Saying · Shortly after the death of Abu Talib, 10th year of the dawah
No, I am just protecting my flock.
Said when people, having heard he was now protecting the Prophet ﷺ, asked whether he had become a Sabian.
~Shortly after the death of Abu Talib, 10th year of the dawah (c. 620 CE) · 2 BH
After Abu Talib's death, the Quraysh escalated their persecution of the Prophet ﷺ far beyond what they had dared while he was alive; hostility that had long been held back out of respect for Abu Talib was now openly displayed. Abu Lahab, as the seniormost pagan Hashimi still living, took over leadership of the Banu Hashim and, surprisingly, extended his own protection to the Prophet ﷺ, not out of love for him, but from a chieftain's sense of duty to guard his own clan.
Outcome: Abu Lahab withdrew his protection, leaving the Prophet ﷺ without any protector in Makkah for the first time: the situation that led him to seek refuge in Ta'if.
This protection was fragile and tribal, not one rooted in love or faith, and it collapsed as soon as Abu Jahal found a way to provoke Abu Lahab's doubt about his own father Abdul Muttalib's fate in the Hereafter.
The Year of Sorrow to the Night Journey·Chapter 3 of 9The third calamity
See the whole storyOther events recorded in 2 BH. Their order within the year is not established; use the storyline above for the sequence.
No, I am just protecting my flock.
Said when people, having heard he was now protecting the Prophet ﷺ, asked whether he had become a Sabian.
Why don't you ask your nephew about the fate of your father Abdul Muttalib?
Said together with Utbah, plotting to undermine Abu Lahab's protection of the Prophet ﷺ.
What is the fate of my father Abdul Muttalib?
He is with his people.
He is with his people!
Reported back to Abu Jahal, satisfied.
You fool! And where are his people according to him?! In the Fire of Hell!
O Muhammad ﷺ, be as you were in the time of Abu Talib. For as long as I am alive, you shall live in the same manner.
Said to the Prophet ﷺ after someone outside Banu Hashim had cursed him severely: Abu Lahab, now chief of the tribe following Abu Talib's death, was reaffirming his protection.