Question:
Assalamualaikum SS Dato’ Seri Mufti. Can you tell us the story of Abu Lahab and how he died?
Answer:
Alhamdulillah, praise and thanks to Allah for the countless blessings He has blessed us all with. Blessings and salutations to the prophet Muhammad PBUH, his family, companions and all those that follow his teachings to the day of judgement.
The real name of Abu Lahab is Abdul Uzza bin Abdul Mutalib (Abdul Uzza literally means the slave of the idol Uzza). His lineage is as follows: Abdul Uzza bin Abdul Muthalib bin Hasyim bin Abdi Manaf bin Qushay bin Kilab. He is famously by his kun-yah of (nickname) Abu Lahab compared to his own name. Lahab means blazing. It is said that the one who gives him the nickname is his father, Abdul Muthalib due to his light-coloured and reddish face.
He is known by his enmity towards Islam. His words of insult towards the Prophet PBUH are enough for Allah SWT to reveal surah al-Masad:
تَبَّتْ يَدَا أَبِي لَهَبٍ وَتَبَّ ﴿١﴾ مَا أَغْنَىٰ عَنْهُ مَالُهُ وَمَا كَسَبَ ﴿٢﴾ سَيَصْلَىٰ نَارًا ذَاتَ لَهَبٍ ﴿٣﴾ وَامْرَأَتُهُ حَمَّالَةَ الْحَطَبِ ﴿٤﴾ فِي جِيدِهَا حَبْلٌ مِّن مَّسَدٍ ﴿٥﴾
May the hands of Abu Lahab be ruined, and ruined is he (1) His wealth will not avail him or that which he gained. (2) He will [enter to] burn in a Fire of [blazing] flame (3) And his wife [as well] - the carrier of firewood. (4) Around her neck is a rope of [twisted] fiber. (5)
Surah al-Masad (1-5)
Al-Maraghi said commenting on the above verse: He will suffer the fiery heat of Hellfire and will be tormented by the fire. In conclusion, Abu Lahab is indeed ruined, his deeds meant nothing, his effort in opposing this religion is a failure, his wealth that he is proud of cannot help him. Even he cannot help himself.
This is due to Allah’s greatness that lifts up His Prophet’s da’wah, spread it to the world, revealed His words announcing to the world and Abu Lahab will be tormented in the Hereafter with a blazing fire, a fearsome burning fire prepared by Allah SWT for the disbelievers that are incomparable to the worldly punishment of ruining his efforts and rejecting his deeds. (Refer Tafsir al-Maraghi, 15/7735)
It is said that Abu Lahab did not participate in Badr due to his old age. However, he is saddened by the incident when he heard about it.
Syeikh Sofiyyurahman al-Mubarakfuri recorded a story of what happened after Badr in Mecca:
Abu Rafi’ is a slave who is freed by the Prophet PBUH. He said: I was a slave of al-Abbas. Islam was already spread among the ahl al-bait during that time. Al-Abbas embraced Islam, followed by me and Ummu Fadhl. However, al-Abbas disclosed his religion. On the war of Badr, Abu Lahab did not participate in it. Upon hearing the defeat of the Quraisy, Allah embarrass and humiliate him while we gain some strength within ourselves.
During that time, I was among the weak. I earned a living by making arrows. I make them it in a room near the well of zamzam. By Allah’s name, when I was tapering the arrows there, Ummu Fadhl was sitting near me rejoicing and we are rejoicing after hearing the news of the win of the Muslims. Suddenly, Abu Lahab came, dragging both of his legs until he reached directly in front of us which is in front of the cloth which covers the room and he sat with his back leaning on my back. When he sat, the people said: “Here is Abu Sufyan bin Harith in Abdul Muttalib. He has returned.”
Then, Abu Lahab said: “Here! Come to me! You must have come with the news.” Abu Sufyan then sat close to him while people were gathered in front of him. Abu Lahab asked, “O my nephew, tell me the of what had happened.”
Abu Sufyan then told the story, “Nothing except our troop faced them, then we turned our backs to them. They killed our people as they might. They also captured our people as they might. By Allah’s name, I failed to threaten anyone as we were facing people of white clothes who came down mounting horses between the heaven and the earth. By Allah’s name, those horses did not leave neither their stride nor their hoof prints.”
Abu Rafi’ continued, “I uncovered the cloth with both of my hands, then I said, ‘By Allah’s name, they are angels.’”
Abu Lahab abruptly raised his hand and slapped me hard. I threw my body on him, but he grabbed my body and threw me back into the sand. Then, he kneeled on my body and beat me hard. I was weak at that time that Ummu Fadhl reached for one of the poles of the tent to hit Abu Lahab’s head until it bleeds. Ummu Fadhl then said, “You dare to beat this man when his master is not around?!”
Abu Lahab then went away with his head faced down. By Allah’s name, he only lived seven days afterwards. Allah make it so that his wound is infected and purulent that it disgusted and drove the Arabs away from him, where this injury eventually killed him. None of his relatives was willing to manage his funeral and his dead body were left for three days without being buried. Feared of being criticized for neglecting his dead body, they then dug his grave. Then, they pushed his dead body into the hole using wood and throw rocks from a distance to cover his body. (Refer al-Rahiq al-Makhtum, pg. 335-336)
That is the end of Abu Lahab’s life, a man who held a great enmity towards Islam and opposes the da’wah of the Prophet PBUH during his life.
May Allah bless us with the hidayah and istiqamah in following the Prophet PBUH’s teachings to our last breath. Ameen.