Abū Ṭālib ibn ʿAbd al-Muṭṭalib

Paternal uncle of the Prophet ﷺ and full brother of Abdullāh (their mother was Fāṭima bint ʿAmr al-Makhzūmiyya). After ʿAbd al-Muṭṭalib died (the Prophet was 8), Abū Ṭālib raised the orphan Muhammad ﷺ as his own son. Took him on a famous trade journey to Sham (Syria) where the monk Baḥīrā recognised the signs of prophethood. Continued protecting the Prophet ﷺ throughout the persecution of the early Meccan period and even endured the boycott in shiʿb Abī Ṭālib (616-619 CE) without ever publicly accepting Islam himself. Father of ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib (4th Rashidun Caliph), Jaʿfar ibn Abī Ṭālib (martyr of Muʾta), ʿAqīl ibn Abī Ṭālib, and Ṭālib (after whom he was named). Died in 619 CE — the "Year of Sorrow" (ʿām al-ḥuzn) — the same year as Khadīja, leaving the Prophet ﷺ without his protector and triggering his journey to Ṭāʾif and ultimately the Hijra.