Yes, that day came with its smiling face and Abu Talib’s face shone, his heart delighted and soul contented to see with his eyes the drawn of that expected day.
And now Muhammad the Prophet (s) went to his uncle al-Abbas, Abu Talib’s brother, and said to him: “Allah has ordered me to announce my mission.” He asked his uncle to support him,but al –Abbas found that he was not able to undertake this heavy task so he apologized to his nephew saying: “...but you ask your uncle Abu Talib because he is the eldest of your uncles and if he doesn’t support you, certainly he won’t disappoint you or betray you.”
When Abu Talib saw them both, he thought that there was something important. He asked: What is the matter? What made you come at this time?”
He listened to his brother al-Abbas telling him of what matter their nephew had brought. As soon as Abu Talib heard that, his eyes shone delightfully and said his saying, which would fill the heart of Muhammad (s) with happiness, courage and power to go on carrying out the order of his God stably, courageously and faithfully because he got a good assistant and a strong fortress, to which he would resort if any storm faced him. Abu Talib said: “ O my nephew, set about! You are exalted, defended by a great party and honored of a great father. By Allah, no one confronts you, unless he will be confronted with sharp tongues and sharp swords. By Allah, the Arabs will submit to you. My father had read all the books and he often said: “There will be a prophet from my progeny. I wish I would live till that day to believe in him. Whoever of my children lives till that day has to believe in him.”
Abu talib encouraged Muhammad (s) to go on his mission and promised to defend him, to support him and to sacrifice for the sake of the mission. Then he remembered what his father had said to him and to his brothers in his will. The expected day came and Muhammad (s) became the Apostle of Allah so Hazrat Abu Talib(as) had to belive in him and to support him to achieve the will of his father so that the soul of Hazrat Abdul Muttalib(as) would content and his eye would delight.
This was the first evidence of Abu Talib’s faith in Muhammad’s mission, otherwise he would be the first to deny it and refute what Muhammad (sa) had said.
But we found that Abu Talib was waiting for that expected event to occur in a moment or another and when he saw the first sign of the prophecy he didn’t become surprised.
If Abu Talib hadn’t believed in his nephew’s pretense, he wouldn’t have encouraged him to spread it and he would have taken a different situation. But his faith and certainty about the mission led him to assist his nephew so enthusiastically for the task he would undertake was so heavy that he had to assist and defend as possible as he could because he knew well that it was the very divine mission, which the holy books had talked about as Abdul Muttalib had read.