Tafsir of Al-Mu'minoon 23:70

"Or do they say, 'In him is madness'..."

The Interpretation: "Madness" refers to insanity. They knew full well that he was innocent of it, and that he was the most sound of them in intellect and the sharpest of them in mind. However, he brought them that which contradicted their desires and whims, and did not align with what they had been raised upon—that which had become ingrained in their flesh and blood through the following of falsehood.

Finding no way to refute or repel him, because he brought the manifest truth and the straight path, they resorted to slander and relied upon lies, attributing to him madness, sorcery, and poetry.

Question: Does the phrase "and most of them" imply that a minority of them did not hate the truth?

Answer: Among them were those who abandoned faith in him out of pride and disdain—fearing the reproach of their people, or that they might be called "apostates" for leaving the religion of their forefathers—not out of hatred for the truth itself, as is narrated regarding Abu Talib.

Question: Some people claim that Abu Talib’s Islam was authentic.

Answer: Glory be to God! It is as if Abu Talib were the most obscure of the Messenger of God’s uncles, such that the Islam of Hamza and al-Abbas (may God be pleased with them) would be widely known, while the Islam of Abu Talib would remain hidden.

"But if the Truth had followed their inclinations, the heavens and the earth and whoever is in them would have been ruined. Rather, We have brought them their Reminder, but they are turning away from their Reminder."