 When one begins to dissect the historical personality of Imam Ali, there is no better place to start than by examining the life of his great father, Abu Talib. Abu Talib is without a doubt one of the most significant personalities in the history of the religion of Islam. And in the school of Ehlul Bayt, he is considered to be the main spine and protector of the religion from the very beginning. When one explores the uncalculated loyalty, the trustworthiness, as well as the bravery of Abu Talib, it is no surprise whatsoever to see such a magnanimous figure blessed with a son like Imam Ali. Today you find many of the lovers of Ehlul Bayt take great satisfaction as well as important lessons from studying the life of Abu Talib. The role and responsibility of Abu Talib in the early years of Islam is something that cannot go unnoticed when examining the history of the religion. In fact, even the biggest critics of Abu Talib recognize that there was a certain level of support that he provided the Holy Prophet, peace be upon him and his family. Although unfortunately, if you look around the Muslim world today, you find there are many who have little or no respect for Abu Talib. In some cases, it is even normal for someone to reach a conclusion that the father of Amir al-Mu'mineel alaihi salam disbelieved in God and that he is someone who will burn in the fiery pits of hell. More than this, his brain will be boiling within the hellfire. Now when someone is taught or brought up with these views, many of them often become bewildered because on the face of things, Abu Talib seemingly is a phenomenal supporter of the religion of Islam at the very beginning. So why at the end would Abu Talib alaihi salam be seen as someone who burns at the bottom of hell? And if not at the bottom, according to one narration, a shallow bank of fire would be created for him to burn because of the love that the Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him and his family, had for him. The holy Prophet's parents, Abdullah and Amina alaihum salam are even branded as disbelievers and inhabitants of hell. But this I will leave for another day, inshallah. Even further than this brothers and sisters, there are traditions which state that when Abu Talib alaihi salam passed away, his son Amir al-Mu'mineel was not sure about the process he should take when burying his father. So he turned to the holy Prophet, peace be upon him and his family and he said, Ya Rasulullah, I have never had the opportunity to bury a calf in my life. So how do I bury my father? Such traditions have a political bias behind them, but the hatred of Abu Talib is clear for all to see. Even in Mina, in Hajj, when you go to Hajj, lectures are given about how one can prove the kufr of Abu Talib alaihi salam. Now even when someone has such beliefs, you would think that they wouldn't be too vocal or public about them out of respect for his son, Amir al-Mu'mineel alaihi salam. Like you would think they would follow the same principles that are used to protect Khalidi bin Walid, for example. Khalid's father, Walid, who several of the verses in the Holy Quran denounce, is not elaborated on out of respect for his son Khalid. So why is not such a principle observed for Ali alaihi salam when it comes to Abu Talib? Now before one dives into the biography of Imam Ali alaihi salam, it is important to analyze the house in which he was brought up in and the attributes of the very man that raised him and his cousin Rasulullah, peace be upon him and his family and that is what I will be seeking to do today insha'Allah. When a prophet of God passes, it becomes very easy for people to go straight from the original beliefs of that prophet. They may still love that prophet, no doubt, but they may have also deviated from his path at the same time. When you look at the life of Abu Talib during the time that Imam Ali alaihi salam was born, it's important to note that there were a group of meccans known as Hanifs. A Hanif was someone who still believed in the Abrahamic monotheistic path. So while others may have been practiced in shirk, worshipping idols, for example, the Hanifs were a group who remained on the path of Allah. Abu Talib alaihi salam was a part of this monotheistic group known as the Hanifs, a group which stuck to the beliefs and message of Nabi Ibrahim alaihi salam. There was a significant group of Hanifs from the line of Prophet Ibrahim which included, but not limited to, Abdul Mutalib alaihi salam, the grandfather of the Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him and his family, Abdullah the father of the Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him and his family, Abu Talib alaihi salam, Khadija alaihi salam, the daughter of Khawailid, Fatima alaihi salam, the daughter of Assad and wife of Abu Talib. These were all Hanifs, people who did not deviate from the message of Nabi Ibrahim alaihi salam in any way whatsoever. Abu Talib was a descendant of Ibrahim, the ancestor descendant of Ismail alaihi salam reached Abdul Mutalib, who had a number of sons. Of those sons, there were two who were born from the same mother and father. These were Abu Talib and Abdullah alaihi salam. Others, the likes of Abu Lahab, Abbas, Hamza had the same father, Abdul Mutalib, but different mothers. Allah knows where to put his roots of creation in this world. Imam alaihi salam narrates an extraordinary hadith and in this hadith, Amir al-Mu'minin