Abū Lahab

Born circa the late 6th century (commonly given c. 549–c. 624 in modern summaries), ʿAbd al-ʿUzzā ibn ʿAbd al-Muṭṭalib—commonly known by the kunya Abū Lahab—was a member of the Banu Hāshim clan of the Quraysh in Mecca and a paternal uncle of Muḥammad. In the early Meccan period he is attested in the provided sources as an opponent of Muḥammad’s prophetic message and as a leader among Quraysh who refused to support the Prophet. His opposition is the historical circumstance commemorated in Sūrat al-Masad (Qurʾān 111), which condemns him (and his wife) and predicts his doom; exegetical works addressing asbāb al-nuzūl are cited among the sources as discussing the contextual circumstance of that verse.

The supplied sources do not record any contemporary physical description or portrait of Abū Lahab. He is described in the literature and summaries as a Meccan leader and kin of Muḥammad, but no verifiable details about height, complexion, dress, or other physical traits are provided in the cited materials. Later literary or polemical portrayals are discussed in modern commentary but are not documented with specific physical attributes in the provided sources.

The sources attribute to Abū Lahab social and political agency rather than supernatural powers: he acted as a Quraysh leader who opposed Muḥammad, and he is reported to have revoked clan protection that had sheltered the Prophet (a dynamic noted in biographical summaries). The Qurʾānic passage (Sūrat al-Masad) pronounces that wealth and status will not avail him and depicts him as destined for burning; this is a scriptural prediction of punishment recorded in exegesis, not an ascription of supernatural ability to Abū Lahab himself.