55 – Al-ʿAbbās ibn ʿAbd al-Muṭṭalib related: “O Messenger of Allah, have you been of any benefit to Abū Ṭālib 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, and were it not for me (that is, for my intercession) he would be in the lowest depth of the Fire.”

(On the authority of al-ʿAbbās ibn ʿAbd al-Muṭṭalib):

Narrated by Muslim (1/134–135); Aḥmad (1/206, 207, 210); Abū Yaʿlā (213/2 and 313/2); and Ibn ʿAsākir (19/51/1), who traced all its chains and wording variants. This report is explicit that the sole cause of the mitigation is the Prophet ﷺ—namely, his intercession, as in the previous ḥadith—and not any deed of Abū Ṭālib himself. Hence there is no conflict between the ḥadith and the principle stated earlier. Ultimately, the matter amounts to a special privilege of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ and an honor with which Allah ﷻ favored him—accepting his intercession for his uncle even though the latter died upon polytheism—whereas the general rule for the polytheists is, as Allah says, “So the intercession of the intercessors will not avail them” (Q 74:48). Yet Allah bestows His grace upon whom He wills, and who is more entitled to it than the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, the leader of the prophets? May Allah’s blessings be upon them all.

The second answer: Were we to concede, purely for the sake of argument, that the reason Abū Ṭālib’s punishment is lightened is his support for the Prophet ﷺ despite rejecting him, that would simply be an exception to the rule, and the rule must not be overturned by this ḥadith—as is established in legal theory. Nonetheless, we adopt the first answer because of its clarity. Allah knows best.

56 – “He used to eat cucumber together with fresh dates.”

Narrated by al-Bukhārī (2/506); Muslim (6/122); Abū Dāwūd (no. 3835); al-Tirmidhī (1/339); al-Dārimī (2/103); Ibn Mājah (3325); and Aḥmad (1/