a revelation - abu lahab

prophet muhammad (saw)had an uncle by the name of abu lahab. this man hated islam to such an extent that

he used to follow the prophet around in order to discredit

him. if abu lahab saw the prophet (saw)speaking to a stranger, he would wait until they parted and the would go to the stranger and ask him, "what did he tell you? did

he say, 'black'? well, it's white. did he say 'morning'? well, it's night." he faithfully said the exact opposite of whatever he heard muhammad (saw)and the muslims say.

however, about ten years before abu lahab died, a little

chapter in the quran (surah al-lahab, 111) was revealed

about him. it distinctly stated that he would go to the fire

(i.e., hell). in other words, it affirmed that he would never

become a muslim and would therefore be condemned

forever. for ten years all abu lahab had to do was say, "i

heard that it has been revealed to muhammad that i will never change - that i will never become a muslim and will enter the hellfire. well, i want to become muslim now. how do you like that? what do you think of your divine revelation now?" but he never did that. and yet, that is exactly the kind of behavior one would have expected

from him since he always sought to contradict islam.

in essence, muhammad (saw) said, "you hate me and you

want to finish me? here, say these words, and i am