Regarding Hadrat Abu Talib


Question

Kindly write detailed reply to my following question what do the scholars and muftis of the Islamic sharriah say regarding “Hadrat Abu Talib(RTA)”. Few people call him kafir and they also claim that the kuffar of Abu Talib is proved from clear quranic ayaat and sahih authentic ahadith. Anyone who considers Abu Talib a momin is munkir e quraan, munkir e ahadith and is extremely deviated/(gumraah) and is a rafizi shiite. But i’ve heard that many of the legendary Islamic scholars of the past believed that hazrat abu talib was a momin. Kindly issue a deciding fatwa as to what is the true position of ahle sunnat wal jamaat regarding Hazrat Abu Talib. I will always be grateful to you for your kindness.

Answer

We appreciate it if you use low case when writing to us as it is not easy to read an all capital question.

Whether Abu Talib was a believer or not has absolutely no religious significance for us. We will not be asked in the hereafter whether we believe that Abu Talib was a believer or a non-believer. Considering Abu Talib to be a believer or not does not make some one Kafir. This is merely a historical issue.
We have no verse of the Qur’an that says explicitly that Abu Talib was Kafir. Those who use some verses of the Qur’an to prove their point on this issue are in fact relying on Ahadith that interpret those verses. On the other hand those who consider Abu Talib as a believer, too are relying on some other reports to that effect.
All these Ahadith and reports need to be studied in detail before forming any opinion about the belief of Abu Talib. The question however is that what good such study will bring to us from religious perspective? In my opinion, none!
Please also note that we are not associated with any religious sect and are not representative of any.

Answered by: Farhad Shafti

Date: 2015-02-18