He is asking about the worst of people and the worst in disbelief: is it Pharaoh or Abu Lahab

He is asking about the worst of people and the worst in disbelief: is it Pharaoh or Abu Lahab

Question
I was discussing with my friend about who the worse person was in the sight of allah from bani Adam(AS) I said that firun was the worse person EVER because he claimed to be god and he rejected the 8 or 9 signs of musa and allah left his hody for mankind to reflect and allah will place fir'un, haamman and his people in the worse punishment in the day of judgement. But my friend said that it is Abu lahb the worse person who ever lived because he had a whole chapter in the quran after him. And he beated the best person who ever lived(prophet muhamed AS) and mocked the best person i.e our nabi(AS) which i agree but that doesnt match to the evil of fir'un. So who was worse?
Answer
Praise be to Allah

Focusing on such matters and arguing about them is a waste of the Muslim’s time and energy, that he could have spent on things that are more beneficial to him and to the Muslims around him.
The Muslim needs to know the most perfect of people in faith and the best of them in attitude so that he can follow their example and do deeds like theirs, more than he needs to know the worst of people in disbelief.
So long as it is established in the Muslim’s mind that the two people mentioned were disbelievers in Allah and enemies to Him, for Allah warned them in His Book of the most severe punishment, that is sufficient.
But if the Muslim’s aim in finding out about these people is so that he will be more cautious of doing deeds like theirs and so that he can warn people about such deeds, then there is nothing wrong with that.
Secondly:
If we look at these two men and their words and deeds, and what was revealed concerning them of verses in the Holy Qur’an, we will have no doubt that Pharaoh was worse in terms of disbelief and stubbornness than Abu Lahab, because he claimed lordship and divinity, and he called the people to sanctify him and venerate him, and he thought little of his people and they obeyed him; he misled his troops and they supported him; he showed enmity towards the close friends of Allah and tortured the people, slaughtering their sons and letting their womenfolk live. No arrogant tyrant is mentioned in the Qur’an as much as this tyrant is mentioned. Mention is made of his abhorrent words and deeds, and of his wrongdoing, stubbornness and tyranny, and of how he misled his people and led them astray. And mention is made of his terrible fate on the Day of Resurrection. Allah, may He be exalted, says (interpretation of the meaning): “The Fire; they are exposed to it, morning and afternoon, and on the Day when the Hour will be established (it will be said to the angels): ‘Cause Fir‘aun’s (Pharaoh) people to enter the severest torment!’” [Ghaafir 40:46].
As for Abu Lahab, he disbelieved in Allah and His Messenger, and took people as enemies or as allies on that basis, and he died in a state of disbelief and loss, but he did not cause as much harm to the believers as Pharaoh did, and he did not go as far in disbelief as Pharaoh did, who claimed lordship and divinity, and said: “ ‘I am your lord, most high’” [an-Naazi ‘aat 79:24] and “ ‘I know not that you have an ilah (a god) other than me’” [al-Qasas 28:38].
Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyah (may Allah have mercy on him) said:
It is well established among the people of all religions, Muslims, Jews and Christians, that Pharaoh was one of the worst disbelievers in Allah; in fact in the Qur’an, Allah does not tell the story of any disbeliever by name more than the story of Pharaoh, and He does not tell us more detail of the disbelief, transgression and arrogance of any disbeliever more than He tells us about Pharaoh. End quote.
Majmoo‘ al-Fataawa (2/125)
And Allah knows best.
Reference Link

CHAPTER 111, AL-MASAD (THE FIRE FLAMES)

Description: This chapter refers to an uncle of the Prophet who opposed him fiercely, as did his wife. He insulted the Prophet with ‘Tabban Lak’ (‘may you perish!’). This Meccan chapter was the response.

