A Muslim Convert Once Before

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ   Shaykh ‘Utsman Nuri Tufbas wrote, in “The Prophet Muhammad Muswthafa the Elect ( s.a.w. )”, that Sayyidina Abu Thalib ibn ‘Abd al-Muththalib ( r.a. ) was in financial duress, being the head of a large household.   It was owing to this that the Prophet ( s.a.w. ) went to his other uncle, Sayyidina ‘Abbas ( r.a. ), and suggested, “As you know uncle, your brother, Abu Thalib manages a large family, and the drought and famine have left him in need like most.   Why do we not go to him, and talk him into giving two of his little ones over to our custody, to relieve him of some of his responsibility?”   Sayyidina ‘Abbas ( r.a. ) accepted the benevolent suggestion, and together, they went to Sayyidina Abu Thalib ( r.a. ), who after hearing the offer, said, “Apart from ‘Aqil, you can take any of the children you like”, he said.   Muhammad ( s.a.w. ) eventually took Sayyidina ‘Ali ibn Abu Thalib ( k.w. ), while Sayyidina ‘Abba...

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ Shaykh ‘Utsman Nuri Tufbas wrote, in “The Prophet Muhammad Muswthafa the Elect ( s.a.w. )”, that while the Prophet ( s.a.w. ) was playing with other children, the young Muhammad ( s.a.w. ) had one day gone as far as the Radm quarters.  There, a group from the clan of Mudlij called him, and inspected the child’s feet and footprints.  Thereupon, Sayyidina ‘Abd al-Muththalib Shaybah ibn Hashim ( r.a. ) arrived.  They hugged him and asked, “Is this child yours?”   “He is my son,” answered he.   “Protect him closely, for we have never before seen footprints that resemble those of Ibrahim near the Ka’bah more than his,” they advised.   Sayyidina ‘Abd al-Muththalib ( r.a. ) urged his son, Sayyidina Abu Thalib ibn ‘Abd al-Muththalib ( r.a. ) nearby, to give ear to their words.  It was owing to such concerns that Sayyidina Abu Thalib ( r.a. ) was so protective of his nephew.

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ Shaykh ‘Utsman Nuri Tufbas wrote, in “The Prophet Muhammad Muswthafa the Elect ( s.a.w. )”, that during his trip to Syria, with his uncle, Sayyidina Abu Thalib ibn ‘Abd al-Muththalib ( r.a. ), the caravan camped near the monastery of Sayyidina Bahirah ( r.a. ), a Christian monk.  Astounded at having noticed a cloud hovering around the caravan, and shading a certain person, as well as the branches of trees leaning forth to shelter someone from the Sun near where the caravan had camped, the curious Sayyidina Bahirah ( r.a. ) decided to look in to the intriguing matter and invite the Makkans inside the monastery for some food: “I have prepared food for you all.  I insist each and every member of the caravan to join, young and old, free and slave.”   The Makkans were taken aback by the invitation of Sayyidina Bahirah ( r.a. ), since he had never seemed to take much interest in them before, during their numerous other trips to Syria. ...

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ The followings question, on whether Sayyidina Abu Thalib ibn ‘Abd al-Muththalib ( r.a. ) die as a Muslim, was answered by Dr. Jibril Fu’ad Haddad.   The original question was, can one believe that Sayyidina Abu Thalib ( r.a. ) died a Muslim?   The reason the questioner asked is because he read in Allama Shibli Nu’mani’s ( r.a. ) Sirat an-Nabi that there is a great difference of opinion regarding the Islam of Sayyidina Abu Thalib ( r.a. ) due to conflicting reports.   Mulla Nur ad-Din Abu al-Hasan ‘Ali ibn Sulthan Muhammad al-Hirawi al-Qari’s ( r.a. ) Sharh al-Fiqh al-Akbar li Abu Hanifah stated that, “As for Abu Thalib, the report of his conversion to Islam is inauthentic.”   Dr. Jibril said, one may believe that Sayyidina Abu Thalib ( r.a. ) died a Muslim, but this is not the view of the majority of the ‘ulama .   They follow the patent meaning of the swahih reports and confirm their truth without adding anything...