Abu Talib (a.s.) never approached the idols and that is why the Quraish was always quarrelling with him and insisting that he too should, like them all, resort to idol worship but he said: I cannot part with my nephew (s.a.w.a.) and also cannot oppose him, who neither likes idols nor wants to hear anything about man-made deities.
Hayaat al-Quloob v 2 chap 4