Introduction

Abu Lahab was the uncle of Prophet Muhammad, may the mercy and blessings of God be upon him. Lahab means flames and hence he was nicknamed so because of the radiant look on his face. Together with his wife, Abu Lahab was one of the most hostile opponents of God’s Messenger and the ideas he propagated.
Rabi`ah, son of `Abbad, recalls, "When I was young, I once watched, with my father, God’s Messenger preaching Islam to the Arab tribes, saying ‘O sons of... (calling their respective tribal names), I am God’s Messenger sent to order you to submit to, and worship Him alone, invoking nothing else beside Him, and to believe in me and protect me until I carry out what God has entrusted to me.’ A cross-eyed, bright-faced man was behind him, who used to say, after he had finished, ‘O sons of... this man wants you to forsake al-Laat and al-`Uzza (two idols worshipped by the pagan Arabs) and your allies of the jinn, the children of Malik ibn Aqmas, and to substitute for them these innovations and nonsense he has come up with. Do not listen to him, nor follow what he preaches.’ I asked my father who that man was and he told me that it was Abu Lahab, the Prophet’s uncle."
His wife, Arwa bint Harb ibn Umayyah gave him unfailing support in his virulent, relentless campaign.
One day the Prophet went out to a large square in Mecca, climbed a hill and summoned the people of the Quraysh. When they came to him, he addressed them, saying, ‘Were I to tell you that an enemy is drawing near and will attack you tomorrow morning or evening, would you believe me?’ ‘Yes,’ they replied. ‘O listen to me,’ he went on, ‘I am warning you of (God’s) gruesome torment.’ Abu Lahab was there and snapped at him, ‘Damn you! For this have you called us?’ Then this chapter was revealed.
Another instance was when the clan of Hashim, Prophet Muhammad’s own clan, under Abu Ţalib’s leadership, decided on grounds of tribal loyalty to protect the Prophet despite their rejection of the religion he preached. Abu Lahab was the only one to take a different stand. Even though he belonged to the same clan, he joined with the opposing Quraysh instead, and was with them in signing the document imposing a complete social and business boycott on the clan of Hashim to starve them out unless they delivered the Prophet to them.
Abu Lahab also ordered his two sons to renounce Muhammad’s two daughters to whom they had been engaged before Muhammad’s prophetic assignment. His aim was to burden the Prophet with their living and welfare expenses.
Thus, Abu Lahab and his wife, Arwa, who was also called Umm Jameel, continued with their persistent onslaught against the Prophet and his message. The fact that they were close neighbors of the Prophet made the situation worse. We are told that Umm Jameel used to carry thorns and sharp wood and place them along the Prophet’s path.
This chapter was revealed as a counterattack against Abu Lahab’s and his wife’s hostile campaign. God took it upon Himself to say the final word on behalf of His Messenger.

Verses 1-3 The punishment of Abu Lahab

The Arabic term, tabba, rendered as ‘doomed’ also signifies failure and cutting off. The term is used twice in two different senses. It is used first as a prayer, while in the second instance it implies that the prayer has been already answered. So, in one short verse, an action is realized which draws the curtains upon a battle scene. What later follows is merely a description of what took place with the remark that "his wealth and his gains shall avail him nothing." (Verse 2) He can have no escape. He is defeated, vanquished and damned. This was his fate in this world, but in the Hereafter "he shall have to endure a flaming fire." (Verse 3) The fire is described as having flames in order to emphasize that it is raging.

Verses 4-5 The punishment of his wife

"And his wife, the carrier of firewood," will reside there with him having "a rope of palm-fiber round her neck," with which, as it were, she is being dragged into Hell, or which she used for fastening wood bundles together, according to whether a literal or metaphorical interpretation of the text is adopted.
The language of this chapter achieves remarkable harmony between the subject matter and the atmosphere built around it. Hell, with its fiercely burning lahab, or flames, will be inhabited by Abu Lahab. At the same time his wife, who collects thorns and sharp woods, materials which can significantly increase the blaze, will be met with the same fire with a rope tied round her neck, bundled like firewood. How perfectly matched are the words and the pictures portrayed: the punishment is presented as being of the same nature as the deed: wood, rope, fire and lahab!
Reference Link