Abu Talib b. 'Abd al-Muttalib was the paternal uncle of the Prophet Muhammad credited for both raising the orphaned child into adulthood and guaranteeing his protection throughout the earliest years of his preaching. According to sources of sira and hadith, Abu Talib's death was a great catastrophe for the Prophet that eventually caused him to emigrate from Mecca. Ironically, Abu Talib is popularly believed to be doomed to Hell for eternity despite a loving relationship with the Prophet and years of sacrifice for him. The source of this belief is Sunni hadith reports, which unequivocally assert that Abu Talib never converted to Islam. Fred Donner has summarized and analyzed reports regarding Abu Talib's death as a pagan. Agreeing with Ignaz Goldizher, Donner noted the role of pro-Abbasid and pro-Alid polemics regarding this issue and argued that narratives about Abu Talib's death were composite reports that were synthesized over many generations. This paper offers a thorough review of theological treatises and reports excluded from Donner's analysis that argue for the salvation of Abu Talib. The various methods by which pro-Alid Sunni and Shi'i writers challenged the hegemonic influence of canonical hadith in Sunni theology is understood through this case study. The Sunni treatises by Sayyid Muhammad al-Barzanji (d.1103AH) and Ahmad Zayni Dahlan (d.1304) discussed the salvation of individuals who did not convert to Islam and the minimum requirements needed for a valid conversion in the context of Abu Talib's religious affiliation. The Shi'i authors, al-Shaykh al-Mufid (d.413) and Fakhar b. Ma'd al-Musawi (d.630), largely narrated reports that indicated Abu Talib's faith in the Prophet's revelation and his salvation in the Hereafter.  While the Shi'i scholars possessed a methodology that permitted the dismissal of Sunni canonical hadith as false without any dilemmas, Sunni theologians were largely forced to acknowledge their authenticity and accommodate them in their arguments. The hermeneutics of Qur'anic exegesis and hadith plays an important role in the dialectical discussions deposing the authority of canonical hadith that contradict the theological beliefs and allegiances of these authors.  Nearly all of the authors under review were descendants of the Prophet and Abu Talib. All of them affiliated with a group that believed in the piety and virtue of the Prophet's ancestors. The religious, social and political identities of hadith transmitters and later writers are significant in determining the method by which they argue Abu Talib's place in the Hereafter.