Hamza ibn Abd al-Muttalib al-Hashimi al-Qurashi. The uncle of the Prophet Muhammad and his foster brother. He was known by the kunya Abu Amara, and it is also said Abu Ya'la. He was given the titles Master of Martyrs, Lion of God, and Lion of His Messenger. Our master Hamza was two years older than the Prophet Muhammad, or, it is said, four years older. His mother was Hala bint Wahb ibn Abd Manaf, the cousin of Amina bint Wahb ibn Abd Manaf, the mother of the Prophet Muhammad. His sister was Safiyya bint Abd al-Muttalib, the mother of al-Zubayr ibn al-Awwam.
Our
master Hamza was a companion of the Messenger of God, may God bless him and
grant him peace, and one of his fourteen advisors during the pre-Islamic era.
He was a brave, generous, and magnanimous young man and the strongest and most
resolute among the Quraysh. He participated in the Battle of Fijar, which took
place between the tribes of Kinana and Qays Aylan.
Our
master Hamza ibn Abd al-Muttalib embraced Islam in the second year of the
Prophet Muhammad's mission, or, as some say, after the Prophet entered the
house of al-Arqam in the sixth year of his mission. When Hamza embraced Islam,
the Quraysh realized that the Prophet Muhammad had gained strength and
protection and that Hamza would defend him. So they refrained from some of the
harm they had been inflicting upon him. The reason for his conversion was that
Abu Jahl, Amr ibn Hisham, confronted the Prophet Muhammad at Mount Safa,
insulting and cursing him, and hurling insults at his religion and belittling
it. The Prophet Muhammad did not respond and went home.
A
female servant of Abdullah ibn Jud'an al-Taymi al-Qurashi overheard Abu Jahl's
insults against the Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) in her
dwelling above Safa. When Hamza passed by her dwelling on his way back from
hunting, she said to him, "O Abu Ammarah, if only you had seen what your
nephew suffered at the hands of Abu al-Hakam just now!" Hamza, may God be
pleased with him, endured his anger and went out quickly, not stopping for
anyone, ready to confront Abu Jahl if he met him. When he entered the mosque, he
saw him sitting among the people, so he approached him, and when he stood over
him, he raised his bow and struck him with it, inflicting a terrible wound.
Then he said, "Do you insult him while I am on his religion and say what
he says? Then refute that if you can." Some men from Quraysh rose up to
support Abu Jahl against Hamza, saying, “O Hamza, you have surely converted!”
Hamza replied, “I bear witness that he is the Messenger of God, and that what
he says is true. By God, I will not recant. So stop me if you are truthful.”
Abu Jahl said, “Leave Abu Amara alone, for by God, I have insulted his nephew
with a vile insult.” Hamza remained steadfast in his Islam and in the pledge he
had made to the Prophet Muhammad.
When
the persecution of the Muslims by Quraysh intensified, and neither the strong
nor the weak were safe from their harm, the Prophet Muhammad permitted them to
emigrate to Medina. Hamza emigrated with the Muslims shortly before the
Prophet’s own migration. The Prophet Muhammad established a bond of brotherhood
between him and Zayd ibn Haritha. The Prophet Muhammad sent Hamza ibn Abd
al-Muttalib to the coast near… Al-Ais, with thirty riders from the Muhajireen
(immigrants), none of whom were from the Ansar (helpers), encountered Abu Jahl
ibn Hisham on that coast with three hundred riders from Mecca. Majdi ibn Amr
al-Juhani, who was at peace with both sides, intervened and separated them. The
two groups then dispersed without fighting. Abu Marthad al-Ghanawi was carrying
Hamza's banner.
Our
master Hamza ibn Abd al-Muttalib participated in the Battle of Badr and fought
valiantly. He was the one who initiated the fighting against the polytheists at
the Battle of Badr. A man from the Quraysh army, al-Aswad ibn Abd al-Asad
al-Makhzumi al-Qurashi, came out and said, “I swear by God that I will drink
from their cistern, or I will destroy it, or I will die trying.” When he came
out, Hamza ibn Abd al-Muttalib went out to meet him. When they met, Hamza
struck him, severing his foot at the shin, while he was still below the
cistern. He fell on his back, his leg gushing blood towards his companions.
Then he crawled to the cistern and plunged into it, wanting to fulfill his
oath. Hamza followed him and struck him until he killed him in the cistern.
