The 26th of Rajab marks the day in which Haḍrat Abū Ṭālib, the father of Amīr al-Mu’minīn (a) and the uncle of the Messenger of Allah (s), passed away. Abū Ṭālib was one of the chiefs of the Quraysh and from the family of the Banū Hāshim.Before the mabʻath (delegation of the Prophet), he was in charge of taking care of those who would come for Ḥajj and providing them with water.
Abū Ṭalib was born 35 years before the birth of the Holy Prophet (s). When his father ‘Abd al-Muṭṭalib passed away, the Prophet Muḥammad (s) was eight years old. On his deathbed, ‘Abd al-Muṭṭalib entrusted the Prophet (s) to Abū Ṭalib, saying, “O my dear son! You know my extreme love for Muḥamad, so be careful of you follow my instructions regarding him.” Abū Ṭalib replied, “My father, there is no need to advise me concerning Muḥamad, for he is my son, and the son of my brother.”
Like his father, Abū Ṭalib took special care of the young Prophet (s). He preferred the Prophet (s) over himself and his own family. Historians narrate that when the time of food would come he would not let his own children eat until the Prophet (s) showed up and they all ate together.
At the time of mabʻath when the Prophet (s) began his mission, Abū Ṭālib was an elderly man of 75 years. Despite his age, Abū Ṭālib tirelessly strived to protect the Prophet (s) from the Quraysh. In the words of the contemporary scholar ‘Allāmah Ṭabātabā’ī, Abū Ṭālib “is the one who sheltered the Prophet (s) as a child and protected him after the mabʻath and before the hijrah. Indeed the effect of his struggle alone…in the ten years before the hijrah is equivalent to the the effect of all the muhājirūn and anṣār together in the ten years after hijrah.”