The dying behest of Hazrat Abu Talib
Before his death in 618 A:D. Abu Talib called all the members of the Hashimites together and left the follow- behest:-
“O thou people of Quraish! Thou art the chosen race of God and the best in the world. In my dying behest I will ask you to be kind and well disposed to- wards Muhammad ﷺ because he ﷺ is “Amin” (trustee) from amongst the Quraish and “Sadiq” (the truthful) from amongst the whole population of the Arabian peninsula. He ﷺ has in his person all those things which compel me to leave a will in his favour. He ﷺ has tidings to reveal which your heart accepts although for fear your lips do not respond to confirm the call of your heart. I find that the half-barbarians of the Arabian desert, in contrast to you, respond to his call and obey his ﷺ orders and verily these are the people who will be exalted in this world and the hereafter. Mark me when I say that your chiefs will be dishonoured and stiff-necked though they now are, they will soon be humbled. I see the entire country has sincerity and enthusiasm for his message and the people have widened their heart to receive that love. In short they are will- ing to follow and obey him. O thou Quraish! It is high time that you should befriend him, support him and follow him in the path that he treads. I swear by God that only those desist to follow him ﷺ who are not destined to reform, and only those will follow in his footsteps who are destined to be great, pious and noble. If there is some respite or delay in my death and I survive a few more days I will support his cause. As far as lies within my power I will protect him fiom the evils (of the enemy).” (Rousa-tu’s-Sufa). With this dying speech Hazrat Abu Talib passed away at
the age of eighty. Nabi Pakﷺ grief knew no bounds. The death of his foster-father, the man who had stood by him from his childhood, who had supported him against the conspiracies of the Meccans and who had been in all things his patron and loving friend, left him alone in the world, Khadija, having died shortly before the venerable old man. It is generally believed that the loss of his patron was one of the main reasons for the Holy Prophet’s decision to migrate to Medina. Certainly he was so bereft and grief-stricken that he named the year of Abu Talib’s death “Am-al-Huzn” or “year of mourning.”
Hazrat Muhammad ﷺ and Ali AlaihisSalam
During Hazrat Abu Talib’s lifetime Muhammad ﷺ had shown his gratitude in many ways. One of these ways had been to accompany his uncle on his long and arduous commercial trips; another had been his adoption of Ali AlaihisSalam. Muhammad ﷺ volunteered to look after Ali AlaihisSalam when he was only five years old. Hazrat Abu Talib gratefully agreeing told Ali to obey Muhammad ﷺ in all things and to stick by him through thick and thin. The way in which Ali carried out that behest became the story of his life.
Ali’s childhood
Little is known of the details of Ali’s childhood other than that he was brought up in the Holy Prophet’s household but it is reasonable to infer that it was this environment which moulded him on the Islamic pattern and developed to the full the mental faculties which later made him famous. Here in the home of the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ and Khadija-both of whom were virtue personified-the boy learned the value of fidelity and chastity, here began his enthusiasm for the re- formation of mankind, and here in the closest intimacy with the Holy Prophet ﷺ came the inspiration to a selfless life in the cause of Islam.
Confirmation in Faith
In 614 A.D., four years after his divine call, Muhammad ﷺ took to preaching Islam openly and one day as- cended the mountain of Safa and covened an assembly of men for the propagation of the faith. The meeting was greeted by scorn and ridicule from the pagans of Mecca. Undeterred, Muhammad ﷺ proceeded to attempt the conversion of at least his own family for it was at this critical juncture that he received the divine revela- tion, “Wa Anzir ashiratakal aqrabin” (And warn your nearest relatives). “Thus resolving” “says Edward Gibbon,” to impart to his family the light of Divine truth, he prepared a banquet, a lamb, as it is said, and a bowl of milk for the entertainment of forty guests of the family of Hashim.” Friends and kinsmen “said Muhammad to the assembly,” I offer you, and I alone can offer, the most precious of gifts, the treasure of this world and that of the world to come. God has com- manded me to call you to his service. Who among you will support my burden? Who among you will be my companion and my vizier ?” No answer was re- turned, till the silence of astonishment, and doubt, and contempt, was at length broken by the impatient courage of Ali, a youth in the ten or eleven year of his
1. Edward Gibbon-The Decline and fall of the Roman Empire, Vol. III -London Fredrick Warne & Co., p. 498-99.
age. “O Prophet ﷺ, I am the man. Whosoever rises against thee, I will dash out his teeth, tear out his eyes, break his legs, rip up his belly. O Prophet! I will be thy vizier over them.”
The Prophet ﷺ ordered Ali to sit down. Again he put the question to the assemblage. All remained silent but Ali rose for a second time to repeat his fidelity and was again ordered to sit down. When the Prophet repeated the same question to the congregation the third time he got no response. Ali again stood up and repeat- ed his fidelity on which the Holy Prophet ﷺ remarked “You are my brother, my collateral and are what Aaron was to Moses.”
Thomas Carlyle’ refers to this incident thus:- ‘Amid the doubt and silence of all, Ali as yet a lad of ten or eleven, impatient of the silence, started up and exclaimed in passionate and fierce language, That he would! The assembly among whom was Abu Talib, Ali’s father, could not be unfriendly to Muhammad, yet the sight there, of one elderly man, with a lad of sixteen deciding on such an enterprise against all mankind, appeared ridiculous to them; the assembly broke up in laughter. Nevertheless it proved not a laughable thing; it was a very serious thing! As for this young Ali one cannot but like him. A noble minded creature, as he shows himself now and always after- wards, full of affection, of fiery daring. Something chivalrous in him; brave as a lion, yet with a grace, a truth and affection worthy of Christian knighthood.” Ali’s boyish declaration was, in later years, to be honoured many times.
1. Thomas Carlyle Heroes and Hero-worship. Publisher Oxford Uni- versity Press. Edition 1958. p. 77.
Aal-e-Qutub Aal-e-Syed Abdullah Shah Ghazi 