Hamza ibn Abdul-Muttalib

c. 568 - 625 CE

Uncle of the Prophet ﷺ and his foster-brother. Accepted Islam in a moment of fury after Abu Jahl insulted the Prophet. Killed by Wahshi's spear at Uhud. The Prophet said of him: 'the master of the martyrs.'

Life

Hamza ibn Abdul-Muttalib was the uncle of the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ and his foster-brother, only two years older than the Prophet himself. A hunter and warrior of Quraysh, he had not initially accepted Islam.

One day in Mecca, Abu Jahl insulted the Prophet ﷺ in the street. A servant witnessed the scene and reported it to Hamza when he returned from a hunt. Hamza went straight to the Kaaba, struck Abu Jahl on the head with his bow, and declared his Islam publicly. He said he had done it out of tribal honour, but the honour became faith and he remained a Muslim for the rest of his life.

He fought at Badr, where he killed Utba ibn Rabi'a in single combat and turned the battle. At Uhud, Wahshi ibn Harb, an Ethiopian slave promised freedom by Hind bint Utbah for revenge on Hamza (who had killed her father at Badr), waited in ambush and struck him with a spear. Hamza was killed and his body mutilated. Hind chewed his liver in an act she later regretted publicly after her conversion.

The Prophet ﷺ wept over Hamza's body and called him Sayyid ash-Shuhada, the Master of the Martyrs.

Stories

Each story below is drawn from the classical Islamic historical sources.