There is a great gulf on this issue between various scholars. Most of Sunni theologians and historians are committed to the idea that the Prophet’s parents were infidels. They have used very low-down arguments and manipulations to justify their claim. They are particularly adamant on the faithlessness of the immediate parents of the Prophet and his uncle Abu Talib. It is mentioned in Fiqh al-Akbar,

“The Prophet’s parents and his uncle Abu Talib died in the state of kufr (infidelity).”

Similarly, there are other books that have elucidated on this subject. However, Shi’as were unanimous on this issue that the entire lineage of the Prophet was Muslim in the broader sense of the word Islam. Similarly, his lineage from the mother’s side was also without a blemish. All the women on this side were monotheists and of highest moral standing. There have been some Sunni scholars who shared Shi’a point of view and wrote many books to support it. We have provided here the following arguments to support our thesis.

First Argument

God affirmed in Surah Al-Shu’ara:

وَتَوَكَّلْ عَلَى الْعَزِيزِ الرَّحِيمِ

“And rely on the Mighty, the Merciful” (26:217).

الَّذِي يَرَاكَ حِينَ تَقُومُ

“Who sees you when you stand up” (26:218).

وَتَقَلُّبَكَ فِي السَّاجِدِينَ

“And your turning over and over among those who prostrate themselves before Allah [We have seen your transit from one prostrating generation to another]” (26:219).

Allama Fakhruddin Razi and the author of Tafsir al-Nishapuri quoted a narration of the Prophet in the elucidation of the above Verse, “God has transferred me from one pure seed to another chaste womb, until my birth among you.”

In Tafsir Durr al-Manthur, Allama Suyuti wrote about the meaning of the above Qur’anic Verse, “I have been shuffling among the Prophets’ seeds, until I came in this world as a Prophet.”

Similarly, it was narrated from Ibn Abbas that the Prophet had said: “God has always transferred me from one pure seed to another chaste womb.”

What more did one require to prove the belief about the ancestors of the Prophet?

It was mentioned in the book Mowaddat-ul-Qurba that once Gabriel came to the Prophet and said,

“O, Muhammad God has forbidden the fire of hell on the genome that contained you and the womb that bore you, and the lap that cared for you.”

The Prophet of God asked Gabriel to expand on the statement. Gabriel replied that from genome it was meant Abdullah, from womb it meant Amina and the lap meant Abu Talib and Fatimah Bint Asad. The same report was contained in our book Maani Al-Akhbar on the authority of Imam Ja’far As-Sadiq (‘a).

Qur’an bore witness that when Abraham was asked to build the house of God and he had completed the task with his son Ishmael, precisely at the time when a labourer demands his dues, both father and son asked:

رَبَّنَا تَقَبَّلْ مِنَّا إِنَّكَ أَنتَ السَّمِيعُ الْعَلِيمُ

“…Our Lord! accept from us; surely Thou art the Hearing, the Knowing” (2:127).

رَبَّنَا وَاجْعَلْنَا مُسْلِمَيْنِ لَكَ وَمِن ذُرِّيَّتِنَا أُمَّةً مُّسْلِمَةً لَّكَ وَأَرِنَا مَنَاسِكَنَا وَتُبْ عَلَيْنَا إِنَّكَ أَنتَ التَّوَّابُ الرَّحِيمُ

“Our Lord! and make us both submissive to Thee and (raise) from our offspring a nation submitting to Thee, and show us our ways of devotion (rites of pilgrimage) and turn to us (mercifully), surely Thou art the Oft-returning (to mercy), the Merciful” (2:128).

رَبَّنَا وَابْعَثْ فِيهِمْ رَسُولًا مِّنْهُمْ

“Our Lord! and raise up in them a Messenger from among them …” (2:129).

How could the supplications of this father and his son be disregarded? God, the details of which are contained in various other Qur’anic Verses, immediately responded to it.

This nation of Muslims that was demanded by Abraham was none other than parentage, ancestry and progeny of the Prophet. This argument confirmed the purity of the ancestry of the Prophet from Abraham to his immediate descent, but we presented this reference to show that it also included the parentage of Imam Ali as well.

This supplication showed that there must have been a group of Muslims from the time of Abraham to the era of Prophet Muhammad (S) without break. The Last of the Prophets had to be from that descent. The nation of Islam had to be prior to the traditional Islam as we define it today. They must have received teachings from the last of the Prophets (S). And, when they learnt the message, they should have said that they were Muslims right from the beginning.

People of erudition must tell otherwise - who was that group in which the Prophet was born, which was not the fruit of Abraham’s supplication? This group was the perpetual Ummah of Islam that had been alive at the time of the Prophet’s birth, believing in the constitution of Abraham.

