all of the people of Jahannam. No one in Jahannam is being punished lesser than Abu Talib. But he did not get to Jannah because he is an idol worshiper.
4. Abu Lahab (أبو لهب) — for whom Allah revealed a surah that we recite in the Quran, that curses him, till the Day of Judgment. The only enemy of Islam of that time who is cursed by name in the Quran. There are many indirect references without name, but the only one referenced by name is the uncle of the Prophet PBUH, Abu Lahab. We recite the surah until the Day of Judgment invoking the curse of Allah upon him for what he had done.
These are four brothers, and every one of them occupies such a different level even though they are all sons of the same father, and they are all uncles of the greatest human being who ever walked the face of this earth. This shows us your fathers and children will not help you on the Day of Judgment; what helps is that which each and every one of us has done in this world. This is the basic Message the Prophet PBUH said in his first khutbah, "Nobody can help you against the punishment of Allah — you must save yourselves. (Therefore live righteous lives.)"
[Transcribed by Br. Safwan Khan & Faizan]
safwan-khan@hotmail.com
[Re-revised, May 2023]
safwan-khan@hotmail.com
[Re-revised, May 2023]
