Al-W¥^idÏ's Asb¥b al-Nuz‰l - The Royal Islamic Strategic Studies ...

Asbab al-Nuzul
stipulate for myself that you defend me from that which you would defend yourselves’. They said: ‘What
do we get if we were to do this’ He said: ‘The Garden!’ they exclaimed: ‘This is a prosperous transaction;
we will not revoke it nor will we resign it’. And so this verse was revealed”. 39
(It is not for the Prophet, and those who believe, to pray for the forgiveness of
idolaters…) [9:113-114].
Abu ‘Abd Allah Muhammad ibn ‘Abd Allah al-Shirazi informed us> Muhammad ibn ‘Abd Allah ibn
Khamirawayh al-Harawi> Abu’l-Hasan ‘Ali ibn Muhammad al-Khuza‘i> Abu’l-Yaman> Shu‘ayb> al-
Zuhri> Sa‘id ibn al-Musayyab> his father who said: “When Abu Talib was about to die, the Prophet,
Allah bless him and give him peace, entered in on him while Abu Jahl and ‘Abd Allah ibn Abi Umayyah
were present. He said: ‘O uncle, say with me, there is no god but Allah, so that I can plead with Allah
in your favour’. Abu Jahl and Ibn Abi Umayyah said: ‘O Abu Talib, will you shun the religion of ‘Abd
al-Muttalib’ And they kept talking to him such that the last thing he uttered was: ‘I follow the religion
of ‘Abd al-Muttalib’. The Prophet, Allah bless him and give him peace, then said: ‘I will pray for your
forgiveness as long as I am not forbidden from doing it’. This verse was then revealed (It is not for the
Prophet, and those who believe, to pray for the forgiveness of idolaters even though they may be near of kin
(to them) after it hath become clear that they are people of hell-fire)”. 40 This was narrated by Bukhari from
Ishaq ibn Ibrahim> ‘Abd al-Razzaq> Ma‘mar, and also by Muslim from Harmalah> Ibn Wahb> Yunus;
both Ma‘mar and Yunus related it from al-Zuhri.
Abu Sa‘id ibn Abi ‘Amr al-Naysaburi informed us> al-Hasan ibn ‘Ali ibn Mu’ammil> ‘Amr ibn ‘Abd Allah
al-Basri> Muhammad ibn ‘Abd al-Wahhab> Ja‘far ibn ‘Awn> Musa ibn ‘Ubaydah> Muhammad ibn Ka‘b
al-Qurazi who said: “I heard that when Abu Talib fell ill to the illness that led to his death, the Quraysh
said to him: ‘O Abu Talib, send for your nephew to send you something to cure you from the Garden
he mentions’. The emissary went to find the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace. He
found him sitting with Abu Bakr. He said to him: ‘O Muhammad, your uncle says to you that he is old
and weak and he wants you to send him some of the food and drink of the Garden you mention so that
he regains health’. Abu Bakr replied: ‘Allah, exalted is He, has made it forbidden for the unbelievers’. The
emissary went back to them and said: ‘I conveyed to Muhammad that with which you have sent me. He
did not give me any answer, but Abu Bakr told me that Allah has made the Garden forbidden for the
unbelievers’. They pressured Abu Talib until he sent his own emissary to the Messenger, Allah bless him
and give him peace. He found him sitting in the same place and conveyed to him the same message. The
Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, said to him: ‘Allah, exalted is He, has made the
food and drink of the Garden forbidden for the unbelievers’. He then followed the emissary to the house
of Abu Talib. He found it full of men and so he said: ‘Could you leave me alone with my uncle’ They replied:
‘We will not leave you alone; you do not have a better right to him than us; if you are related to him,
we are also related to him!’ He sat close to his uncle and said: ‘May you be rewarded with good, O uncle;
you have adopted me when I was small and looked after me when I grew up. Help me with one sentence
by means of which I will intercede to Allah on your behalf on the Day of Judgement’. Abu Talib asked:
‘And what is it, son of my brother’ He said: ‘Say: there is no god but Allah, alone without any partners’.
Abu Talib said: ‘You have advised me; by Allah, were it not for the fear that Quraysh will slander me,
saying ‘Your uncle is afraid of death’, I would please you by saying it’. The people around him shouted:
‘O Abu Talib, you are the head of the primordial religion (Hanifiyyah) 41 , the religion of the elders’. Abu
Talib said: ‘I do not want the women to relate that your uncle was scared at the moment of death’. The
Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, said: ‘I will keep praying for your forgiveness
until my Lord stops me from doing so’. After Abu Talib died, the Prophet kept praying for his forgiveness,
and so the Muslims said: ‘What prevents us from praying for the forgiveness of our fathers and relatives
39
Cf. Durr, :294.
40
Tabari, :41; Qurtubi, :272; Durr, :299-300.
41
There are many divergent opinions about who the Hunafa’ were, among both Muslim and non-Muslim scholars. Generally
speaking a Hanif is one who follows the original true religion. In the Qur’anic context, the hunafa’ refer to those who follow the
religion of Abraham as opposed to the mushrikin, or idol worshippers. The term Hanif in this same context is also equivalent to
Muslim, i.e. one who submits to the will of God. Cf. the article Hanif in ei 2 .
130