This argument was related to the Islam of Abu Talib. We feel pity on the objectivity of Muslim scholars, who in order to save the necks of their own ancestors reverted to tarnish the image of this patron of Islam. In this pursuit, their daggers attacked the parents of the Prophet (S).

The space available in this book would not be enough to discuss the issue in any detail, but the readers could refer to “Abu Talib Mu’min al-Quraish” for complete study of this subject. The fact was that anyone who viewed this issue without prejudice from the time of the initiation of Islam, when Muslims were very weak, would not doubt on the faith of Abu Talib.

Some people with a narrow outlook made casual remarks that the attitude of Abu Talib towards the Prophet was due to him being a blood relation. It had to said that the memory of a liar was short and they would forget that the Prophet had other uncles too, who never helped him despite being close blood relations. Rather, they took part in schemes along with the infidels of Makkah to torture the Prophet, which was witnessed by the Qur’an.

On the other hand, Abu Talib was ready to sacrifice the lives of his children to save the life of the Prophet, as observed by history at the time of his exile from the city of Mecca. This showed that there was more than just the blood relation that made Abu Talib to stand firm in defence of the Prophet and his message.

Hazrat Abu Talib was a poet and many of his couplets suggested the strength of his faith in the Prophet and his message. We have quoted a few examples from his book of poetry.

Do you not understand

That we have found in Muhammad

A Prophet very similar to Moses

His Prophethood was contained in previous Books

I have faith -

That Muhammad’s religion

Is best of all religion (S)

Of the World.

The family of the Prophet was unanimous in saying that Abu Talib was a believer. Since Ahl al-Bayt (‘a) are pure and infallible in the light of the Qur’anic Verse of Tatheer and the Hadith of Thaqalayn, their unanimous declaration about this matter had to be correct and free of any fault.

Sunni Scholars accepted the stand of Ahl al-Bayt on this issue. Ibn Atheer Jazari wrote in Jami-ul-Usool: “It is concerted opinion of the family of Prophet Muhammad that Abu Talib died as a believer.”

Similarly, the author of Sirah al-Alawiyya wrote: “Entire family of the Prophet believed that Abu Talib (‘a) died as a Muslim”.

To sum up this subject, we have quoted a few lines from the statement of Imam Ali (‘a). It was mentioned in the book, Basharat-ul-Mustafa that once he was resting in Rahba, a locality of Kufa. People were around him. Suddenly a person stood up and said that he (Ali) was at the highest position with God, while his father was constrained in the fire of hell.

Imam angrily responded, “May God deface you, I swear by the Almighty Lord, who sent Muhammad (S) as His messenger, my father holds such a position with God that if he intercedes with God on behalf of all the sinners then God will not turn down his recommendations. How is it possible, that while I am the distributor of Paradise and Hell, my father will lie in anguish. On the Day of Judgement, the glow of my father’s face will subdue all lights except that of the holy five.”

It should not remain hidden from the readers that the family of the Prophet was unanimous on the purity of the ancestors of all the Prophets and their legatees.

Abu Talib’s speech that he delivered on the occasion of the Marriage of Khadija with the Prophet (S), was an open testimony to his belief in Islam. Its few initial sentences read like this, “All praise is for the Lord, who raised us from the progeny of Abraham and Ishmael and appointed us the guardians of Kaaba, where Hajj is performed; and made us leader over all people”.

Shaykh Ali Ibn Burhan wrote in his book Sirah al-Halabiyya that Abu Talib had made a will for the sons of Haashim at the time of his death. It said, “Testify the message of Muhammad (S), you will be saved.”

This statement made it clear that Abu Talib was in the state of Islam, otherwise he would not in a position to advise others what he did not do it himself.

A Historian, Ibn Asakir had admitted in his book Tarikh Dimashq that Abu Talib (‘a) had accepted Islam.

Logical Argument

If we accepted that the descent of the Prophets was from kafir individuals, then indirectly they would become idol worshippers, while their parents were bowing to the idols.

If the descent of the Prophets was from polytheists, then their teachings could be influenced by such thoughts and they (Prophets) would lose respect with the general populace.

How was it possible that God would place his chosen one with those who had the grime of infidelity and polytheism, while He had the capacity to create a womb and sow in the seed of chastity.

Clarification Of A Doubt

Some of our antagonists claim that Aazar - the uncle of Abraham and a known idol worshipper was addressed as his father in the Qur’an. In Arabic language, the word Ab (pronounced on the pattern of ‘sub’ or ‘rub’) was also applicable for the ancestry as well.

This was well documented in other Verses of the Qur’an, particularly, when Jacob asked his children about whom they will worship after his death, their reply was that they would worship the Lord of their Aaba - Issac, Ishmael and Abraham. It was understandable that Ishmael was not the father of Jacob’s children but still the word Ab had been used in the Qur’anic Verse.