type: enemy
sourceFile: Sirah Transcript by Yasir QadhiAbu Lahab
And then (x) Abu Lahab (أبو لهب) all by himself from one mother. Abu Lahab is by himself.
When the news of the birth of the Prophet ﷺ spread amongst the Quraysh, his uncle Abu Lahab (أبو لهب) [whom as we all know would later become one of the main enemies of the Prophet ﷺ when his prophethood begins] set a slave girl free just because she came with this good news of the birth of his nephew. This shows how happy he was. And there is a hadith in Musnad Imam Ahmad that al-Abbas (العباس) saw Abu Lahab in his dream (after Abu Lahab had died) being punished with the utmost severe punishment. Al-Abbas asked him, "Didn't your relationship with the Prophet ﷺ [as his uncle] benefit you?" He said, "No, except for the one thing that I did: when the good news came that he was born, I freed Thuwaybah (ثويبة) (the slave girl); and because of this, I am allowed a few drops of water."
And one of the things Abd al-Muttalib did on his deathbed was to entrust the Prophet ﷺ to his son, Abu Talib, as Abu Talib was the full brother of Abdullah, the father of the Prophet ﷺ. (Abd al-Muttalib had married 5 wives one after the other, and from one of them he had several daughters and two [or three] sons, that is Abdullah and Abu Talib [and al-Zubayr]. So they were full brothers unlike Abu Lahab or Hamzah.) So Abu Talib took charge of the Prophet ﷺ, and he lived a long life, and passed away when the Prophet ﷺ was over 50 years old [see episode 19.-,The%20Death%20of%20Abu%20Talib,-The%20first%20of).
In the early days, the dawah was not a 'secret' dawah; the better word to use is it was a private dawah. What is the difference? Secret means nobody knew about it. Private means you kept it to yourself but it was an open secret. When the Prophet ﷺ started preaching Islam, it was a private dawah — rumors spread and the people heard about it; and this is proven from the fact that Amr b. Abasah came all the way from Yemen. But because in this early stage, the Prophet ﷺ was only preaching privately to his friends and those whom he trusted, so he said to Amr, "It's too early. Don't accept Islam now. When you hear I am victorious, then come back to me." Thus because it was a private dawah, there could be no public opposition. For three years, the Prophet ﷺ did not preach to the masses. He didn't preach to the pilgrims or the visitors of Makkah or even his own relatives whom he thought would not accept Islam, e.g., Abu Lahab, Abu Jahl — they were not approached. Of course they heard about this new theology being preached, but they didn't do anything to the Prophet ﷺ because he ﷺ wasn't interfering with the trade of Makkah, nor standing and preaching aloud.
The first stage: He went public to the Banu Hashim only, that is his immediate tribe. Recall the [noble] people of Makkah were all Quraysh. So the Prophet ﷺ invited his immediate tribe - his immediate uncles and aunts, over 40 of the adults, to his own house and told Ali b. Abi Talib to prepare food and soup, and the narrator says, "Even though the food was in one plate, all 40 ate to their fill as if they ate from the plate themselves. And they drank the soup to their fill as if they drank from the one cup alone." Abu Lahab sensed that something was going to happen - he was scared that the Prophet ﷺ would make public what was now private. So before they finished eating, Abu Lahab gave an excuse and said he needs to leave - of course he was a senior, so when he left, it destroyed the aura that was being created, so a number of others also left with him. The Prophet ﷺ understood this was a tactic of Abu Lahab. So a few days later the Prophet ﷺ did the same thing, he told Ali to make another meal, invited them again, and this time, before they could finish, he stood up and began preaching. He began by praising Allah SWT and giving Khutbah al-Hajah, and then said, "O Bani Abd al-Muttalib, I do not know of any Arab before me who is coming to his people with a message that is better than what I am coming to you with. I am coming to you with something that will give you your deen and your dunya, this world and the akhira; I am coming as a messenger from Allah SWT that if you leave your idolatry and turn to Him, then Allah will give you all the good of this world and give you the Jannah in the next." And he went on preaching and preaching. Before this time, they might have heard that the Prophet ﷺ is preaching, but they have not been approached directly. This was the first time the message of Islam openly reached many of their ears. Abu Lahab became irritated and said to the people around the Prophet ﷺ, "This seems to be an unworthy message, we have our way of our forefathers. Who does this young man think he is to come and oppose the ways of our forefathers." Abu Lahab was the only one that was harsh, the rest of his uncles and aunts took the message not that seriously. And in one of the source books, it is said that Ali RA stood up and said, "O Messenger of Allah, I will help you" - and of course there is no surprise in Ali RA being this brave. At this point, his immediate relatives did not accept nor reject.
