In a hadith, it is narrated from Hazrat Abbas bin Abdul Muttalib that he said: O Messenger of Allah! Did Abu Talib (the Prophet’s uncle) benefit in any way? He defended you from all sides and would become angry for your sake. The Prophet ﷺ replied: "Yes! He is in a less severe fire (which reaches up to the ankles), if it were not for me, he would have been in the lowest level of Hell."
Reference: (Bukhari: 6208, Muslim: 209)
The mentioned hadith is against two verses of the Holy Quran:
❀ First verse: ﴿فَمَا تَنفَعُهُمْ شَفَاعَةُ الشَّافِعِينَ﴾
Reference: Al-Muddathir: 48
Translation: (So no intercession of intercessors will benefit them).
❀ Second verse: ﴿خَالِدِينَ فِيهَا لَا يُخَفَّفُ عَنْهُمُ الْعَذَابُ وَلَا هُمْ يُنظَرُونَ﴾
Reference: Al-Imran: 88
Translation: (They will abide therein forever; no lightening of the punishment will be given to them, nor will they be reprieved).
① First Point
The mentioned hadith is narrated from two companions, Hazrat Abbas bin Abdul Muttalib and Hazrat Abu Saeed Khudri (may Allah be pleased with them), and the hadith is present in Sahih Bukhari and Sahih Muslim, therefore the hadith is absolutely authentic, and there is no dispute in its chain of narration.
② Second Point
It is agreed that not all disbelievers will receive the same punishment in Hell; rather, some will have severe punishment and others less so. However, all disbelievers will be alike in that they will remain in Hell forever. The intensity or lightness of the punishment will be according to their worldly life; whoever caused corruption on earth or harmed Islam will have severe punishment, and whoever was not involved in sedition and corruption will have lesser punishment. It is well known about Abu Talib that he supported the Prophet ﷺ in every possible way during his life and defended him everywhere, and indeed he considered Islam the true religion in his heart but did not accept Islam. Therefore, it is not surprising that the punishment for such a person would be less.
③ Third Point
The intercession mentioned for Abu Talib in the hadith is among the special attributes of the Prophet ﷺ; therefore, this intercession is exempt from the intercession that is negated in the Holy Quran. Thus, this hadith is not contrary to the Quran but rather specifies its ruling. Since hadith is also a revelation from Allah, it can specify or abrogate the ruling of the Quran.
An example of this is that according to the Quran, carrion is forbidden
Reference: (Surah Al-Baqarah: 173)
, while in the hadith, fish is exempted from carrion
Reference: (Sunan Ibn Majah 3218)
. Now, if the hadith is not taken into account, then according to the Quran, fish would be forbidden!Similarly, the Quranic verse states: (جو مرد اور عورت چوری کرے ان دونوں کے ہاتھ کاٹ دالو،ان کے کردار کے عوض میں بطور سزا کے اللہ کی طرف سے)
Reference: Al-Ma'idah 38
.In this verse, the command to cut off the hand is general, but the hadith specifies it such that the hand of a thief is cut off only if the theft is of a quarter of a dinar or more in value. (According to current weight standards, one dinar weighs approximately 4.25 grams of gold, so a quarter of it is (1.06) grams).
④ Fourth point
The verse in the Quran which mentions that intercession will not benefit the disbelievers refers to a benefit that could save them from Hell and admit them into Paradise, whereas Abu Talib's intercession would not be of such a nature that it would save them from Hell. Thus, there is no contradiction between the verse and the hadith.
⑤ Fifth Point
The second verse which mentions that there will be no relief in the punishment of the disbelievers means that there will be no pause in their punishment, i.e., the punishment will continue without interruption
Reference: (See Tafsir Ibn Kathir: 2/71)
. This is further supported by another verse:﴿وَقَالَ الَّذِينَ فِي النَّارِ لِخَزَنَةِ جَهَنَّمَ ادْعُوا رَبَّكُمْ يُخَفِّفْ عَنَّا يَوْمًا مِّنَ الْعَذَابِ﴾
Reference: Al-Mu’min : 49
Translation: (And those who are in the Fire will call to the keepers of Hell, "Pray to your Lord to lighten for us the punishment for a day.")
This verse also mentions the mitigation of punishment, and by mitigation is meant a one-day interval in our punishment. Once it is clear that the mitigation in the verse refers to an interval in the punishment, there is no contradiction between the verse and the hadith; rather, like other disbelievers, there will be no interval in Abu Talib's punishment.
⑥ Sixth Point
The mitigation in Abu Talib's punishment will be in outward form and appearance; otherwise, in reality, that punishment will be extremely severe. The intensity of it can be estimated from the fact that he will be made to wear shoes of fire on his feet, which will be burning his brain, and he will feel that no one's punishment is harsher than his.
Reference: (See: Sahih Muslim: 212,213)
