Story No. 157 – Destiny of Abu Lahab ibn Abd Al-Muttalib

Abu Lahab is Muhammad, The Last Prophet’s (saw) uncle and the son of Abd Al-Muttalib. Among those people he was one of the strongest enemies of Islam.

Abu Lahab is the ‘Father of the Flames’, whose name was ‘Abdul Al-Uzza’ means the servant of the idol Al-Uzza, was a man of fiery temperament with a reddish face. This nickname, perhaps, was chosen for him, because, ‘Lahab’, in Arabic, means ‘a flame of fire’.

Abu Lahab and his wife, Umm Jamil bint Harb; a sister of Abu Sufyan ibn Harb, being specifically mentioned as the cursed ones among the enemies of Islam, hurt Muhammad, The Last Prophet (saw) very much. A person by the name of ‘Tariq Muharibi’ says that once Abu Labab was found going behind Muhammad, The Last Prophet (saw) passing through the marketplace called ‘Zul-Mujaz’ (it is close to Arafat, a short distance from Makkah). He was following behind Muhammad, The Last Prophet (saw) shouting was a mad man and pelting his feet with stones, causing Muhammad, The Last Prophet (saw) to walk with bleeding wounds, then he raised a large stone to throw at Muhammad, The Last Prophet (saw) but his hands froze.

Abu Lahab was a rich, proud man who boasted about his wealth and used it against Islam.

It is narrated that after the defeat of the Makkans in the battle of Badr, Abu Lahab, who had not participated in the battle of Badr, asked Abu Sufyan ibn Harb, when he returned from the battlefield, about its details. Abu Sufyan ibn Harb described to him the event of how the Quraish were defeated and, then, he added: By Allah, we saw, in the course of battle, some riders between the earth and heaven who had come to help Muhammad, The Last Prophet (saw).

Here, Abu Rafi, one of the servants of Abbas ibn Abd Al-Muttalib tells the story thus: I was sitting there and I raised my hand and said that they were the angels of Heaven. Then, Abu Lahab became so angry that he sharply struck my face and I fell hard upon the ground.

Abu Lahab continued beating me because of his grief from his disappointment. At that moment, Ummul-Fadl, Abbas ibn Abd Al-Muttalib’s wife, who was attending there, took a stake and struck it hard on Abu Lahab’s head, and said: ‘Have you found this weak man alone?’

The head of Abu Lahab became wounded and bloody. One week later he died from a contagious disease and since his body gave off an unbearable, foul smell no one approached it. It was left for three days and, at last some slaves were hired to carry it out of Makkah. They watered it from a distance and then piled stones on top of it until it was buried.