Allah says to His Messenger : `O Muhammad:
[لاَ تَهْدِى مَنْ
أَحْبَبْتَ]
(Verily, you guide not whom you like)' meaning, `the matter does not rest
with you; all that you have to do is convey the Message, and Allah will guide
whom He wills, and His is the ultimate wisdom,' as He says:
[لَّيْسَ عَلَيْكَ
هُدَاهُمْ وَلَـكِنَّ اللَّهَ يَهْدِى مَن يَشَآءُ]
(Not upon you is their guidance, but Allah guides whom He wills.) (2:272)
[وَمَآ أَكْثَرُ
النَّاسِ وَلَوْ حَرَصْتَ بِمُؤْمِنِينَ ]
(And most of mankind will not believe even if you desire it eagerly.)
(12:103) This Ayah is even more specific than the following:
[إِنَّكَ لاَ تَهْدِى
مَنْ أَحْبَبْتَ وَلَـكِنَّ اللَّهَ يَهْدِى مَن يَشَآءُ وَهُوَ أَعْلَمُ
بِالْمُهْتَدِينَ ]
(Verily, you guide not whom you like, but Allah guides whom He wills. And He
knows best those who are the guided.) meaning: Allah knows best who deserves to
be guided and who deserves to be misguided. It was recorded in the Two Sahihs
that this Ayah was revealed concerning Abu Talib, the paternal uncle of the
Messenger of Allah . He used to protect the Prophet, support him and stand by
him. He loved the Prophet dearly, but this love was a natural love, i.e., born
of kinship, not a love that was born of the fact that he was the Messenger of
Allah . When he was on his deathbed, the Messenger of Allah called him to Faith
and to enter Islam, but the decree overtook him and he remained a follower of
disbelief, and Allah's is the complete wisdom. Az-Zuhri said: "Sa`id bin
Al-Musayyib narrated to me that his father, Al-Musayyib bin Hazan Al-Makhzumi,
may Allah be pleased with him, said: "When Abu Talib was dying, the Messenger of
Allah came to him and found Abu Jahl bin Hisham and `Abdullah bin Abi Umayyah
bin Al-Mughirah with him. The Messenger of Allah said:
«يَا عَمِّ قُلْ: لَا
إِلَهَ إِلَّا اللهُ، كَلِمَةً أُحَاجُّ لَكَ بِهَا عِنْدَ الله»
(O my uncle, say La ilaha illallah, a word which I may use as evidence in
your favor before Allah [in the Hereafter].) Abu Jahl bin Hisham and `Abdullah
bin Abi Umayyah said: `O Abu Talib, will you leave the religion of
`Abdul-Muttalib' The Messenger of Allah kept urging him to say La ilaha
illallah, and they kept saying, `Will you leave the religion of `Abdul-Muttalib'
-- until, at the very end, he said that he was on the religion of
`Abdul-Muttalib, and he refused to say La ilaha illallah. The Messenger of Allah
said:
«وَاللهِ
لَأَسْتَغْفِرَنَّ لَكَ مَا لَمْ أُنْهَ عَنْك»
(By Allah, I shall certainly seek forgiveness for you unless I am told not
to.) Then Allah revealed:
[مَا كَانَ
لِلنَّبِىِّ وَالَّذِينَ ءَامَنُواْ أَن يَسْتَغْفِرُواْ لِلْمُشْرِكِينَ وَلَوْ
كَانُواْ أُوْلِى قُرْبَى]
(It is not (proper) for the Prophet and those who believe to ask Allah's
forgiveness for the idolators, even though they be of kin) (9:113). And there
was revealed concerning Abu Talib the Ayah,
[إِنَّكَ لاَ تَهْدِى
مَنْ أَحْبَبْتَ وَلَـكِنَّ اللَّهَ يَهْدِى مَن يَشَآءُ]
(Verily, you guide not whom you like, but Allah guides whom He wills.)'' This
was recorded (by Al-Bukhari and Muslim) from the Hadith of Az-Zuhri.
ICTruth.info