THE STORY OF HAMZAH IBN ABDULMUTTALIB [The lion of Allah]

 

Hamzah ibn Abdulmuttalib was the strongest and most dignified man of the Quraish tribe and thus he was greatly feared. He was the Prophet’s paternal uncle and was at the same time Prophet’s brother through fosterage [they were breastfed by the same woman]. He knew the Prophet not only as a nephew but as a brother and friend. They played together and walked together on the same road of life step by step. But, in their youth they departed. Hamzah preferred the life of leisure, trying to take his place among the prominent leaders of the Quraish and Makkans .The Prophet on the other hand, chose the life of seclusion away from the crowd, immersed in deep spiritual meditation but, despite this fact, Hamzah was always attentive to the virtues of his friend and nephew.

In the dawn of Muhammad’s prophethood, Hamzah went to the Ka’bah and found a number of Quraish noblemen sitting down talking about the Prophet and for the first time, he saw them worried about the call his nephew was propagating with a tone of bitterness and rage marking their voices. Days passed and the provocations of the Quraish towards the Prophet increased while the Prophet remained composed and steadfast. On a fateful day, Hamzah went hunting with his bow and passed by the Ka’bah on his way back where he was informed by someone that the Prophet was maltreated by one of the leaders of the quraish pagans-Abu Jahl. Hamzah got angry and started searching for Abu Jahl and on finding him; he hit him with his bow on the head until it bled. Hamzah shouted “You dare insult Muhammad while I follow his religion and I say what he says? Come and retaliate upon me. Hit me if you can”.The pagans were thunderstruck by the news that Hamzah had converted to Muhammad’s religion as Hamzah’s alliance to Islam would invite more elites to Islam and it won’t be long before their idols were pulled down.

 After Hamzah got home and relaxed, he thought over the issue and wondered if he had rushed things. He questioned himself if the ideal way for anyone to denounce the religion of his parents and ancestors to embrace a new religion whose teachings he had not yet become familiar with in the middle of rage. He started thinking and praying for true guidance and Allaah answered his prayers and filled his heart with certainity. Hamzah’s conversion to Islam protected the Muslims from further harassment from the pagans of quraish as he was greatly feared and no one dared to cross his path. Thus, Islam grew, earning him the title-“Lion of Allaah”.

The first military raid launched by Muslims against their enemies was under Hamzah’s command and the first banner that the Prophet handed to any Muslim was to Hamzah. In the battle of Badr, when the two parties met, the Lion of Allaah and His Messenger were there, performing great wonders and the quraish pagans were defeated. But, the Quraish couldn’t accept defeat easily. They prepared another army and insisted on continuing the war. The main aim of this war was killing the Prophet[S.A.W.] and Hamzah. Before the war, they chose an Abyssinian slave ’Wahshiy’ with an extraordinary skill in spear throwing. Wahshiy was sent by the quraish to Hamzah. He was promised freedom and Hind’s most precious trinkets in exchange for Hamzah’s liver.

During the battle of Uhud, Hamzah was in the middle of the crowd like a huge camel killing the pagans with his sword. Wahshiy hid behind a tree and waited for his chance, when he saw it, he threw the spear which penetrated Hamzah’s back. He returned to give Hind the liver in exchange for the promised gifts. That was how Hamzah attained martyrdom.