Our Master’s uncle, Hadhrat Abbas (ra), had actually embraced Islam along with his wife, Ummu Fazl, and his freed slave, Abu Rafi, before the Battle of Badr. However, he had difficulty openly declaring his faith because of his considerable wealth and the fact that a significant portion of his money was with the Meccan polytheists. Openly declaring his conversion would make it impossible for him to recover the money he had lent to them. Therefore, he couldn’t reveal his faith, and he was ultimately compelled to participate in the Battle of Badr due to the insistence of the polytheists. As it is well known, he later became a prisoner.

Hadhrat Abbas (ra) had a freed slave, Abu Rafi, who did not participate in the expedition and remained in Mecca. Let us hear what happened during that time from his perspective:

“Abu Lahab had not gone to Badr for various reasons and had sent Asi bin Hisham in his place. A considerable amount of time had passed. One day, we were in the Zamzam room, making wooden water cups, when Abu Lahab arrived, dragging his feet... Ummu Fazl was also with me. Abu Lahab sat down with his back to me… 

At that moment, the people outside began shouting, “Sufyan bin Haris has arrived! Sufyan is here!” Upon hearing this news, Abu Lahab immediately exclaimed, “Quickly, bring him to me! I swear that the latest news from Badr is with him!”

Sufyan came before Abu Lahab, and people gathered around them. Abu Lahab, filled with curiosity and excitement, asked, “My nephew, tell me, what has happened? What did they do?”

Sufyan calmly recounted the events, saying, “I swear that when we encountered them, we surrendered ourselves to their mercy. They could have killed us or taken us as prisoners as they pleased. But I must say, I don’t blame our people. We were confronted by a multitude of people with white, well-bred horses, and it was impossible for anyone or any force to stand against them…”

When Abu Sufyan made this statement, I couldn’t contain myself, and I blurted out, “They are indeed angels!” Hearing my words, Abu Lahab became furious and raised his hand to strike me fiercely across the face. I leaped at him in response, but being a weak man, he quickly overpowered me, threw me to the ground, and began to beat me mercilessly.

Seeing the situation, Ummu Fazl, who was Abbas (ra)’s wife, grabbed a large piece of wood and struck it against Abu Lahab’s head. The blow opened a wound, and blood began to flow. Ummu Fazl rebuked him, saying, “Did you think that it would be an easy meal when you attacked him away from his master?”

Abu Lahab, with his bleeding head, struggled to get up and staggered home. No one dared to speak up. After this incident, Abu Lahab lived for only seven more days. On the seventh day, news of his death spread throughout. Allah had caused him to die from a severe illness known as “Adese,” sometimes referred to as “Black Death.”

After Abu Lahab’s death, his body remained at home for two or three days without being buried… They didn’t bury him… His body began to emit a foul odor, but they couldn’t bury him out of fear of “Black Death” which the Quraysh feared as they feared the plague. After a few days, someone confronted one of Abu Lahab’s sons and reproached him, saying, “Shame on you, your father’s corpse is rotting at home, and you still won’t go near it. Aren’t you ashamed of what you’re doing?”

Abu Lahab’s son replied, “We are not afraid of him but of his disease…”

The person offered to help them remove his body, and they went back home. However, they couldn’t get close to him... they didn’t even wash his body. They just sprinkled some water from a distance. Then, they wrapped him in a thick cloth and took him to a rocky area outside of Mecca. They placed his body there, covered it with stones to prevent animals from reaching it, and left him there…”