says, The last wasi of Nabi Isa alaihi salam is my father, Abu Talib. Understand this point, Abu Talib is the final successor of Prophet Jesus alaihi salam. Every prophet had 12 successors, these 12 came between one prophet and the next to maintain and continue the spreading and implementation of the message of each and every single one of them. Ibrahim had 12, Nabi Musa alaihi salam had 12. So between Musa and Isa, they were 12. Likewise, the Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him and his family, has 12, which are the Ahlul Bayt alaihi salam. Culminating with Imam Sahib al-Asri was Zaman. This proves that Allah never left the world without a guide, even after the death of a prophet. Interestingly, this is further reiterated in Genesis in the Christian Bible, which has a fundamental verse which highlights that God has always promised the human being that his message would always continue in a certain line. Genesis chapter 17 verses 18 to 20. When Sarah cannot give birth, she tells Nabi Ibrahim alaihi salam to marry her maid servant Hajar. Hajar subsequently gives birth to Nabi Ismail alaihi salam. In the Bible, in Genesis, it says Hajar gave birth to the baby and the spring of water gushed. After which, God says to Abraham, I will bless the generations of Ismail and make them blessed and make them fruitful and make them a large nation and allow them to have 12 princes from his line. Therefore, this ideology of 12 successes is not just Islamic. But moving on brothers and sisters, from a very young age, Abu Talib was seen as an honorable member of the Meccan community by all and raised the Prophet Muhammad peace be upon him and his family like he was his own child. Despite having six children of his own, Imam Ali alaihi salam was the youngest of his four sons who were Talib, thus his Qunya Abu Talib, Aqeel, Jaqfar and then Ali. Abu Talib alaihi salam also had two daughters, Jumanna and Um Faqita. All of the uncles of the Prophet peace be upon him and his family wanted to raise him following the passing of his mother Amina alaihi salam and Abu Talib his grandfather. Because as we know, Abdullah alaihi salam passed away when the Prophet was just a young baby. Prophet Muhammad crawled into the arms of Abu Talib alaihi salam which signified that he would be the one to raise the Holy Prophet. This was also symbolic of the loving relationship which they shared and the relationship that a grandfather should always seek to have with a grandchild for example. Abu Talib didn't just care for Muhammad peace be upon him and his family because he was a prophet but also because he was an orphan as well. So for those who label Abu Talib as a disbeliever, the Prophet peace be upon him and his family says in a beautiful hadith, me and the protector of the orphan will be together in heaven. So if Abu Talib is a disbeliever, where does the Prophet place this protector of the holiest orphan in human history in jannah? The Holy Prophet also says whoever taps the head of the orphan, there will be light, noor, for every hair he has touched on the day of judgment. So how about the man who taps the head of the number one creation of Allah in human history? What will he receive on the day of judgment? As the sixth ayah in Surah Al-Duhah says, Alam yajid kaya timan fa awa You also find that the Prophet Muhammad peace be upon him and his family handpicked his uncle Abu Talib to read the nikah for his marriage to Khadija alayhi salam. What? So a prophet of Allah can't find anybody better to conduct his marriage ceremony than a kafir or someone who is heading for the deep depths of jannah or mushrik. Rasulullah peace be upon him and his family knew very well that the best person to recite his nikah at the time was the 12th and final successor of Nabi Isa alayhi salam and the one who possessed the most concrete in his tawhid at the time. The fiqh or law with every prophet of God and every person who believed in their message is that a disbeliever cannot conduct a nikah marriage ceremony. Even more significantly, when he recited the nikah, what did Abu Talib say? I'm the one who believes in the Lord of Abraham and Isaac and Noah and David and Solomon and Jonas and Ayub and Jacob and Musa and Isa and so on and so on. Is there anything else someone needs to prove about his beliefs? When you recite a nikah and you show that you have full belief in the prophets of Allah alayhi salam and his majesty Allah himself, it was a statement of his monotheistic faith at the time. Further evidence of his faith came in the form of sons he brought up who were absolute lovers of Allah even though they may not have been infallible. If Abu Talib was allegedly a mushrik, surely he would prevent his children from worshipping God. But when you examine his sons and brothers and sisters, you don't even have to look at an infallible Imam alayhi salam to find out how this great man raised his children in obedience to God before the religion of Islam even existed. Let's look at Jaffer al-Tayyar, Jaffer son of Abu Talib. Rasulullah used to say, no one resembles me like Jaffer ibn Abu Talib. One asks how? Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him and his family, says Allah loves Jaffer al-Tayyar because of four things. What are they? Prophet says in the days of pre-Islamic ignorance, jahlia. When everybody lied, he never lied. When everybody drank alcohol, he never drank alcohol. When everybody committed adultery, he never committed zina. When everybody committed idolatry, he never committed idolatry. When people would ask Jaffer, why did you not lie? Why did you not drink? Why did you not commit adultery? Why did you not put physical partners to God, so shirk? He said firstly, lying is a sign of cowardice in the human being. Secondly, nothing impacts your reasoning like alcohol. Thirdly, a person who commits adultery one day is going to come back to haunt his own family. Finally, what's the purpose of worshiping idols if they can neither benefit nor cause harm to the human being? When you see a man with this mentality, one both naturally and immediately looks at the father of this person to see how he brought up a son with such exquisite morals and principles. With all of this in mind, it is absolutely amazing how our brothers in the Muslim world point to various verses in the Quran and claim that they were revealed about Abu Talib alayhi salam. Whilst at the same time, completely disregarding the world-class legacy that he built. Hanif, honourable, believing children. The Prophet's peace be upon him and his family's Nikah ceremony. His upbringing and being the unprecedented final wasi of the magnificent Nabi Isa alayhi salam. All of this rich legacy but people still proceed to the square of Abu Talib. Denounce Abu Talib. So let's take a look at some of the verses they used to attack him. Beginning first with chapter 6 verse 26. Secondly, chapter 9 verse 113. And lastly, chapter 28 verse 56. These are the three verses which are used to prove that Abu Talib was a disbeliever. So what did they say? Chapter 6 verse 26 says, Not only are they far away from the religion, but they block others from coming to the religion. One Tafseed from our brothers states that Abu Talib was far away from deen and blocked others from joining Islam. However, Zarmashshani in his Qashaf says this was not revealed about Abu Talib. Rather, it was revealed about another, a man who always wanted to join the religion of Islam, but Walid, father of Khalid and Abu Sufyan, the father of Muawiyah, would block him from joining Muhammad and Ali Muhammad. So there's a contradiction in the Tafseed of this ayah. One Tafseed tries to attack Abu Talib and another states that it's about Walid and Abu Sufyan. Now chapter 9 verse 113. And I must say that this verse has a quite hilarious interpretation. The ayah states it is not befitting for the prophet and those who believe to do istighfar for the mushrik, even if the mushrik is their relative. Our brothers claim that this is about Abu Talib as well. When you look at the chain of narrators, you can clearly see every hater of Ali is behind such accusations. Fighters of Ali, curses of Ali, enemies of Ahlul Bayt, alayhi salam. Of course, it doesn't take a genius to figure out that if you're a hater of Ali, alayhi salam, alayhi salam, you're going to make sure you severely degrade his father too. But most importantly, chapter 9 verse 113. Which chapter? Chapter 9 verse 113 brothers and sisters. What's the name of Surah 9? The chapter of Toba, or the chapter of repentance. What's the biggest problem with this verse being revealed about Abu Talib, alayhi salam? Well, it was actually revealed 13 years after Abu Talib died. Surah Toba is one of the final verses of the Holy Quran. All of its verses are Medinian except maybe the last two. Maybe the last two ayas. Abu Talib died in Mecca, or Medina. Mecca! In Jannahul Mualla, the first cemetery in Islamic history. Where Abdul Mutalib and the Prophet's parents, Amina and Abdullah, alayhi salam, are also buried. So can someone please explain why a verse would be revealed about Abu Talib, alayhi salam, 13 years after his death? Furthermore, the first Salat and moat in Islam was not in Mecca. It was in Medina. Barar ibn Ma'or died in Medina and Rasulullah, peace be upon him and his family, prayed Salat and moat on him in Medina. Abu Talib died where? In Mecca! So if it's a Salat and moat where Allah has reprimanded our Prophet, peace be upon him and his family, it can't be in Mecca. So this was revealed 13 years after his death. So Allah doesn't know when to reveal his verses? Mothers and sisters? Finally, chapter 28 verse 26. O Muhammad, you cannot guide who you want. Allah guided whoever he pleases. According to our brothers, this was also allegedly revealed about Abu Talib in the sense that the Prophet really wants to guide the man who raised him. But Allah said, I'm sorry, I guide whoever I please. That's not the meaning of the verse. The actual meaning is, O Muhammad, however many people you try to guide, some of them won't want your guidance. Abu Talib, peace be upon him, doesn't fall in the category of those who Allah will not guide as he possessed all the attributes of someone who was seeking complete love and service of Allah and his Prophet on this earth. However, there are a number of glorious acts that Abu Talib, peace be upon him, performed during his life that nobody can ever discredit, subhan Allah. Like when he gave away his whole valley to Rasulullah, peace be upon him and his family, known as the Shab of Abu Talib when the Muslims were put under economic sanctions. It's like the poet says, a man spent with you one night in a cave and they called him Sadiq. So what should we call the man who gave his whole valley to you? A man gives his valley for three years to protect the very foundations of the religion of Islam