Abū Tālib ibn ʿAbd al-Muttalib

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Abū Tālib ibn ʿAbd al-Muttalib ( Arabic أبو طالب بن عبد المطلب, DMG Abū Ṭālib b. ʿAbd al-Muṭṭalib ; * around 550; † 619 ) was an uncle of the Prophet Mohammed and played an important role in the last years of his life as his patron in Mecca . His actual name was ʿAbd Manāf, but he was often referred to as Kunya Abū Tālib after his firstborn son Tālib .

Family relationships

Abū Tālib was the son of ʿAbd al-Muttalib ibn Hāschim , who at that time held the leadership of the Quraishite clan of the Banū Hāshim , and Fātima bint ʿAmr from the Quraishite clan of Machzūm. Abū Tālib had four sons from his wife Fātima bint Asad: Tālib, ʿAqīl, Jafar and ʿAlī . Regarding the age gap between them, it is said that it was ten years each, but this less credible tradition is contrasted with another tradition, according to which ʿAqil and Jafar were only two years apart. Through his brother lAbdallāh , who had died early, Abū Tālib was the uncle of the Prophet Mohammed.

As head of the Banū Hashim

When ʿAbd al-Muttalib died, Abū Tālib inherited the leadership of the Banū Hāschim clan from him . At the same time he took over the care of Mohammed, who ʿAbd al-Muttalib had taken in after the death of his parents. Abū Tālib was a caravan trader and traded with Syria. When he later became impoverished, he gave his son Jafar into the household of his brother al-ʿAbbās . ʿAlī came into the household of his nephew Mohammed, who at that time was already reasonably wealthy due to his marriage to Khadijah . He became one of the first followers of the Prophet.

After Mohammed began to spread his new teaching in Mecca, Abū Tālib was urged by other members of the clan to sedate his nephew. But he held his hand over Mohammed and acted as his protector until his own death in 619. After Abū Tālib's death, Abū Lahab became the new head of the Hashimite clan, which was hostile to Mohammed. As a result, Mohammed was exposed to his opponents without protection and was forced to leave Mecca and move to Medina ( Hijra ).

The descendants of Abū Tālib, the so-called Tālibids (Arabic: Ṭālibīyūn ) played an important role as leaders of religious and political opposition movements during the Umayyad and early Abbasid times . The book Maqātil aṭ-Ṭālibīyīn by Abū l- Faraj al-Isfahānī deals with their struggles and uprisings .

The discussion about his relationship to Islam

The question of whether Abū Tālib himself became a Muslim was much discussed. The Sunnis believed that he adhered to the old faith until his death. In doing so, they relied on a well-known tradition, according to which Mohammed had asked forgiveness for his uncle after his death, but this had been forbidden by God by revelation of Sura 9: 113: "The prophet and the believers are not allowed to convert for the companions Asking forgiveness, even if they are relatives, after they realize that they will be inmates of Hellfire. "

The doctrine that Abū Tālib, like the Prophet's parents, died as an unbeliever has even become an article of faith in a Hanafi confessional. The Shiites, on the other hand, consider Abū Tālib to be a Muslim and point to his personal commitment to Mohammed and his followers. The monograph by ʿAlī seiāliḥ Rasan al-Muḥammadāwī published about him in 2012 also serves to prove that Abū Tālib had converted to Islam internally.

literature

  • Ǧamāl-ad-Dīn Aḥmad Ibn-ʿInaba: ʿUmdat aṭ-ṭālib fī ansāb Āl-Abī-Ṭālib . Maktabat Samāḥat Āyatallāh al-ʿUẓmā al-Marʿašī an-Naǧafī al-Kubrā, Qum, 2004.
  • ʿAlī Ṣāliḥ Rasan al-Muḥammadāwī: Abū-Ṭālib Ibn-ʿAbd-al-Muṭṭalib: dirāsa fī sīratihī aš-šaḫṣīya wa-mauqifihī min ad-daʿwa al-islāmīya . Dār wa-Maktabat al-Baṣāʾir li-ṭ-Ṭibāʿa wa-n-Našr wa-t-Tauzīʿ, Beirut, 2012.
  • Uri Rubin: Art. "Abū Ṭālib" in Encyclopaedia of Islam, THREE. Edited by: Gudrun Krämer , Denis Matringe, John Nawas, Everett Rowson. Brill Online, 2014.
  • W. Montgomery Watt: Art. "Abū Ṭālib" in The Encyclopaedia of Islam. New Edition Vol. I, 152b-153a.

supporting documents

  1. ↑ Cf. Muhammad ibn Saʿd : Kitāb aṭ-Ṭabaqāt al-kabīr . Ed. E. Sachau. 9 vols. Leiden 1904–1940. Vol. IV / 1, p. 28. Available online here: http://archive.org/stream/biographien4pt1a2ibnsuoft#page/199/mode/2up and Musʿab az-Zubairī: Kitāb Nasab Quraiš . Ed. E. Levi-Provençal. 3rd edition. Cairo: Dār al-Maʿārif 1982. p. 39.
  2. ↑ Cf. al-Masʿūdī : Murūǧ aḏ-ḏahab wa-maʿādin al-ǧauhar . Ed. Barber de Meynard and Pavet de Courteille . 9 vols. Paris 1861–1877. Vol. IV, p. 290. Can be viewed online here: http://archive.org/stream/lesprairiesdor04masuuoft#page/290/mode/2up
  3. ↑ See Laura Veccia Vaglieri : Art. " Dj aʿfar ibn Abī Ṭālib" in Encyclopaedia of Islam . Second edition. Vol. II. P. 372.
  4. ↑ See Rubin and Muhammadāwī 140-44.
  5. ↑ Cf. AJ Wensinck: The Muslim Creed. Its Genesis and historical development . Cambridge 1932. p. 197.
personal data
SURNAME Abū Tālib ibn ʿAbd al-Muttalib
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Uncle of the Prophet Mohammed and his patron in Mecca
DATE OF BIRTH around 550
DATE OF DEATH 619