In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
The Mawaddah Association is pleased
to present to you glimpses from the lives of the Companions.
By Abd al-Rahman Ra'fat al-Basha,
may Allah have mercy upon him.
Hamzah ibn Abd al-Muttalib,
may Allah be pleased with him.
This noble Companion
was a childhood peer of the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him,
back when they were two boys growing up in the mountain passes of Makkah.
He was also his foster brother,
as they were both nourished by the same breast.
He was connected to him by the strongest bonds of kinship.
That is Hamzah ibn Abd al-Muttalib,
the uncle of the Great Messenger, peace be upon him,
and the master of the martyrs of the Ummah.
Hamzah ibn Abd al-Muttalib, at the time the Noble Messenger—upon him be the best of prayers and purest of salutations—was called to prophethood,
had just passed his fortieth year.
He was, at that time, a master among the prominent masters of Quraysh,
and a formidable leader among their elite.
Makkah held him in high regard,
and its people held for him a love mingled with reverence and esteem.
Despite the close bond between him and the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him,
he did not pay much attention to his call,
and he did not embrace Islam when the Messenger, peace be upon him, warned his closest kin.
The Hashimite knight was a man of the hunt,
finding in it his greatest pleasure,
and exhausting his vibrant, surging energies in its pursuit.
One day, while he was returning from his hunt,
with his bow slung over his shoulder and his spear in hand,
walking with a gait of pride and arrogance,
a bondwoman of Abd Allah ibn Jud'an intercepted him
and said to him,
"If you, O Abu 'Umarah, had heard what I heard of Abu al-Hakam’s insults toward your nephew Muhammad,
and had seen what I saw of his assault upon him,
you would have a different perspective today."
No sooner had her words touched his ears
than he was consumed with rage, his chest heaving with indignation.
He asked the girl if anyone had seen him while he was insulting him.
She replied, "Yes, many people saw him."
The Hashimite knight turned back on his tracks
and headed toward al-Safa,
where Abu Jahl was sitting in the midst of a gathering of people.
He approached him and struck him with his bow, a blow that split his head and drew blood.
Then, he declared his Islam before the witnesses,
and proclaimed the word: "There is no god but Allah, and Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah."
He said, challenging them:
"Here I am, I have embraced Islam.
If it is within the power of Quraysh to turn me away from Islam,
then let them try."
When the Banu Makhzum saw the blood of their master, Abu Jahl,
streaming from his head and covering his face,
they rose up against Hamzah ibn Abd al-Muttalib,
wanting to harm him.
But Abu Jahl
said to them, "Leave Abu 'Umarah alone,
for I have indeed insulted his nephew,
when I reviled and cursed him before a crowd of people."
In the blink of an eye,
the news of Hamzah’s conversion spread throughout Makkah,
and the news struck the polytheists like a thunderbolt.
As for the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him,
you may speak as you wish of his joy at his uncle’s conversion, without restraint.
And as for the Muslims,
say what you will of their delight at the addition of this Qurayshi leader to their ranks.
For they had known no two days in Makkah more joyful to their hearts or dearer to their souls
than the day of the conversion of 'Umar ibn al-Khattab,
and the day of the conversion of Hamzah ibn Abd al-Muttalib.
No sooner had they embraced Islam
than they resolved with the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him,
to go out to the Ka'bah and circumambulate it,
and to perform their prayer there in the sight and presence of Quraysh.
The Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, responded to them,
and went out under their protection, one in front of him and the other behind him,
until he reached the Sacred Ka'bah.
He circumambulated the House seven times,
and prayed the Dhuhr prayer there, safe and reassured.
Then he departed to the House of al-Arqam,
while the eyes of Quraysh watched him,
and their hearts were torn with rage and malice toward him.
When the Messenger, peace be upon him, migrated to Madinah,
the first banner he commissioned was for his uncle, Hamzah ibn Abd al-Muttalib,
and it was the first banner commissioned in Islam.