The second stage: A few days/weeks later, soon after this, this was when the Prophet ﷺ went public to the whole city of Makkah. Reported in Bukhari: "The Prophet ﷺ climbed the Mountain of Safa which was the closest mountain to the Kabah." It was much taller than it is now. So for a person in Makkah to climb to the top of Safa, this was the equivalent of, "I have an announcement to make." So the Prophet ﷺ climbed all the way to the top of Safa and he began calling the people. We have to realize Makkah only had around 1,000 people - small little village. So when the Prophet ﷺ was calling all the tribes, everyone came. People stopped doing what they were doing and they came and listened. The Prophet ﷺ waited for everyone to assemble and then he said, "If I were to inform you about something, do you trust me?" And they said, "We know nothing but good from you, you are our son and the son of our brother, you are our nephew etc." "Have you heard any lie from me?" "We have heard nothing but good. You are al-Amin." And then the Prophet ﷺ said, "If I were to tell you that there is an army coming to attack, would you believe me [without any checking, just with my word]?" And they said, "Yes, we never heard you ever say a lie." So here is when the Prophet ﷺ said, "Then know therefore, I am a Warner sent by Allah, to proclaim the coming of a severe punishment on the Day of Judgment unless you turn to Allah and leave your idolatry. O tribe of Kaab b. Lu'ayy, save yourselves from the Fire of Hell, I will not be able to help you. O Bani Murrah b. Kaab, save yourselves from the Fire of Hell, I will not be able to help you. O Bani Abd Manaf, O Bani Abd al-Muttalib, so on and so forth..." He began with the furthest tribe that was related to him, and worked his way inward, closer and closer, until he got to, "O Banu Hashim," and then he began mentioning his uncles [and aunts] by name, "O Hamzah b. Abd al-Muttalib", "O Safiyyah bint Abd al-Muttalib" etc. And he concluded with the person who was the most dear & the most beloved to him, "O Fatima bint Muhammad, you need to save yourself from the Fire of Hell, I will not be able to help you on the Day of Judgment." And with Fatima he ﷺ added one phrase, "Except that in this world I will give you all that I have, (I'm your father, you ask me anything that I have, it is yours. But in the hereafter, I cannot save you from Allah's punishment)." When the Prophet ﷺ finished this very emotional message, this is when Abu Lahab stood up, picked up some sand and through it in the direction of the Prophet ﷺ. This is meant to show vulgarity and say, "What is this [message]? It's not even worth this sand I am throwing!" It's a sign of great arrogance. Then he said, "May you be cursed O Muhammad! Is this why you called us here?!" And this is when Allah revealed in the Quran Surah al-Masad [111:1-5]:
Abu Lahab was the first person to publicly oppose and ridicule the message. In the house of the Prophet ﷺ a few days ago, he wasn't that rude. But now in public, because of his arrogance and rudeness, he publicly opposed the Prophet ﷺ in a vulgar manner. And thus Allah revealed Surah al-Masad. This is of course the sunnah of Allah SWT - never has a messenger been sent except that he has to face struggles and hardships against his own people. Most of mankind do not want to change their lifestyles. It's difficult to give up what you're used to, it's difficult to lead a religious life.