Then Utbah ibn Rabi’ah came out after him, accompanied by his brother Shaybah
ibn Rabi’ah and his son al-Walid ibn Utbah. When he separated from the ranks,
he called for single combat. Three young men from the Ansar came out to him:
Awf and Mu’awwidh, the sons of al-Harith. -And their mother was Afraa, and
another man, said to be Abdullah ibn Rawaha. They asked, "Who are
you?" They replied, "A group from the Ansar." They said,
"We have no need of you." Then their herald called out, "O
Muhammad, send out to us our equals from among our people." The Messenger
Muhammad said, "Stand up, O Ubaidah ibn al-Harith, stand up, O Hamza, and
stand up, O Ali." When they stood up and approached them, they said,
"Who are you?" Ubaidah said, "Ubaidah," Hamza said,
"Hamza," and Ali said, "Ali." They said, "Yes,
honorable equals." Then Ubaydah, the oldest of the group, dueled with
Utbah ibn Rabi'ah, and Hamzah dueled with Shaybah ibn Rabi'ah, and Ali dueled
with al-Walid ibn Utbah. Hamzah did not give Shaybah any respite before killing
him, and Ali did not give al-Walid any respite before killing him. Ubaydah and
Utbah exchanged two blows, each inflicting a wound from which the other could
not recover. Hamzah and Ali then charged at Utbah with their swords and
finished him off, carrying their comrade back to his companions.
Hamzah
was distinguished in battle by an ostrich feather, and he fought at the Battle
of Badr before the Prophet Muhammad with two swords. It was narrated on the
authority of Abd al-Rahman ibn Awf that he said, "Umayyah ibn Khalaf said
to me, while I was between him and his son, holding their hands (i.e., they
were his prisoners), 'O Abd al-Ilah, which of you is the man distinguished by
an ostrich feather on his chest?'" I said, "That one." Hamza ibn
Abd al-Muttalib said, "That is the one who did such terrible things to
us." It is said that he was killed in the Battle of Badr: Shaybah ibn
Rabi'ah al-Abshami al-Qurashi, whom Hamza killed in single combat; Utbah ibn
Rabi'ah al-Abshami al-Qurashi, in whom Ubaydah ibn al-Harith ibn al-Muttalib,
Hamza, and Ali participated; and Hanzalah ibn Abi Sufyan ibn Harb al-Umawi
al-Qurashi, whom Ali ibn Abi Talib killed according to the most well-known
accounts, and it is said that Zayd ibn Harithah killed him, and it is said that
Hamza, Ali, and Zayd participated in killing him. Al-Baladhuri mentioned that
Hamza and Ali killed Tu'aymah ibn Adi al-Nawfali al-Qurashi, whom Ali ibn Abi
Talib killed, and it is said that Hamza ibn Abd al-Muttalib killed Zam'ah ibn
al-Aswad ibn al-Muttalib al-Asadi al-Qurashi, in whose death Hamza, Ali ibn Abi
Talib, and Thabit ibn al-Jadh' participated. Aqil ibn al-Aswad ibn al-Muttalib
al-Asadi al-Qurashi, killed by Hamza and Ali, who both participated in his
killing; Abu Qays ibn al-Walid ibn al-Mughirah al-Makhzumi al-Qurashi; al-Aswad
ibn Abd al-Asad ibn Hilal al-Makhzumi al-Qurashi; Nabih ibn al-Hajjaj ibn Amir
al-Sahmi al-Qurashi, killed by Hamza ibn Abd al-Muttalib and Sa'd ibn Abi
Waqqas, who both participated in his killing; A'idh ibn al-Sa'ib ibn Uwaymir
al-Makhzumi al-Qurashi, captured and then ransomed, but died on the way from a
wound inflicted by Hamza ibn Abd al-Muttalib.
Hamza
ibn Abd al-Muttalib participated in the Battle of Uhud, where he was killed on
Saturday, the fifteenth of Shawwal, in the year 3 AH, at the age of
fifty-seven. Before his death, Hamza, may God be pleased with him, killed
thirty-one of the disbelievers. He was known as the Lion of God. Arta'ah ibn
Abd Sharhabil ibn Hashim ibn Abd Manaf ibn Abd al-Dar was killed, and he was
one of the standard-bearers. He also killed Uthman ibn Abi Talhah, who was
carrying the standard. Then Siba' ibn Abd al-Uzza al-Ghabshani, also known as
Abu Niyar, passed by. Hamza said, "Come here, you son of a
circumciser!" His mother was Umm Anmar, a freedwoman of Shariq ibn Amr ibn
Wahb al-Thaqafi, and she was a circumciser in Mecca. When they met, Hamza
struck him and killed him.
