Hamzah and his role in Islam

Hamzah was the uncle of the Holy Prophet who accepted Islam at the beginning of the Holy Prophet’s mission. Hamzah would defend the Holy Prophet from the very first days of Islam. After he accepted Islam, the polytheists stopped bothering the Muslims as much. In order to protect the Holy Prophet, Hamzah accompanied the Bani Hashim into Shib Abi Talib (the valley of Abu Talib) and when the Muslims emigrated, he also emigrated with them to Madinah. After entering Madinah and establishing an Islamic government, the battlefields of Islam witnessed his valiant fighting with the polytheists. Eventually in the Battle of Uhud, after fighting severely and valiantly, Hamzah was martyred in the way of Islam. After his martyrdom, the enemies mutilated his body and bit it. When the Holy Prophet saw Hamzah’s body, he was distraught and wept.

Hamzah’s characteristics

Hamzah ibn Abd al-Muttalib, titled Asad Allah (the lion of Allah) and Asad Rasul Allah (the lion of the Messenger of Allah), was the uncle of the Holy Prophet. Hamzah’s nicknames were Abu Ammarah and Abu Ali. His father was Abd al-Muttalib, the chief of Makkah and his mother was Halah bint Wuhayb ibn Abd Manaf ibn Zuhrah. The historians are in conflict in regard to the date of his birth. Research shows that it is possible that Hamzah was born two or four years before the Year of the Elephant (the year of the Holy Prophet’s birth).

Hamzah was a hunter, and in the Era of Ignorance, he was given a high position and some paid allegiance to him. This point itself shows what a great position he held among the Quraysh. Despite the conflict regarding the exact time Hamzah accepted Islam, it appears that he accepted Islam six years after the beginning of the Holy Prophet’s mission. Hamzah’s acceptance of Islam was a kind of victory for the Muslims which terrified the polytheists and stopped them from bothering the Muslims as much in a way that they tried to bring him back from Islam by promising him wealth and women. As Hamzah accepted Islam, this caused many others from his family to also accept Islam.

Hamzah said to the Holy Prophet,

“O’ nephew! Declare your religion! I swear to God that I wouldn’t like it if everything the sun shines upon was mine if I stayed upon my previous religion.”

Hamzah’s activities before Islam

Hamzah was a participant of Hilf al-Fudul. Hilf al-Fudul was an oath according to which, a group of youth from the Quraysh agreed to defend the oppressed, whether they were rich or poor and whether they were friends or not because, with due attention to the tribal system existent in the peninsula, support from the people of your tribe was assured. Even if the person was an oppressor, he would have the support of his tribe, but if someone wasn’t from a recognised tribe or from the peninsula, his cries would fall upon deaf ears.

When the Quraysh were afflicted with drought and famine, by the suggestion of the Holy Prophet, Hamzah took guardianship of Jafar, one of the sons of Abu Talib who had a large family.

These activities which have been mentioned in several history books display the chivalrous and intrepid spirit of Hamzah.

Hamzah’s activities after Islam

Hamzah was present at the event of Yawm al-Andhar, where the Holy Prophet invited his close relatives to Islam. According to some historical narrations, Hamzah replied to the abuses of Abu Lahab and the other polytheists which were directed towards the Holy Prophet.

During the three years in which the Bani Hashim were besieged in Shib Abi Talib, Hamzah joined them and would protect the Holy Prophet. In the second pledge of Aqabah in which a group of people from Yathrib paid allegiance to the Holy Prophet, he was on guard with Ali so that no one would be aware.

One day, Abu Jahl saw the Holy Prophet and started to bother and abuse him. As he was a hunter, whenever Hamzah returned from hunting, he would go to Masjid al-Haram, circumambulate the Kaabah and then return home. That day, one of the women of Quraysh told Hamzah about how Abu Jahl behaved with the Holy Prophet. Hamzah went towards him, furious, and hit him on the head so hard with his bow that his forehead broke. He then said,

“How can you dare to abuse him when I have accepted his religion and share his beliefs?”

A group from Bani Makhzum arose to support Abu Jahl and said to Hamzah,

“So you’ve accepted religion?”

Hamzah replied to them,

“What can stop me when it has become clear for me that he is the Messenger of Allah and whatever he says is the truth?”

Abu Jahl then said,

“Leave him alone. I swear to God that I abused his nephew.”

In the first year A.H., the Holy Prophet gave the first standard to Hamzah to prepare a group to attack a business caravan belonging to the polytheists which was returning to Makkah. Hamzah advanced with thirty men from the Muhajirin and Ansar until Is on the coast where he was faced by 300 polytheist riders from Makkah under the command of Abu Jahl. The two groups agreed to peace by the mediation of Majdi ibn Amr Juhani, there was no battle and both armies returned.

Hamzah in the Battle of Badr

According to Arab tradition, the Battle of Badr began with heroes calling for opponents. Shaybah, Utbah, the father of Hind and grandfather of Muawiyah, and his son Walid came to the battlefield. In response, the Holy Prophet sent Hamzah, Ali and Ubaydah ibn Harith to fight with the heads of the polytheists. Hamzah and Ali killed Utbah and his son then rushed to support Ubaydah and killed Shaybah.

