Mukhtaṣar Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim · Kitāb al-Īmān
Muslim, 1/40 (no. 24); al-Bukhārī, no. 1360. Mukhtaṣar no. 3.
When death came to Abū Ṭālib, the Messenger of Allāh ﷺ came to him and found with him Abū Jahl and ʿAbd Allāh ibn Abī Umayyah ibn al-Mughīrah. The Messenger of Allāh ﷺ said: “O uncle, say ‘lā ilāha illā Allāh’ — a word by which I may plead for you before Allāh.” Abū Jahl and ʿAbd Allāh ibn Abī Umayyah said: “O Abū Ṭālib, do you turn away from the religion of ʿAbd al-Muṭṭalib?” The Messenger of Allāh ﷺ kept offering it to him and repeating those words, until Abū Ṭālib said, as the last thing he spoke to them, that he was upon the religion of ʿAbd al-Muṭṭalib, and refused to say ‘lā ilāha illā Allāh.’ The Messenger of Allāh ﷺ said: “By Allāh, I shall surely seek forgiveness for you, so long as I am not forbidden to.” Then Allāh revealed: ﴿It is not for the Prophet and those who believe to seek forgiveness for the idolaters, even though they be near of kin.﴾ And Allāh revealed concerning Abū Ṭālib: ﴿Indeed, you do not guide whom you love, but Allāh guides whom He wills.﴾
Summarised from al-Baḥr al-Muḥīṭ al-Thajjāj, 1/508–535
1. The worth of the word of tawḥīd. The Prophet's insistence, at his uncle's deathbed, upon a single word — lā ilāha illā Allāh — shows that upon it hangs a man's deliverance, and that it was the pledge that would have saved him before Allāh.
2. The peril of evil company. The presence of Abū Jahl and Ibn Abī Umayyah, and their turning Abū Ṭālib back to the way of his fathers, shows how an evil companion may ruin a man at his most vulnerable hour.
3. Blind following of forefathers. Abū Ṭālib's clinging to “the religion of ʿAbd al-Muṭṭalib” is the plea of every misguided people who follow their fathers rather than the truth brought to them.
4. No seeking forgiveness for those who die upon shirk. The āyah that came down cut off any pleading for those who die as idolaters, however near of kin — for the bond of the religion outweighs the bond of blood.
5. Guidance is in Allāh's hand alone. Even the Messenger ﷺ could not guide the uncle he loved: “you do not guide whom you love, but Allāh guides whom He wills.”
6. Kinship is of no use against disbelief. The Prophet's own uncle, who had shielded and raised him, was lost by refusing the word — nearness of blood shields none from the Fire.