1It happened that while Jesus was praying in a certain place, after He had finished, one of His disciples said to Him, “Lord, teach us to pray just as John also taught his disciples.” 2And He said to them, “When you pray, say:
‘ Father, hallowed be Your name.
Your kingdom come.
3 Give us each day our daily bread.
4 And forgive us our sins,
For we ourselves also forgive everyone who is indebted to us.
And lead us not into temptation.’ ”
5Then He said to them, “Suppose one of you has a friend, and goes to him at midnight and says to him, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves; 6for a friend of mine has come to me from a journey, and I have nothing to set before him’;
7and from inside he answers and says, ‘Do not bother me; the door has already been shut and my children and I are in bed; I cannot get up and give you anything.’ 8I tell you, even though he will not get up and give him anything because he is his friend, yet because of his persistence he will get up and give him as much as he needs.
9 “So I say to you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. 10For everyone who asks, receives; and he who seeks, finds; and to him who knocks, it will be opened.
11Now suppose one of you fathers is asked by his son for a fish; he will not give him a snake instead of a fish, will he? 12Or if he is asked for an egg, he will not give him a scorpion, will he? 13If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him?
And his wife — laden with faggots, Shall have a rope of palm fiber round her neck. (Al Qur’an 111:1-5)
Abu Lahab lived for 12 years after the declaration of Islam and saw many leading personalities like his brother (amir) Hamza and (amirul-momineen) Umar bin Khattab embracing Islam, but he never did. It was a good chance for him to embrace Islam and thus challenge the words of the Holy Qur’an. And how could he do that when Almighty Allah had proclaimed it. It is this verse which led a westerner to embrace Islam in our times.
Abu Lahab, son of Abdul Muttalib, was born in Makkah. His original name was Abdul Uzza. In the beginning, he loved his nephew, Prophet Mohammed (S.A.W.) and sent his maid named Thawbiyah to suckle the child. Later, he also contracted Nikaah of two of his sons with the two daughters of the Holy Prophet (s.a.w.) named Ruqayya and Umm Kulthum but they were not sent home as they were minors. But after the Qur’anic revelation against him, so furious was he that he instructed his sons to divorce the two daughters.
