Companions · Asadullah · Master of the martyrs
حمزة بن عبد المطلب
Hamza ibn Abd al-Muttalib
The Prophet's ﷺ uncle and shield, killed at Uhud; the Lion of Allah and of His Messenger.
The account
Hamza ibn Abd al-Muttalib, uncle of the Prophet ﷺ and his milk-brother, was Makkah's hunter and strongest arm. The day Abu Jahl abused the Prophet at Safa, Hamza came back from the hunt, struck Abu Jahl with his bow before the assembly, and declared himself on his nephew's religion; the persecutors recalculated that week. He fought at Badr with a distinction the enemy remembered by the ostrich feather he wore, and at Uhud he fell: Wahshi's javelin, thrown for a bounty set by Hind, whose men of Badr he had helped cut down.
What was done to his body after death grieved the Prophet ﷺ beyond any other loss of the day, and revelation and his own mercy sealed the response at the Opening: no revenge, and mutilation forbidden in this ummah forever. He was buried at Uhud with the martyrs, where his grave is greeted to this day. The Prophet called him Sayyid ash-Shuhada, the master of the martyrs, and the Lion of Allah. In the Codex he stands where courage and restraint meet: the man whose death taught the ummah how not to avenge.
The facts
- TitleLion of Allah · Sayyid ash-Shuhada
- IslamDeclared with a bowstrike at Safa
- Fell atUhud, 3 AH
- LegacyMutilation forbidden forever
The narrations
The master of the martyrs is Hamza ibn Abd al-Muttalib.
al-Hakim (hasan) · cf. Bukhari 4072 for his death
Read beside it
The words
On the Path
- 38Badr: 313 vs 1000بدر
- 39Uhud: Archers on the Hillأحد
- 42Fath Makkah: Idols Fallفتح مكة
- 47Abu Bakr: The Ummah Holdsخلافة أبي بكر
People beside it
- Wahshi ibn HarbKiller of Hamza · then of Musaylimahوحشي بن حرب
- Hind bint UtbahAvenger of Badr · then believer of Fathهند بنت عتبة
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