Hamzah’s martyrdom

Hind, the daughter of Utbah and wife of Abu Sufyan, who had been severely distressed due to the death of her father and brother, promised Wahshi, the Abyssinian slave of Jubayr ibn Mutim, that she would free him if he killed Muhammad, Ali or Hamzah.

Wahshi said,

“I can’t kill Muhammad because his supporters surround him. During war, Ali is also as alert as a wolf, but I can kill Hamzah because when he gets angry, he is blinded by his rage.”

Wahshi narrates,

“In the Battle of Uhud, I hid behind a tree and at the right moment, I aimed my spear and when Hamzah came into range, I threw it at him and it struck him.”

The martyrdom of Hamzah, the dear uncle of the Holy Prophet and his protector during the difficult years in Makkah, his carer and defender in Shib Abi Talib and a warrior of difficult battlefields against the polytheists was very painful for the Holy Prophet in such a way that when Wahshi, the murderer of Hamzah, Sayyid al-Shuhada (the master of martyrs), came to the Holy Prophet in order to seek forgiveness and accept Islam, the Prophet said to him,

“Never let me see you again.”

According to what is mentioned in the history books, Wahshi returned to Makkah after the Battle of Uhud and during the conquest of Makkah, Wahshi fled to Ta’if. From there, he went to Madinah with a few people from Ta’if to accept Islam in the hope of mercy from the Holy Prophet. After accepting Islam at the hands of the Prophet, he explained how he killed Hamzah at the Prophet’s request.

Hind (the wife of Abu Sufyan and mother of Muawiyah), who encouraged Wahshi to kill Hamzah and promised to free him if he did so, was not sufficed with Hamzah’s murder but rather, she severed his ears and nose and made anklets and necklaces from them. She took her cruelty to the most extreme level, removing Hamzah’s liver from his body and biting it. Of course, she was unable to eat any of it. It is narrated that she had made an oath to do so.

When the Holy Prophet heard that Hind had removed Hamzah’s liver, he asked,

“Did she eat any of it?”

When they replied in the negative, he said,

“Allah has forbidden upon the fire to touch any of Hamzah’s flesh.”

Abu Sufyan pierced Hamzah’s cheek with his spear and abused him. There, Halis ibn Ziyan saw him and said,

“This man is the chief of Quraysh who does such things to the body of his nephew.”

Abu Sufyan said,

“Don’t tell anyone about this as it was a mistake.”

After Hind desecrated the noble body of Hamzah, severing his nose and ears and removing his liver, the state of his body was so grave that when Safiyyah, the sister of Hamzah and aunt of the Holy Prophet, went to see him, the Holy Prophet told Zubayr to bring his mother back. Safiyyah told her child,

“I’ve been told that they’ve severed by brother’s ears and nose. This calamity is light in the way of Allah. We are pleased. Of course, we put our trust in Allah and we shall persevere through this calamity.”

Safiyyah then saw the body of Hamzah with the permission of the Holy Prophet, sent her salutations upon him. She said,

“Verily, we are from Allah and to Him, we shall return,”

and prayed for his forgiveness.

Safiyyah brought two pieces of cloth to shroud Hamzah. They saw the body of an Ansari man who had also been mutilated beside Hamzah and therefore, they considered it wrong and shameless to shroud one and leave the other bare. Thus, they drew lots. The bigger cloth fell to the Ansari and the smaller cloth fell to Hamzah. Therefore, they covered Hamzah’s feet with luffa and date palm leaves.

Virtues of Hamzah, Sayyid al-Shuhada

The Holy Prophet’s reaction to the martyrdom of Hamzah shows how much he loved him and his position in Islam. After his martyrdom, in imitation of the Holy Prophet, the Muslims titled him Sayyid al-Shuhada and this grand title was only used for him until the martyrdom of Husayn ibn Ali in year 61 A.H. in Karbala.

When the Holy Prophet returned from Uhud, he passed by the houses of the Ansar. When he heard the women of Ansar crying over their martyrs, he wept and said,

“But there are no women to weep over Hamzah.”

Sad ibn Maadh told the women of Bani Abd al-Ashhal to first weep over Hamzah and then over their own martyrs. When the Holy Prophet heard that they were weeping over Hamzah in the mosque, he told them to go back. Another virtue regarding Hamzah, Sayyid al-Shuhada, which is recorded in history and shows how oppressed this great martyr was is that when Muawiyah wanted to make canals in Uhud, the governor of Madinah wrote to him saying,

“We can’t move the water except by passing it over the graves of the martyrs.”

Muawiyah ordered for them to dig the graves open. As they were digging the graves of the martyrs of Uhud open, the spade hit the leg of Hamzah, Sayyid al-Shuhada, and blood started to flow. Abu Said Khudri said,

“After this, every despicable action will not be considered despicable.”

Not only did Hamzah, Sayyid al-Shuhada, have a great position in the eyes of the Holy Prophet but rather, he had an exceptional position in the eyes of the other Imams and Lady Fatimah would visit Hamzah’s grave. The Holy Prophet would encourage people to visit Hamzah’s grave.