It's also narrated that Abu Jahl would stand outside of Makkah and tell the pilgrims, "Careful, there is a madman in town." Sometimes Abu Lahab would do this as well, "He is my own nephew and he has gone crazy. And I warn you, do not listen to him because if you do, you will be mesmerized." "He is a magician who will captivate you. So when you see him, turn around, put your hands in your ears, and do not listen to him." But subhan'Allah, this was the cause of the conversion of more than one person - one of them said, "Oh, if he is a madman, I will cure him since I am a doctor." So he went to the Prophet ﷺ and said, "I heard you are a madman, or have some issues. So I will cure you." But the Prophet ﷺ said, "I am not mad; but listen to my message." And the Prophet ﷺ recited Khutbah al-Hajah:
Abu Salama, who was the husband of Ummi Salama, the future wife of the Prophet ﷺ, kept the protection. (Abu Salama is a cousin of the Prophet ﷺ from his mother's side, and was a Makhzumi, the tribe of Abu Jahl. His mother is Abdullah's sister i.e. the Prophet's ﷺ father's sister.) Abu Salama reached out to Abu Talib, his mother's brother. (He didn't reach out to Abu Jahl, because there's no way Abu Jahl would give anyone protection.) So Abu Talib said, "Of course I will protect you." When Abu Jahl found out about this, he got angry and he sent people to Abu Talib. But Abu Talib said, "Well, if I'm going to give protection to one nephew (the Prophet ﷺ), why can't I give protection to the other nephew (Abu Salama)?" And argument broke out. But Allah brought about a solution we would never expect - through Abu Lahab. Abu Lahab felt compassion for his brother, Abu Talib, so he stood up and said, "Have you not irritated this old man (Abu Talib) enough? Let him be. For by Allah, if you are going to continue, I will have to force my side and I will choose him." So Abu Lahab defended against Abu Jahl. Here he is speaking as a tribesman and defending Abu Talib out of love for his brother - even though his stance ended up benefiting Islam in this case, but this type of love is not going to help one from the punishment of Hell; as it isn't done out of religious love for the Prophet ﷺ. And indeed Allah helps Islam through whoever He chooses. The Prophet ﷺ said in Madinah many years later:
The Prophet ﷺ had 10 uncles (they were 11 brothers including the father of the Prophet ﷺ). Of those 11 brothers, 7 died before the Prophet ﷺ preached the message. So 7 never heard the Prophet ﷺ preaching tawhid. Out of the [remaining] four (Hamzah RA, Abbas RA, Abu Talib, and Abu Lahab), two converted and two rejected. Coincidentally, the two who rejected had pagan names, and the two who accepted had beautiful, noble names. (Side note: Some people confuse Abu Lahab with Abu Jahl, but note that Abu Lahab is from Banu Hashim and Abu Jahl is from Banu Makhzum. Two different people completely.)
Abu Lahab's name was actually Abd al-Uzza. And he was a very handsome man so they called him 'Abu Lahab' as if fire is coming from his cheeks and face. But Allah mocked this name and literally called him 'Lahab' to mean he will burn in the Fire. (Recall Abd al-Muttalib had 5 wives and one of them gave birth only to Abu Lahab.)
After the death of Abu Talib, Abu Lahab instantly took charge since he is the most senior pagan Hashimi alive. And surprisingly, he seems to have a soft spot all of a sudden. When someone from outside the Banu Hashim curses the Prophet ﷺ severely, Abu Lahab goes to the Prophet ﷺ and says, "O Muhammad, be as you were in the time of Abu Talib (i.e. the privileges you had in the time of Abu Talib, you have them now). For as long as I am alive, you shall live in the same manner." So he felt some responsibility to protect the Prophet ﷺ as a chieftain of the Banu Hashim. (And this is a common & simple human psychology - before you get responsibility you can say things, brag and boast etc. but when you get those responsibilities you act differently.) Before Abu Lahab came to power he basically said he will kill the Prophet ﷺ etc. but when he became the chief, he settled down. And there is a prestige element that as a chieftain he has to guard and protect his people, which includes the Prophet ﷺ. It was not out of love for the Prophet ﷺ.
And so when the people heard this, the people spread a rumor that Abu Lahab accepted Islam. So they asked him, "Have you become a Muslim?" Of course Abu Lahab said, "No, I am just protecting my flock." So Abu Jahl and Utbah hatched a plot to remove this protection. They said to Abu Lahab, "Why don't you ask your nephew about the fate of your father Abd al-Muttalib?" And so Abu Lahab did this. Now of course it's a trick question, so the Prophet ﷺ answered generically, "He is with his people." And this shows the wisdom of the Prophet ﷺ that he didn't give incendiary remarks (he didn't make things worse) but at the same time he didn't lie. So Abu Lahab went back happy and told Abu Jahl, "Oh it's fine - he is with his people." So Abu Jahl said, "You fool! And where is his people according to him?! In the Fire of Hell!" Abu Lahab finally gets it so he became enraged and withdrew his protection from the Prophet ﷺ.