Hamza
was fighting that day with two swords, and someone exclaimed, "What a lion
Hamza is!" While he was thus engaged, he stumbled and fell on his back,
and his armor was removed, exposing his stomach. Wahshi al-Habashi, a freedman
of Jubayr ibn Mut'im, pierced him with a spear and killed him. The polytheists
mutilated him and all the Muslim dead except for Hanzala bin Abi Amir, the monk
of Aws, because his father was with the polytheists and they left him alone for
his sake.
The
Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) came to Hamza on the day
of Uhud and stood over him, for he had been mutilated. He said, “Were it not for
the distress Safiyyah would feel, I would have left him until he was consumed
by the elements so that he might be resurrected on the Day of Judgment from
their bellies.” Then he called for a strip of cloth and shrouded him in it.
When it was spread over his head, his feet were exposed, and when it was spread
over his feet, his head was exposed. The slain were many, and clothes were
scarce. So, one, two, or three men were shrouded in a single cloth and buried
in one grave. The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) then
began asking about them, inquiring which of them knew the most Qur’an, and he
would give precedence to that one. Towards the Qibla. He said, "So the
Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, buried them and did not pray
over them" (Narrated by Anas bin Malik). Source: Sunan al-Tirmidhi;
Summary of the Hadith scholar's ruling (al-Albani): Authentic. And Hamza and
his nephew, Abdullah bin Jahsh al-Asadi, were buried in one grave. And Yunus
bin Bakir narrated on the authority of Ibn Ishaq that he said, "Some of
the Muslims had carried their slain to Medina to bury them there, but the
Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, forbade that and said,
'Bury them in their blood'—meaning on the day of Uhud—and he did not wash
them." (Narrated by: Jabir bin Abdullah; Source: Sahih al-Bukhari; Hadith
classification (by al-Bukhari): Sahih (authentic).
After
the martyrdom of Hamza (may God be pleased with him) and the mutilation of his
body, the Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) threatened to
mutilate seventy of the polytheists. However, God revealed to His Messenger the
verse, “And if you punish (your enemy, O you believers in the Oneness of
Allah), then punish them with the like of that with which you were afflicted.
But if you endure patiently, verily, it is better for As-Sabirin (the patient
ones, etc127 And endure you patiently (O Muhammad SAW),
your patience is not but from Allah. And grieve not over them (polytheists and
pagans, etc.), and be not distressed because of what they plot.” (Surat An-Nahl
126-127). So the Messenger of God (peace and blessings be upon him) pardoned,
was patient, and forbade mutilation. Islam permits justice in punishment and
encourages the virtue of forgiveness. What a magnificent religion it is, one
that considers feelings and calls to the pinnacle of virtue! Whoever knows that
the consequence of their forgiveness, despite their power to punish, is God's
special support, will find their inner turmoil easier to bear and their heart
at peace with the outcome of their patience.
Safiyyah
bint Abd al-Muttalib approached to see him, for he was her brother from both
her father and mother. The Prophet Muhammad said to her son, Zubayr ibn
al-Awwam, "Meet her and turn her back, lest she see what has befallen her
brother." He said to her, "O mother, the Messenger of God (peace and
blessings be upon him) commands you to return." She said, "Why? I
have heard that my brother has been mutilated, and this was for the sake of
God. We are content with what has happened!" I will be patient and seek
reward from God, God willing. When Zubayr came to the Prophet Muhammad and
informed him of this, he said, "Let her go." So she came to him,
looked at him, prayed over him, recited the supplication for the deceased, and
asked forgiveness for him. Then the Prophet Muhammad ordered that he be buried.
The grave of the martyrs of Uhud is visible, and next to it is the grave of
Abdullah ibn Jahsh. Hamza and Abdullah ibn Jahsh were buried in one grave. Next
to the grave is a mosque known as the Mosque of Hamza and the Mosque of the
Master of Martyrs.
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