"What Did You Avail Your Uncle?"

Years later, al-'Abbas, another uncle, asked the Prophet ﷺ: "What did you avail your uncle? He used to protect you and be angry for your sake." The Prophet ﷺ answered that Abu Talib was in the shallowest part of the Fire, and that were it not for him, he would have been in its lowest depth (Sahih al-Bukhari 3883; Sahih Muslim 209). He also said that his intercession might benefit him on the Day of Resurrection, so that he would be placed in a shallow part of the Fire (Sahih al-Bukhari 3885), and that of all the people of the Fire, Abu Talib would have the lightest punishment (Sahih Muslim 212).

On the basis of these authentic reports and the verses revealed at his death, the position of Sunni scholars is that Abu Talib died without professing Islam. Shi'a scholars hold that he was a believer who kept his faith hidden so that he could go on protecting the Prophet ﷺ. This page follows the Sunni position, which rests on the authentic reports above, and his final judgement belongs to Allah.

What is not disputed is what he did. For about forty years he stood between the Messenger ﷺ and those who wanted to harm him, and the Prophet ﷺ never forgot it. Even his intercession for his uncle is a sign of that loyalty returned.