a form of intercession for disbelievers.
Moreover, it is reported in the Sahīh that al-‘Abbās ibn ‘Abd al-Muttalib said: “O Messenger of Allah, have you benefited Abū Tālib in any way? He used to protect you and become angry on your behalf.” He replied: “Yes. He is in a shallow pool of fire. Were it not for me, he would be in the lowest depth of the Fire.”
‘Abd Allah ibn al-Hārith reported: “I heard al-‘Abbās say, ‘I said: O Messenger of Allah, Abū Tālib used to protect and support you. Has that benefited him?’ He replied: ‘Yes. I found him in the depths of the Fire and brought him out into a shallow pool.’”
Abū Sa‘īd al-Khudrī, may Allah be pleased with him, reported that when Abū Tālib, the uncle of the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, was mentioned in his presence, he said:
“Perhaps my intercession will benefit him on the Day of Resurrection, so that he will be placed in a shallow pool of fire reaching his ankles, which will cause his brain to boil.”
This is an authentic, explicit text establishing his intercession for some disbelievers so that their punishment may be lightened—indeed, so that one may receive the lightest punishment of all the inhabitants of the Fire. As is also reported in the Sahīh, Ibn ‘Abbās narrated that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said:
“Abū Tālib receives the lightest punishment of all the inhabitants of the Fire. He wears a pair of sandals that cause his brain to boil.”
Abū Sa‘īd al-Khudrī reported that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said:
“The one who receives the least punishment among the inhabitants of the Fire wears a pair of sandals of fire, and his brain boils from the heat of his sandals.”
Al-Nu‘mān ibn Bashīr said: “I heard the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, say:
‘The one who receives the lightest punishment among the inhabitants of the Fire on the Day of Resurrection is a man beneath the arches of whose feet two burning coals are placed, causing his brain to boil.’”
He also reported that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said:
“The one who receives the lightest punishment among the inhabitants of the Fire has two sandals and two straps of fire, which cause his brain to boil as a cauldron boils. He thinks that no one suffers more severely than he does, yet his punishment is the lightest of them all.”