We continue from last time. We discussed how the Prophet's ﷺ uncle and wife passed away. With this, Abu Lahab first offered protection to the Prophet ﷺ but then retracted it after asking, "Where will my father be?" As a result of this, life in Makkah became almost impossible and this is when the Prophet ﷺ began thinking of leaving Makkah. Notice for the last 10 years he didn't think of leaving. Only when politically he had no protection and it became almost impossible to remain there, he thought of moving. This shows the general ruling is that we should remain in the society we live in as the Prophet ﷺ did. This is a huge lesson for us: Even if life gets difficult, we have a responsibility still in our own communities. We learn from the Sirah that a person should stay in his society for as long as it's feasible. The Prophet ﷺ only did Hijrah when it became impossible for him to remain in Makkah.
And so the Prophet ﷺ decided to try giving dawah in Ta'if - this happened in the month of Shawwal, basically a few weeks after Abu Talib & Khadija RA died, and as soon as Abu Lahab retracted his protection. The Prophet ﷺ tried a secret attempt, along with Zayd b. Harithah, his adopted son - they ventured on foot to Ta'if. They didn't take a horse or a camel so as not to arouse any suspicion. In our times it takes an hour and a half by car. To walk up would take 1-2 days; taking a horse would be significantly easier but still the Prophet ﷺ chose not to. This also shows the tactics and planning of the Prophet ﷺ: Yes he had trust in Allah, but this doesn't mean he acted foolishly. Indeed putting your trust in Allah doesn't mean you be rash. But rather you plan everything perfectly and then in your heart you realize it's up to Allah. And so him and Zayd left the town by foot arousing no suspicion. Indeed if the Quraysh knew what he was doing they might harm him then and there.
"O Allah, to You I complain of my weakness of strength, and my helplessness and lowliness before men. You are the most merciful and the Lord of those who are humble and weak, and You are my Lord. To whom do You leave me with? To somebody who is a stranger that will treat me harshly (Ta'if)? Or to a close relative who You have given ultimate power over me (Abu Lahab)? As long as You are not angry with me, I don't care. Except for the fact that Your protection from tribulation, Your ease and comfort, is more easy for me. O Allah, I seek refuge in Your Face that is the source of the light that gets rid of the darkness because of which this world is guided. And I seek refuge in Your Face that Your anger comes down upon me. It's Your right to criticize until You are content. And there is no power or change except with You and through You."
So as explained, by walking out of Makkah and disappearing for 10 days, the Prophet's ﷺ fate is sealed. He is officially cut off from Makkah. So now he is basically in limbo. Zayd asked him, "Ya Rasulullah, how are we going to enter Makkah now that you have been 'expelled' from it?" The Prophet ﷺ said, "Allah will make a way out for us. And Allah will help his prophet and make the truth supreme." Subhan'Allah! There is no Makkah or Ta'if - he is literally camped in the desert but he has ultimate tawakkul. This is where tawakkul comes into play - he did everything he could, didn't fall short in anything, so now it's up to Allah. So the Prophet ﷺ sent emissaries to two/three allies in the Quraysh that he thought could help. Obviously he didn't even bother with Banu Makhzum since Abu Jahl and al-Walid b. al-Mughirah were the ones in charge. The first man he approached was al-Akhnas b. Shurayq, but he sent a message back saying, "I am not in a position to give you protection." The Prophet ﷺ then sent the request to Suhayl b. Amr's tribe. (Note both Suhayl and al-Akhnas eventually accept Islam. This shows that the Prophet ﷺ is not sending it to random people. These are people he knows they sympathize with him unlike Abu Lahab, Abu Jahl, etc.) Suhayl b. Amr then sent a message back basically saying he too cannot give protection. The excuses they gave were flimsy excuses, not true excuses - the Prophet ﷺ knows what he's doing. If they wanted to, they could have given him protection. (Note as well the fact that they gave flimsy excuses shows that their animosity towards Islam is not the same as the animosity of Abu Jahl and others.)
Recall we discussed the death of Abu Talib after which the protection the Prophet ﷺ enjoyed ceased to exist. Initially Abu Lahab felt obligated to give him the same protection but within a week or two he cancelled it. After this Mut'im b. Adi offered protection to the Prophet ﷺ. It was under the protection of Mut'im the Prophet ﷺ lived.