On the day of Badr,
Hamzah fought the polytheists with the most intense and greatest of efforts.
He was a heavy burden upon the polytheists,
and a source of severe affliction for them.
No sooner had the two hosts met on that glorious day
than Hamzah emerged like a grey camel,
having placed a mark on his chest to distinguish him from others,
and to indicate him to anyone who sought him out.
His mark was a red ostrich feather that he had fixed to his chest.
Then, there emerged from the ranks of the polytheists
al-Aswad ibn Abd al-Asad al-Makhzumi,
a fierce man of ill character.
He said, "I swear by al-Lat and al-'Uzza,
I shall drink from the Muslims' cistern,
or I shall destroy it,
or I shall die before it."
Hamzah, may Allah be pleased with him, stepped out to meet him,
and struck him a blow that severed his leg.
He fell on his back, with blood gushing from him,
and he began to crawl toward the cistern to fulfill his oath,
but Hamzah finished him off before he could reach his goal.
Then, after him, emerged 'Utbah ibn Rabi'ah,
accompanied by his brother Shaybah and his son al-Walid.
When they stepped away from the ranks, they called for a duel.
In the blink of an eye, there rose to meet them
three young men from the Ansar, as straight as spear shafts.
'Utbah said to them, "Who are you?"
They replied, "A group from the Ansar."
He said, "Go back; we have no need of you."
Then they called out, "O Muhammad,
bring out to us our peers from our own people."
The Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, said,
"Rise, O 'Ubaydah ibn al-Harith,
and rise, O Hamzah ibn Abd al-Muttalib,
and rise, O 'Ali ibn Abi Talib."
'Utbah said, "Now, yes, these are noble peers."
'Ali went out to al-Walid ibn 'Utbah,
and they were two young men of similar age,
and he killed him.
Then Hamzah ibn Abd al-Muttalib went out
to Shaybah ibn Rabi'ah,
and they were of similar age,
and he killed him.
And 'Ubaydah ibn al-Harith went out
to 'Utbah ibn Rabi'ah,
and they were two elderly men,
and he killed him.
Then 'Ubaydah was martyred, succumbing to his wounds.
No sooner were the three champions of Quraysh killed
in a matter of moments
than the heat of the battle intensified.
Hamzah fought with a ferocity
that filled the hearts of the polytheists
with hatred for him and schemes against him.
At Uhud,
the polytheists wanted
to take revenge on the killer of their men in general,
and they wanted
to take revenge on Hamzah in particular,
after he had humiliated their leaders at Badr
and killed those of their chiefs who were killed.
When Hamzah saw the defeat
that had befallen the Muslims,
he surged and raged,
and began to call out,
"I am the Lion of Allah and the Lion of the Messenger of Allah,
peace and blessings of Allah be upon him.
O Allah, I disavow to You
what these people have brought,"
meaning Abu Sufyan and his companions,
"and I apologize to You for what these people have done,"
meaning the scattering of the Muslims
away from their Prophet, peace be upon him.
He began to wield his sword right and left,
until he attained martyrdom,
treacherously, at the hands of
an Abyssinian slave named Wahshi.
When the women of the polytheists learned
of the fall of the Muslim champions,
led by the Lion of Allah,
Hamzah ibn Abd al-Muttalib,
a group of them rushed forward,
led by Hind bint 'Utbah,
whose father, brother,
and uncle had been killed at Badr
at the hands of Hamzah ibn Abd al-Muttalib,
'Ali ibn Abi Talib,
and 'Ubaydah ibn al-Harith.
She began to roam among the slain,
disemboweling the bodies, gouging out eyes,
cutting off ears, and mutilating noses.
Then she made from the noses and ears
necklaces and anklets with which she adorned herself,
and she gave her jewelry to Wahshi
as a reward for killing Hamzah.
When Hind reached Hamzah, may Allah be pleased with him,
she split open his chest,
tore out his liver, and chewed it,
but she could not swallow it, so she spat it out.
