He was born in Mecca c. 549, the son of Abdul Muttalib, chief of the Hashim clan, and of Lubna bint Hajar,[2] who was from the Khuza'a tribe.[3] People from the Khuza'a tribe were the caretakers of the Ka'bah for several centuries, before the Quraysh took over the responsibility through their ancestor Qusai ibn Kilab. Abu Lahab was the half-uncle of Muḥammad since Muḥammad's grandmother was Fāṭimah bint ‘Amr of Banu Makhzūm clan.

His original name was 'Abd al-'Uzzā, but his father called him Abū Lahab ("Father of Flame") "because of his beauty and charm"[3] due to his red (inflamed) cheeks. He is described as "an artful spruce fellow with two locks of hair, wearing an Aden cloak"[4] and as "very generous".[3]

He married Arwā Umm Jamīl bint Harb, sister of Abu Sufyān (Sakhr), whose father Ḥarb was chief of the Umayya clan. Their children included Utbah,[3][5] Utaybah,[6] Muattab,[6] Durrah (Fakhita), 'Uzzā and Khālida.[7] Abu Lahab had another son, also named Durrah, who may have been borne by another woman.[citation needed] He may also have been the father of Masruh, a son born to his slave Thuwayba.[8]

His daughter Durrah embraced Islam and became a narrator of Hadīth. One is in Ahmad’s Musnad, where she reports that a man got up and asked the Prophet, “Who is the best of the people?” He answered, “The best of the people is the most learned, the most godfearing, the most to be enjoining virtue, the most to be prohibiting vice and the most to be joining the kin.”

‘Utbah also embraced Islam after the conquest of Mecca and pledged allegiance to Muḥammad