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Quraysh’s hostility after the death of Abu Talib: the dust thrown at Prophet Muhammad’s face, Abu Lahab temporary protector then declared enemy, the neighbors who threw entrails during the prayer, from Ibn Ishaq, al-Bayhaqi and Ibn al-Jawzi.
Updated on 07 September 2026 at 11:07 PM
The death of Abu Talib, the uncle of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), has already been mentioned: he was his defender, standing in his rank, protecting him with all his might, by his person, his wealth and his deeds. When he died, the fools of Quraysh dared to set upon the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) and inflicted on him what they could not approach, nor had the power to do, before.
al-Bayhaqi related, from al-Hakim, from al-Asamm, through a chain going back to Urwa ibn az-Zubayr, from Abdallah ibn Ja’far: when Abu Talib died, a fool of Quraysh came up to the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) and threw dust in his face. He returned to his house, and one of his daughters came to wipe the dust from his face, weeping. He kept saying: “O my little daughter, do not weep: Allah protects your father.” And he said meanwhile: “Quraysh inflicted nothing on me that I hated until the death of Abu Talib.” Ziyad al-Bakkaï also related this account from Muhammad ibn Ishaq, from Hisham ibn Urwa, from his father, in suspended form: Allah is most knowing. And al-Bayhaqi related, from al-Hakim and others, from al-Asamm, from Ahmad ibn Abd al-Jabbar, from Younous ibn Boukayr, from Hisham ibn Urwa, from his father, that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: “Quraysh never ceased to oppress me until Abu Talib died.” Then he related it, from al-Hakim, from al-Asamm, from Abbas ad-Douri, from Yahya ibn Ma’in, from Uqba al-Moujaddir, from Hisham ibn Urwa, from his father, from Aisha, from the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him): “Quraysh never ceased to oppress me until Abu Talib died.”
The hafiz Abu al-Faraj ibn al-Jawzi related through his own chain, from Tha’laba ibn Sou’ayr and Hakim ibn Hizam, that they said: when Abu Talib and Khadija died, between which a month and five days passed, two trials gathered over the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him): he stayed at home and went out little, and Quraysh inflicted on him what she had neither inflicted nor hoped for before. The news reached Abu Lahab, who came to him and said: “O Muhammad, go where you wish and do what you intended to do while Abu Talib lived: by al-Lat, none will reach you before I die.” The man of Ghaytala insulted the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him); Abu Lahab advanced toward him and struck him, then went away crying: “O assembly of Quraysh, Abu ’Otba has converted!” Quraysh came up to Abu Lahab, who said: “I have not left the religion of Abd al-Muttalib, but I protected my nephew from being wronged, and he will go where he wishes.” They said: “You have done well, acted nobly and maintained the ties of kinship.”
The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) remained thus for days, going out and coming in, without anyone of Quraysh approaching him, so much did they fear Abu Lahab, until ’Oqba ibn Abi Mou’ayt and Abu Jahl came to Abu Lahab and said to him: “Has your nephew told you where your father is?” Abu Lahab then asked: “O Muhammad, where is Abd al-Muttalib?” He answered: “With his people.” The two men went out, and Abu Lahab said: “I asked him, and he said: with his people.” They said: “He claims he is in the Fire.” Abu Lahab asked: “O Muhammad, will Abd al-Muttalib enter the Fire?” The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) answered: “Whoever dies upon the religion upon which Abd al-Muttalib died will enter the Fire.” Abu Lahab, may Allah curse him, said: “By Allah, I shall never cease to be your enemy: you claim Abd al-Muttalib is in the Fire.” From then on, the hostility of Abu Lahab and all of Quraysh toward him intensified.
Ibn Ishaq said: the group that harmed the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) in his own house consisted of Abu Lahab, al-Hakam ibn Abi al-As ibn Umayya, ’Oqba ibn Abi Mou’ayt, ’Adi ibn al-Hamra and Ibn al-Asda’ al-Houdhali, who were his neighbors: none of them embraced Islam except al-Hakam ibn Abi al-As. One of them, as it was related to me, would throw a sheep’s womb on him while he prayed; another would throw it into his cooking pot when it was set before him, until the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) took a screen behind which he hid from them to pray. When they threw something of that kind, he would lift it on a stick, stand at his door and say: “O sons of Abd Manaf, what kind of neighborliness is this?” Then he would throw it into the road.
Ibn Kathir says: what is related of most of these accounts: the throwing of the camel’s entrails between his shoulders during the prayer, as Ibn Mas’oud related, with Fatima coming to remove them and addressing them with insults; then the supplication of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) against seven of them; likewise what Abdallah ibn Amr ibn al-As informed of their attempt to strangle him with a violent strangling, until Abu Bakr as-Siddiq interposed, saying: “Would you kill a man who says: my Lord is Allah?”; likewise the resolve of Abu Jahl, may Allah curse him, to crush his neck during his prayer, and he was prevented from it, and things like that; all of that took place after the death of Abu Talib, and Allah is most knowing: it is here that their mention is most fitting.