And there are numerous reports from eyewitnesses reporting what the Prophet ﷺ would say at the time. Of them is the story of Rabi'ah b. Abbad who many years later said, "I remember when I was a young child, a young man (the Prophet ﷺ) came and spoke to my father, telling him to embrace the worship of Allah, and to leave idolatry, and to accept him into his tribe. I also saw an elderly man standing behind him, wearing a Yemeni cloak, having two ponytails. When this young man finished and moved to the next tent, this elderly man came forward and said, 'O people, do not give up the way of your forefathers.'" So Rabi'ah says, "I asked my father who these two men were, and he told me, 'The first man is the man claiming to be a prophet, and the elderly man is his uncle Abdul Uzza (Abu Lahab).'"
So what happened? The Quraysh came together in Dar al-Nadwa, in the middle of the night, holding a secret meeting. And representatives for all the tribes came except for the Banu Hashim, even Abu Lahab, because it would have been a conflict of interest. Why? Because they were planning to harm his own blood. No matter how much Abu Lahab would have liked it, he couldn't give the 'green light.' It was very crafty of them to leave Abu Lahab out. They also left out Mut'im b. Adi. He is the one who is protecting the Prophet ﷺ. So they figured out they can't invite him; nor Abu Lahab, as he simply cannot go against the custom of jahili tribalism and get his hands guilty with his own blood. Not that he loves the Prophet ﷺ. But it's a matter of tribal honor and the customs of the time. If Abu Lahab let the Prophet ﷺ die knowingly, it would have been a shame to him forever.
On this hadith: "We do not ask for help from pagans," we have varying opinions. It has been used politically in our times, in Gulf War I, Gulf War II, etc. "Is it allowed to ask for military help from a non-Muslim?" The four schools of thought differ as to the extent of its implications. Some scholars say that you can never ask for any such help. Other scholars say that it is allowed with conditions. So there is a spectrum of opinion. Imam al-Nawawi says, "This hadith shows that the general rule is that you don't ask help from the pagan army. But there are exceptions. The Prophet ﷺ himself asked helped from Abdullah b. Urayqit (a pagan) at a time of great sensitivity (he was the guide during the Hijrah)!" Think about it - this man could have got 100 camels as a reward for turning the Prophet ﷺ in. Yet the Prophet ﷺ trusted his life with Abdullah b. Urayqit, after Allah AWJ. So based on this, Imam al-Nawawi says if a person has a good opinion of Islam, and can be trusted, and the situation calls for it, then one can ask the help of mushriks against an enemy. Similarly, the Prophet ﷺ asked help from Mut'im b. Adi after Abu Lahab stopped giving protection to him (after Abu Talib died). The point being we should know that there is a spectrum of opinion. And frankly, each opinion has some strength and evidence to it. And in Sh. YQ's humble opinion, it is a case by case situation and basis - when such a situation arises, then the scholars of that region and land, let them talk among themselves and come to a conclusion. And this is an ijtihadi issue anyway.
In March 624, she reported a frightening dream to her brother Abbas. She had dreamed that a camel had halted near Makkah and that its rider had shouted: "Come forth, O people! And do not leave your men to face a disaster that will come three days hence!" Then the man had climbed a mountain and thrown down a rock, which had shattered, spraying pieces on every building in the city. Abbas warned Atikah not to tell anyone about this dream, but he told a friend, who told his father, and soon it was common knowledge in Makkah. Abu Jahl asked Abbas: "Are you not satisfied that your men should play the prophet, that your women should do so also? Atikah has predicted that there will be war in three days. If the three days pass and nothing happens, we will write you down as the greatest liars in Arabia!" Three days later, a messenger from Abu Sufyan arrived in the valley, stood up on his camel, and tore his shirt, shouting: "O Quraysh! The merchant-camels, the merchant-camels! Muhammad and his companions are lying in wait for your property, which is with Abu Sufyan! I do not think that you will overtake it! Help! Help!" Thus alerted, the Quraysh armed themselves for the Battle of Badr. However, Atikah's brother Abu Lahab did not join the army, saying he was afraid of Atikah's predictive dream.