and they call him a disbeliever? How? Someone says Abu Talib never recited the Shahada publicly. Well, a Muslim can perform taqiyyah like the movement of Al-Firaun also hid his faith in chapter 40 verse 28. He may have been performing taqiyyah because he had a diplomatic position to protect Rasulullah from any harm. He was the middle man between the Quraish and the Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him and his family. He was playing a political game. Abu Talib was also married to Fatima bin Assad who everyone agrees all the Muslims agree she was a Muslim. So if Abu Talib was a kafir, surely the Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him and his family would have divorced him. And he has no one else better to marry than a kafir? Those who say he didn't recite his Shahada forgetting the one main point. There is no requirement for those who are born into the religion of Islam to recite Shahada. Let alone the final wasi of Nabi Isa, peace be upon him. And I'm going to be absolutely clear here. Abu Talib, peace be upon him, his poetry was more than enough evidence to prove his belief in Rasulullah. Ayatullah al-Mazandarani has 3,000 lines of poetry which he compiled from the life of Abu Talib, peace be upon him. 3,000 lines of poetry honoring our Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him and his family. Let's take a look at some of these heartwarming lines. Continue in your mission of my nephew Muhammad. They will never reach you if they all come in a group until I am covered in dust. So continue your mission. You have no fear. You invited me and you knew me as an advisor. You invited me and I knew you were trustworthy. You invited me knowing that the purest religion is the religion of Muhammad, peace be upon him and his family. He continues by saying this phenomenally magnanimous line. Allah has honored the Prophet Muhammad and the greatest of his creation is who? Ahmed. So he ripped up his name to bring him about for he is Muhammad and this is Muhammad. Allahu Akbar. This person clearly has full belief in Allah and the Prophet of his time. It's only the envious personalities who are haters of his son Amir al-Mu'mineen, alaihi salam, who continue to try and drag his name through the dirt. And brothers and sisters, there is a hadith which states that the Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him and his family says the truthful are free. Free came to the call of their prophets when they needed them. Habib al-Najjar, the Mu'min of Al-Yasin, who said, Oh my people, follow the messengers. Hasqeel, the Mu'min of Al-Fur'an, who we discussed earlier, who the Quran says concealed his faith in Surah 40 verse 28. He said, Will you slay a man because he says, My Lord is Allah and Abu Talib is the third of those. So if you study the biography of Abu Talib al-Alayhi salam, you will find that he supported the Prophet for 42 years. And genuinely displayed great bravery and sacrifice during the last 10 years of his life, which was significant because of the appointment of the Prophet to the prophetic mission and to his call during that time, as the Prophet said in that hadith. The only fact is that the Prophet, peace be upon him, and to his call during that time, as the Prophet said in that hadith. The only factor which kept him so steadfast was his strong faith and his pure belief in the sacred mission of the Prophet of Islam. And if the sacrifices of his son, Amir al-Mu'minin al-Alayhi salam, are also added to his own, then his legacy becomes untainted and untouchable. Finally brothers and sisters, a man once approached Imam al-Alayhi salam on one occasion, and the son of Abu Talib quickly finished him off with one superb line. The man said, Ya Amir al-Mu'minin, I know you are a great man and Jannah awaits you, but I hear people saying your father didn't do a Shahada, and he must be a disbeliever. Imam al-Alayhi salam glanced at him and responded with the following. Firstly, whether my father is going to hell or heaven, that's Allah's decision, but allow me to make a few things very clear for you. Firstly, Allah has given me the honour of splitting heaven and hell, so I wonder where my father will go. There's absolutely no coming back from this, brothers and sisters. We in the school of Ehlul Bayt are pretty sure Imam al-Alayhi salam will take care of his father in that regard. Abu Talib will be on the guest list to heaven, don't worry about that. Imam also said the following to this man. If my father asked Allah to intercede for everyone on the day of judgement, Allah will allow him to intercede for everyone. That's how high my father is. And finally he said, no one thing. The light of my father on the day of judgement will outshine the light. So the Nur of every creation on that day, except for me, Muhammad, Fatima, Hassan, and Hussein al-Alayhi salam, Ajma'een. Know that my father's light, like our light, existed 2,000 years before Nabi Adam's light even came into this world. You see brothers and sisters, sometimes people see the haqq of the morals and principles of Abu Talib al-Alayhi salam and the haqq of his role in the religion of Islam, and laying the foundations for the Prophet and for him to make sure Islam was able to move forward and to prosper, even in economic sanctions. But whether or not they want to accept him for the true servants of Allah in his message, that is up to them. Assalamu alaikum warahmatullahi wabarakatuh.