And from this, she was called "the eater of the liver."
When the dust of battle settled,
and the news of the mutilation of the Muslims spread,
a deep sadness blanketed Madinah.
Safiyyah bint Abd al-Muttalib,
the aunt of the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, came forward
to see what had befallen her brother.
The Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, said
to her son, al-Zubayr ibn al-'Awwam,
"Meet her and turn her back,
so that she does not see what has happened to her brother."
He hurried to her and said,
"O Mother,
the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him,
commands you to return."
She said, "And why?
It has reached me that he was mutilated, just as my brother was.
And that was for the sake of Allah.
By Allah, I shall remain patient and seek reward from Allah, if He wills.
Al-Zubayr then informed the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him,
of what she had said.
He replied,
"Let her pass."
She came to her brother,
looked at him,
prayed over him,
recited the *istirja'* (saying 'to Allah we belong'), and sought forgiveness for him.
Then she said,
"These are two garments
I have brought to shroud him in."
Al-Zubayr said,
"When we intended to shroud Hamza in them,
we found beside him a martyr from the Ansar
who had been mutilated just as Hamza had been.
We felt a sense of discomfort and modesty in shrouding Hamza in two garments
while the Ansari had no shroud at all.
So we said: one garment for Hamza,
and one garment for the Ansari."
Then we looked,
and one of the two garments was larger than the other.
We drew lots between them,
and we shrouded each of them in the garment that fell to his lot.
Hamza was a tall man,
so if the garment covered his head,
his feet would be exposed,
and if it covered his feet, his head would be exposed.
The Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, said,
"Cover his head with the garment,
and place some leaves over his feet."
Do not ask about the grief of the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, for his uncle.
For he, peace be upon him, looked upon a scene the likes of which he had never seen more painful.
He said,
"May the mercy of Allah be upon you.
You were indeed one who maintained ties of kinship,
and one who performed many good deeds."
"By Allah, I shall surely mutilate seventy of them if I gain victory over them."
Then Jibril descended upon him before he had left his place with the words of the Almighty,
“If ye punish, then punish with the like of that wherewith ye were afflicted. But if ye endure patiently, verily it is better for the patient.” (16:126)
“If ye punish, then punish with the like of that wherewith ye were afflicted. But if ye endure patiently, verily it is better for the patient.” (16:126)
So the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, made expiation for his oath,
and refrained from that.
The Messenger, peace be upon him, then gave orders regarding the martyrs,
and they were buried in groups.
He said,
"See which of them had memorized the most Qur'an,
and place him in front of his companions."
Then he stood over them all and said,
"I am a witness over these."
"There is no one wounded in the cause of Allah
but that Allah will resurrect him on the Day of Resurrection with his wound bleeding;
the color will be the color of blood,
and the scent will be the scent of musk."
When the Messenger, peace be upon him, had covered them with their earth,
he returned to Medina, sorrowful and grieving.
He passed by one of the houses of the Ansar from the tribe of Banu 'Abd al-Ashhal,
and heard the women weeping and wailing over their dead.
Their grief stirred his own grief,
and their anguish ignited his own.
Tears flowed from his noble eyes, and he said,
"But Hamza has no one to weep for him."
The men of the Ansar heard the words of the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him,
and it weighed heavily upon their hearts.
They ordered their women to go to the house of the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him,
to weep for his uncle.
When the Messenger, peace be upon him, heard their weeping for Hamza, he said,
"May Allah have mercy on the Ansar.
Return, may Allah have mercy on you.
You have indeed offered consolation and comfort."
Hamza ibn 'Abd al-Muttalib is the Lion of Allah,
and the Lion of the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him,
and the master of the martyrs of the Muslims.
[The text here is garbled/corrupted in the source and does not translate to coherent meaning].
[The text here is garbled/corrupted in the source and does not translate to coherent meaning].