Abu Lahab (أبو لهب) himself, who was the uncle of the Prophet ﷺ and the chieftain of the Banu Hashim, decided not to go and instead found someone to go in his place. The person, al-As b. Wa'il (العاص بن وائل), had an outstanding loan of 4,000 dirhams with Abu Lahab. So Abu Lahab said, "Go in my place and I'll forgive this loan and wipe it out." So this person went and Abu Lahab did not go. It's not mentioned why he didn't go. Perhaps along with the natural fear and cowardice of meeting an enemy and of being killed, Allah knows best, there was also probably a sense of personal conflict that at the end of the day, it's his subtribe he will be fighting, and it's his own nephew. He ultimately could not meet his own tribe in battle - this goes against all that the jahili Arab stood for. Even though Abu Lahab is not worthy of any praise, nonetheless sometimes we find he did some things of nobility (according to his custom, not according to Islam). E.g. When the Prophet ﷺ was born, he was so happy he freed a slave; and because of this the Prophet ﷺ said he will be given a little bit of water in Hellfire. Also, he initially protected the Prophet ﷺ after the death of Abu Talib. Despite all that happened, he said, "At the end of the day, he (the Prophet ﷺ) is my tribe, my nephew. I must protect him." So there seems to be that deep down inside, he had some sense of karam (كرم - nobility) that stopped him from fighting the Prophet ﷺ in battle. But again, this is Sh. YQ's theory. The classical books don't mention anything about why would Abu Lahab not go out and fight.
Also note even though Abu Lahab is of the worst, there are people much worse than him e.g. Abu Jahl and Umayya.
Utbah and Abu Lahab, perhaps their reasons of not wanting to go was somewhat noble from a Jahiliyyah standards. But Uqba b. Abi Mu'ayt's reason was out of pure cowardice. Uqba b. Abi Mu'ayt (عقبة بن أبي معيط) was perhaps the lowest of the low of the enemies of the Prophet ﷺ. As we said, those who opposed Islam in Makkah was of spectrum. Some of them, even though they were pagans, they nonetheless had some nobility - they didn't do that which was undignified. And the best example of this is Abu Sufyan - despite his Jahiliyyah, paganism, etc., he had a sense of nobility in him. Thus he never did anything vulgar or crude or demeaning to his own dignity. Generally speaking (and of course there are always exceptions), those that were noble enemies, Allah guided them; and those who had no manners etc. were not guided. Uqba was perhaps the worst of the worst - filthiest of the filthy. This is perhaps why Allah didn't even mention him in the Quran. He's so filthy he's not even worthy of being mentioned.
As we said, the Prophet ﷺ specified two people should not be killed. In one narration it's said the Prophet ﷺ specified that all of Banu Hashim must not be killed. Why? Because they have been forced to fight (recall Abu Lahab didn't even come). Along with this, he said not to kill Abu al-Bukhturi since he helped broke the Boycott. Thus the Prophet ﷺ here is returning the favor. Those who have done good for the Muslims, they will be remembered. This clearly shows us that we as Muslims living in a non-Muslim land, we look at the sympathetic non-Muslims, we see who's supporting the cause of freedom for every religion to practice its faith, and we do not treat them the same way we treat Islamophobes. This is clear cut from the Sirah. Those who treat us with justice and dignity and kindness, we must return the favor. There are some isolationist amongst us who say, "ALL kuffar this, ALL kuffar that," but wallahi this is wrong. Yes they have kufr, but some kuffar, they also stand for truth and justice. Their kufr doesn't prevent them from standing up for truth. And Abu al-Bukhturi was one such person. And Mut'im b. Adi was another person. If people stand for truth and justice, their kufr shouldn't stop us from respecting them and standing with them in noble causes.
Mut'im is already dead. But recall Mut'im was one of those who fed the Banu Hashim when they were boycotted, he helped break the Boycott, and he gave protection to the Prophet ﷺ when Abu Lahab revoked his protection. And so with this statement at Badr, the Prophet ﷺ is repaying the favor, even though Mut'im was a kafir. (This is like the 21-gun salute in our times.)
And it was as if Allah willed he saved one of the best for the very last - that is, the death of Abu Lahab.
The last senior person, who was of the scum of Makkah, left was Abu Lahab. As we mentioned many times, those who had an ounce of dignity and decency, many times they were saved. Abu Sufyan, Suhayl b. Amr, etc., are all examples of this.
