Was Abu Talib - the Uncle of the Holy Prophet ~sal Allahu alayhi wa sallam~ a Mumin?

Was Abu Talib – the Uncle of the Holy Prophet ~sal Allahu alayhi wa sallam~ a Mumin?

All Praise belongs to Allah Almighty and Peace & Blessings be upon the Beloved of Allah – Muhammad, and Blessings be upon his noble Companions, and his pure Progeny.

I, the one lower than the dust under-soles of ‘Sa’adat’ writes:

These lines have been compiled to clarify some points regarding the Iman of Abu Talib – the uncle of the Beloved RasulAllah and to erase a very dangerous misconception that some of us might adopt against the views and opinion of ‘Ahl us Sunnah wal Jamah’ on the subject;

Therefore, we begin with the following:

There are Three Positions amongst Muslims regarding the Iman of Abu Talib, they are as follows:

i. He did not Accept Islam: 

That is, Abu Talib remained adamant on the religion of his forefathers and did not recite the Kalima of RasulAllah ~sal Allahu alayhi wa sallam~ until his death. (Note that, all religions were abrogated and stood null & void with the declaration of the Prophet-hood of RasulAllah, even if any of the Prophets were to be physically Alive, they would have no choice except to recite the blessed Kalima of RasulAllah, upon this there are numerous Hadiths)

Abu Talib died without ‘Iman’, this is the view of the majority of Muslim Scholars including Imam al A’zam Abu Hanifa, Imam Dar al Hijrah Malik bin Anas and more than 80 other giant Sunni Scholars (the Details of which can be translated and presented on demand).

We as Indians are more familiar with our own scholars from the sub-continent, therefore we present the following:

Among the giant Indian scholars who are of this view are: Imam Ali al Muttaqi Hindi (compiler of ‘Kanz ul Ummal’, Imam of Hind Mujaddid al Zaman Shaykh Abdul Haqq Muhaddith Quadri Dehlavi, Imam Shah Abdul Aziz Naqshbandi Muhaddith Dehlavi, the grand Sufi Imam and founder of Ashrafiya tariqah – Makhdum Sultan Sayyid Ashraf Jahangir Chishti Nizami Simnani Jilani, Qutb al Islam Sayyid Muhammad Husayni Banda Nawaz Gaysu Daraz Chishti Gulbargavi… and the giant Imam, the Mujaddid of 14th Islamic centaury, the great lover and defender of the ‘Áhl ul Bayt’ – Imam al Akbar Ahmad Raza Khan Quadri Bareilvi, who also authored ‘Sharh al Matalib fi Mabhas Abu Talib’, available in full in ‘Fatawa Razviya; V: 29; Raza Foundation, Lahore.

Khatib al Islam Sayyid Muhammad Hashmi Miyan Jilani Ashrafi Kichochavi and the noble ‘Sa’adat’ of Quadriya Chishtiya Ashrafiya, Quadriya Barkatiya, the Naqshbandiya Mujadddiya and numerous other ‘Sa’adat’ are also of the same view……

Among contemporary giant Pakistani scholars, Shaykh al Hadith Ghulam Rasul Saeedi, the Muhaddith of Lahore and author of 12 Volume ‘Tafsir Tibyan al Quran’ and 7 Volume ‘Sharh Sahih al Muslim’ holds the same view.

Note these scholars stress that the ‘Kufr’ of Abu Talib should not be said in a manner that will offend the Beloved Rasul-Allah, or in equal to the ‘Kufr’ of Abu Lahab & ‘Abu Jahl’. But, it should be clarified when-ever a question or doubts arises on the topic and specially in cases when it is extremely necessary to prove his ‘Kufr’.

Moreover, 80 giant Sunni Scholars in more than 130 books have said the same. And we don’t think that any modern Sahih al Aqidah scholar can go against the sayings of these many Sunni-Sufi scholars of past. (Except the ones under misconception and those under the Influence of ‘Tafziliya’ or ‘Rawafiz’.

ii. One should remain silent and should not go either way.

This is a state of confusion, adopted by people who have not reach to a conclusion and those who did not have the privilege of reading books on the topic.

iii. Abu Talib was a ‘Mumin’:

This is the view promoted by the Rawafiz and Tafziliya, and adopted by some Sunni scholars recently! (The Fatwa of Imam Sayyid Zahni Dahlan Makki RaziAllahu Anhu is not correct, in fact it is based upon sayings and statements which have been long refuted by giant Sunni scholars).

May Allah Guide us and keep us on the Path of Imam al A’zam who has not left anything unclear for us, and May Allah save us from the influences of the ‘Khawarij’, ‘Wahhabiya’, ‘Rawafiz’ and ‘Tafziliya’ and instill in us the greatest strength to defend ‘Ahl us Sunnah wal Jamah’. Ameen!

Was Salam,

Basharath Ali Siddiqui Ashrafi

Ahl us Sunnah Foundation

Hyderabad, India