Muhammad ibn Ishaq (1) said: The Messenger of Allah ﷺ was taken under the wing of his uncle Abu Talib, who protected him and stood in his defense, while the Messenger of Allah ﷺ continued upon Allah’s command, openly proclaiming His religion, and nothing could turn him back.
When Quraysh saw that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ would not appease them regarding anything they disliked—his separation from them and his denunciation of their idols—and when they saw that his uncle Abu Talib (2) had come to his aid and stood between him and them, refusing to surrender him, a group of Quraysh’s nobles went to Abu Talib: ʿUtbah and Shaybah, the two sons of Rabiʿah ibn ʿAbd Shams ibn ʿAbd Manāf ibn Quṣayy; Abu Sufyān Ṣakhr ibn Ḥarb ibn Umayyah ibn ʿAbd Shams; Abu al-Bukhtari—whose name was al-ʿĀṣ ibn Hishām ibn al-Ḥārith ibn Asad ibn ʿAbd al-ʿUzzā ibn Quṣayy; al-Aswad ibn al-Muṭṭalib ibn Asad ibn ʿAbd al-ʿUzzā; Abu Jahl—whose given name was ʿAmr ibn Hishām ibn al-Mughīrah ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿUmar ibn Makhzūm; al-Walīd ibn al-Mughīrah ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿUmar ibn Makhzūm ibn Yaqaẓah ibn Murrah ibn Kaʿb ibn Luʾayy; Nubayh and Munabbih, the two sons of al-Ḥajjāj ibn ʿĀmir ibn Ḥudhayfah ibn Saʿd (3) ibn Sahm ibn ʿAmr ibn Ḥuṣayṣ ibn Kaʿb ibn Luʾayy; and al-ʿĀṣ ibn Wāʾil ibn Saʿīd ibn Sahm.
Ibn Ishaq (4) said: Those who went to him said, “Abu Talib, your nephew has reviled our gods, disparaged our religion, belittled our intellects, and declared our forefathers misguided. Either restrain him from us or leave him to us; you share our position of opposing him, and we will relieve you of him.”
Abu Talib answered them gently and dismissed them graciously, and they departed. The Messenger of Allah ﷺ went on as he was, manifesting Allah’s religion and calling people to it. The matter then intensified (5) between him and them until men drew apart from one another and mutual rancor spread. Quraysh spoke often of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ among themselves; they urged (6) one another against him and incited each other, and then they came to Abu Talib a second time.
They said, “Abu Talib, you possess age, honor, and standing among us. We have already asked you concerning your nephew, yet you did not forbid him. By Allah, we can no longer endure his reviling of our fathers, his mockery of our reason, and his disparagement of our gods. Either stop him for us or we will confront both him and you over this matter until one of the two parties is destroyed”—or so they said. Then they left him. The prospect of parting from his people and their enmity weighed heavily upon Abu Talib, yet he could not bring himself either to surrender the Messenger of Allah ﷺ or to forsake him.
Ibn Ishaq (7) said: Yaʿqūb ibn ʿUtbah ibn al-Mughīrah ibn al-Akhnas told me that it was related that when Quraysh addressed these words to Abu Talib, he sent for the Messenger of Allah ﷺ and said to him, “My nephew, your people have come to me and said such-and-such”—repeating what they had said—“so spare me and spare yourself, and do not burden me with more than I can bear.”
He said: The Messenger of Allah ﷺ then thought that