Recall Abu Lahab did not participate in Badr as he hired someone to go in his place. Why? Frankly because it was too awkward for him to go, as it really was against everything the Quraysh stood for i.e. he would be fighting his own tribe. When Abu Lahab heard of the news of the death of Abu Jahl etc., he could not believe this and said, "I will ask Abu Sufyan myself! I don't believe these deserters!" Finally Abu Sufyan returned and they met at the house of al-Abbas who was a prisoner of war. And Abbas of course is tied up in Madinah; and his wife and servant are at home. Abu Lahab is Abbas's older brother. And Abu Sufyan came over there to inform him what happened. Abu Lahab said, "Tell me exactly what happened." Abu Sufyan said, "By Allah, as soon as we met the Muslims, it was as if they overpowered us without us doing anything. They killed as they pleased, and took prisoners as they pleased. And despite all that happened, I cannot criticize our side. For by Allah, I saw a group of men with white faces, riding horses that were black and white, hovering between the heavens and the earth, none of us could overpower them." And indeed Abu Lahab at this broke down with depression.
So Abbas's slave is listening in and he jumps up with joy saying, "By Allah! Those were the angels helping the Muslims!" Now Abu Lahab, when he saw this slave rejoicing at the defeat of the Quraysh, he lost it. He jumped up, grabbed the slave to the ground, and pummeled him to near death. And the slave can't really defend - even if he wanted to defend, he's going to have a worse ending later on. So Ummi al-Fadl comes out and tries to stop Abu Lahab from killing the slave; and he turns on her and begins beating her. This is a man who has truly lost it. So she responds back with, "So when the sayyid (Abbas) is gone, this is what you do to his household?!" i.e. "What kind of leader are you?" This made Abu Lahab feel so ashamed, he fled with humiliation and guilt.
After this, he was afflicted with a type of disease (the books of Sirah mention various diseases; some say a type of worm came to him), and he was not seen after this - he died shortly after. So Allah AWJ got rid of the very last of those evil batch of the Quraysh, that is Abu Lahab.
Immediately after the Quraysh army leaves, al-Abbas sent a trusted servant to the Prophet ﷺ and gave all the details about the army: The army size, how many horses, how many arms, etc. Why did he delay? Firstly perhaps the Quraysh themselves did not trust al-Abbas - after all he has not shown his animosity against the Prophet ﷺ unlike Abu Lahab did. Or —and this is also a plausible theory— he just couldn't send anybody until the city is empty, or else they would know. The servant he sent goes as fast as humanly possible to Madinah in 3 days! It was as fast as possible. The Quraysh did it in 7, so the clock is ticking. And the servant finds the Prophet ﷺ in Quba, and he hands the Prophet ﷺ the letter, and the Prophet ﷺ tells Ubay b. Kaab (أبي بن كعب) to read the letter. Ubay tells the Prophet ﷺ all the details; and the Prophet ﷺ says to Ubay, "Do not tell anybody about this news."
(Tangent: How many daughters did the Prophet ﷺ have? Four. The order was: Zaynab, Ruqayyah, Ummi Kulthum, and Fatima. And most likely, Fatima was born in Islam, the other three before Islam. In the days of Jahiliyyah, Ruqayyah and Ummi Kulthum were engaged to the sons of Abu Lahab. But when the dawah began, Abu Lahab canceled the engagements. And the Quraysh also put pressure on Abu al-As that, "Ask whatever you want and name any woman you want, but get rid of Zaynab. Divorce her and we will give you any woman you want in marriage." But he refused and said, "No one can take the place of Zaynab"—he loved her immensely and was not bribed. So they remained married, and when the Prophet ﷺ migrated to Madinah, Zaynab stayed in Makkah with her husband. And note Zaynab had a daughter whose name was Umamah [أمامة], the one whom the Prophet ﷺ prayed with while carrying her in salah as reported in Bukhari. Zaynab also had a son, but he died as an infant; whereas Umamah lived a long life and she married Ali b. Abi Talib [after her aunt Fatima RA dies], and they had some children as well.)
How many uncles of the Prophet ﷺ play a role in the Sirah? 4: Hamzah, Abbas, Abu Talib, and Abu Lahab. As for the other uncles (al-Harith and al-Zubayr), they are not alive when the dawah phase begins. Only four uncles lived to see the Prophet ﷺ as a prophet. One of them, Abu Lahab, is the worst enemy; another, Abu Talib, is the best non-Muslim ever — this is the qadr of Allah; two blood brothers, one of them is the worst of the non-Muslims, the other is the best. And then we have the Muslims: Hamzah and al-Abbas; and again, there is a difference: Hamzah converts earlier in the middle of the Makkan period and becomes the Sayyid of the Shuhada; whereas Abbas is the very last Muhajir.