Utbah ibn Abi Lahab

ProfileUtbah ibn Abi Lahab

Utbah (may Allah be pleased with him) was the eldest son of Abu Lahab, whose name was Abd al-Uzza ibn Abd al-Muttalib, an uncle of the Prophet ﷺ, and of Arwa bint Harb, known as Umm Jamil, the sister of Abu Sufyan ibn Harb. He is not to be confused with his brother Utaybah, nor with Utbah ibn Rabi'ah of Quraysh. According to the early biographies, Abu Lahab was wealthy, handsome and generous to the pilgrims, and his house shared a wall with the Prophet's ﷺ. According to the early biographies, when Thuwaybah brought him the news that his brother's son had been born, he was so glad that he freed her. Urwa told that when Abu Lahab died, one of his family saw him in a dream in a bad state, and he said that he had found no rest since leaving them, except that he was given water to drink from this, between the thumb and the finger, because he had freed Thuwaybah (Sahih al-Bukhari). That is Urwa's report of a dream, and not a saying of the Prophet ﷺ.

Abu Lahab was the one who turned on him. Ibn Abbas told that when the verse telling the Prophet ﷺ to warn his nearest kindred came down, he went up Mount Safa and called the people, and asked them whether they would believe him if he told them that horsemen were coming up the side of the mountain. They said that they had never known him to lie. He said that he was a warner of a severe punishment, and Abu Lahab said, "May you perish! Is it for this that you gathered us?" Then Surah al-Masad came down (Sahih al-Bukhari; Sahih Muslim). Jundub told that when the Prophet ﷺ was ill and did not pray at night for a night or two, a woman came and said that his devil had left him, and Allah revealed the first verses of Surah ad-Duha (Sahih al-Bukhari). The commentators name her as Umm Jamil.

According to the early biographies, before the revelation the Prophet ﷺ had agreed that two of his daughters would marry two of Abu Lahab's sons, Ruqayyah to Utbah and Umm Kulthum to Utaybah, and neither marriage had been completed. When Surah al-Masad came down, Abu Lahab told his sons that he would not speak to them unless they divorced the daughters of Muhammad ﷺ. According to the early biographies, Utbah divorced Ruqayyah, and no more is told of how he did it, and it grieved the Prophet ﷺ. His brother Utaybah did more. According to the early biographies, he came to the Prophet ﷺ in public, said that he disbelieved, tore his shirt and spat at him, and the Prophet ﷺ said, "O Allah, set one of Your dogs on him." On a trading journey to Ash-Sham, Utaybah's father, afraid of that prayer, asked his companions to guard him, and at az-Zarqa a lion came at night, passed the others, and killed him. Ruqayyah and then Umm Kulthum went on to marry Uthman ibn Affan. Abu Lahab did not fight at Badr, and died within days of hearing what had happened there.

According to the early biographies, when the Prophet ﷺ entered Makkah he asked his uncle al-Abbas where his two cousins Utbah and Mu'attib were, since he did not see them. Al-Abbas said that they had fled to the edge of Makkah, as other leaders of Quraysh had, afraid that he would take revenge. The Prophet ﷺ told him to bring them. When they heard that he wanted them, they came quickly. He took each of them by the hand and walked with them to the Multazam of the Kaaba, speaking to them for a long time, and then let them go. Al-Abbas saw joy in his face and asked him about it, and he said that he had asked his Lord for his two cousins, and that Allah had given them to him.

According to the early biographies, Utbah and Mu'attib were among those who did not leave his side at Hunayn, and they fought with him at Ta'if. Al-Bara told that on that day the Muslims were struck by the archers of the Hawazin, and the Prophet ﷺ got down from his mule and called out, "I am the Prophet, no lie, I am the son of Abd al-Muttalib" (Sahih al-Bukhari; Sahih Muslim). The family of Abu Lahab, who had been the first to turn from him, had come back to him.

WatchA lecture about Utbah ibn Abi Lahab

Meet them inWhere they appear in the seerah

SourcesSources for this profile