Hamza ibn Abd al-Muttalib

Ḥamza ibn ʿAbd al-Muṭṭalib (Arabic: حَمْزَة إبْن عَبْد ٱلْمُطَّلِب; c. 568–625)^[1][2] was a foster brother, paternal uncle, maternal second-cousin, and companion of the Islamic prophet Muhammad.

He was martyred in the Battle of Uhud on 23 March 625 (7 Shawwal 3 hijri). His kunyas were "Abū ʿUmāra"^[2]: 2 (أبو عمارة) and "Abū Yaʿlā"^[2]: 3 (أبو يعلى). He had the by-names Asad Allāh^[2]: 2 (أَسَد ٱللَّٰه, "Lion of God") and "Asad of His Messenger" (وأسد رسوله), and Muhammad gave him the posthumous title Sayyid al-Shuhadāʾ (سيد الشهداء, "Master of Martyrs").^[3]

Ibn Sa'd basing his claim on al-Waqidi states that Hamza was reportedly four years older than Muhammad.^[2] He could also be two years older as said in other hadith.^[4]

This is disputed by Ibn Sayyid, who said: "Zubayr narrated that Hamza was four years older than the Prophet.^[5] Ibn Hajar wrote of Ibn Sayyid's hadiths: "Hamza was born two to four years before Muhammad".^[6] It is also claimed that Hamzah was born after 'Abd Allah's death.^[7]

Hamza's father was Abdul Muttalib from the Qurayshi tribe of Mecca.^[2]: 2 His mother was Halah bint Wuhayb from the Zuhra clan of Quraysh.^[2]: 2 Tabari cites two different traditions. In one, Al-Waqidi states that his parents met when Abd al-Muttalib went with his son Abdullah to the house of Wahb ibn Abd Manaf to seek the hand of Wahb's daughter Amina. While they were there, Abd al-Muttalib noticed Wahb's niece, Hala bint Wuhayb, and he asked for her hand as well. Wahb agreed, and Muhammad's father Abdullah and his grandfather Abd al-Muttalib were both married on the same day, in a double-marriage ceremony.^[8]

Hamza married three times and had six children.^[2]: 3

1. Salmah bint Umays ibn Ma'd, the half-sister of Maymunah bint al-Harith.
   1. Umama bint Hamza, wife of Salama ibn Abi Salama.
2. Zaynab bint Al-Milla ibn Malik of the Aws tribe in Medina.
   1. Amir ibn Hamza.
   2. Bakr ibn Hamza, who died in childhood.
3. Khawla bint Qays ibn Amir of the An-Najjar clan. He had issue, but their descendants had died out by the time of Ibn Sa'd.
   1. Umar ibn Hamza.
   2. Atika bint Hamza.^[9]
   3. Barra bint Hamza.

Hamza took little notice of Islam for the first few years. He converted in late 616 CE.^[2]: 3 Upon returning to Mecca after a hunting trip in the desert, he heard that Amr ibn Hishām (referred in Islamic scriptures as "Abu Jahl" Father of Ignorance) had insulted Muhammad^[2]: 3 "speaking spitefully of his religion and trying to bring him into disrepute". Muhammad had not replied to him.^[10]: 131 "Filled with rage," Hamza "went out at a run ... meaning to punish ibn Hishām when he met him". He entered the Kaaba, where ibn Hishām was sitting with the elders, stood over him and "struck him a violent blow" with his bow. He said, "Will you insult him, when I am of his religion and say what he says? Hit me back if you can!"^[10]: 132 He "struck Abu Jahl's head with a blow that cut open his head".^[2]: 3 Some of ibn Hishām's relatives approached to help him, but he told them, "Leave Abu Umara [Hamza] alone, for, by God, I insulted his nephew deeply".^[10]: 132

After that incident, Hamza entered the House of Al-Arqam and accepted Islam.^[2]: 3 "Hamza’s Islam was complete, and he followed the Prophet's commands. When he became a Muslim, the Quraysh recognised that the Prophet had become strong, and had found a protector in Hamza, and so they abandoned some of their ways of harassing him".^[10]: 132 Instead, they tried to strike bargains with him; but he did not accept their offers.^{[10]: 132–133}

Hamza once asked Muhammad to show him the angel Jibreel in his true form. Muhammad told Hamza that he would not be able to see him. Hamza retorted that he would see the angel, so Muhammad told him to sit where he was. They claimed that Jibreel descended before them and that Hamza saw that Jibreel's feet were like emeralds, before falling down unconscious.^[2]: 6

Hamza joined the emigration to Medina in 622 and lodged with Kulthum ibn al-Hidm^[10]: 218 or Saad ibn Khaythama. Muhammad made him the brother in Islam of Zayd ibn Haritha.^{[2]: 3 [10]: 324}

Muhammad sent Hamza on his first raid against Quraysh. Hamza led an expedition of thirty riders to the coast in Juhayna territory to intercept a merchant-caravan returning from Syria. Hamza met Abu Hishām at the head of the caravan with three hundred riders at the seashore. Majdi ibn Amr al-Juhani intervened between them, "for he was at peace with both parties," and the two parties separated without any fighting.^{[2]: 4 [10]: 283}

There is dispute as to whether Hamza or his nephew Ubayda ibn al-Harith was the first Muslim to whom Muhammad gave a flag.^[10]: 283

Hamza fought at the Battle of Badr, where he shared a camel with Zayd ibn Haritha^[10]: 293 and where his distinctive ostrich feather made him highly visible.^{[2]: 4 [10]: 303} The Muslims blocked the wells at Badr.^[10]: 297

Al-Aaswad ibn Abdalasad al-Makhzumi, who was a quarrelsome ill-natured man, stepped forth and said, "I swear to God that I will drink from their cistern or destroy it or die before reaching it". Hamza came forth against him, and when the two met, Hamza smote him and sent his foot and half his shank flying as he was near the cistern. He fell on his back and lay there, blood streaming from his foot towards his comrades. Then he crawled to the cistern and threw himself into it with the purpose of fulfilling his oath, but Hamza followed him and smote him and killed him in the cistern".^[10]: 299

He then killed Utba ibn Rabi'a in single combat and helped Ali to kill Utba's brother Shayba.^[10]: 299 It is disputed whether it was Hamza or Ali who killed Tuwayma ibn Adiy.^[10]: 337

Later Hamza carried Muhammad's banner in the expedition against the Banu Qaynuqa.^[2]: 4

Hamza was killed in the Battle of Uhud on Saturday 23 March 625 (7 Shawwal 3 hijri) when he was 57–59 years old. He was standing in front of Muhammad, fighting with two swords. The Abyssinian slave Wahshi ibn Harb was promised manumission by Hind bint Utba if he killed Hamza. This was in revenge for the death of her father, Utba ibn Rabi'a, whom Hamza had killed at the Battle of Badr. Hamza, running back and forth, stumbled and fell on his back; and Wahshi said, "who could throw a javelin as the Abyssinians do and seldom missed the mark," threw it into Hamza's abdomen, killing him.^[10][11]

• * indicates that the marriage order is disputed
• Note that direct lineage is marked in bold.

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