Hamza ibn Abd al-Muttalib

Hamza ibn Abd al-Muttalib (may Allah be pleased with him) was a leading member of Banu Hashim, the son of Abd al-Muttalib ibn Hashim and Halah bint Uhayb of Banu Zuhrah. Classical biographers give his kunyahs as Abu Ammarah and Abu Ya‘la. He was the paternal uncle of the Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him), yet their relationship was also that of foster-brothers because Thuwaybah, the freedwoman of Abu Lahab, nursed them both. Sources place Hamza close to the Prophet in age, but the exact difference is reported variously and should not be treated as certain.

Biographical and genealogical sources preserve a broader picture of Hamza's household. His sons include Ya'la, Amir and Ammarah; the exact maternal assignments vary in the catalogues, but Khawla bint Qays ibn Qahd is securely remembered as one of his wives, and Salma bint Umays is also transmitted as a wife and mother within his household. Daughters named Umamah and Amat Allah are preserved in the sources. Ibn Abd al-Barr reports that only Ya'la left sons, and that those descendants themselves died without continuing issue. His sister Safiyyah bint Abd al-Muttalib was the mother of al-Zubayr ibn al-Awwam. Abd Allah ibn Jahsh, later reported buried with Hamza, was Hamza's maternal nephew through Hamza's sister Umaymah bint Abd al-Muttalib. These notices are retained without creating unsupported registry relationships.

Before Islam, Hamza belonged to the respected warrior-aristocracy of Quraysh and was remembered as a strong hunter and an accomplished fighter. The early sira story of his conversion begins when he returned from hunting and learned that Abu Jahl had insulted and harmed the Prophet near al-Safa. Hamza confronted Abu Jahl with his bow and publicly declared his support for Muhammad’s religion. The narrative presents an initially forceful act of family defence that became a considered commitment to Islam; the incident is well established in sira literature, although exact dating within the Meccan period varies.

Hamza’s acceptance of Islam had public consequences. Ibn Ishaq’s report, preserved by later biographers, says Quraysh recognized that the Prophet now had the protection of a formidable man of Banu Hashim and therefore restrained some of their harassment. Hamza’s importance was not merely physical: his decision demonstrated that allegiance to the new faith could override the political pressures of Meccan clan society. His courage gave confidence to a small persecuted community and made him one of the most visible early Muslim protectors of the Prophet.

After the Hijrah, Hamza joined the emigrant community in Madinah and took part in its first organized military responsibilities. Sira and maghazi sources place him in command of the expedition toward the Red Sea coast at al-‘Is, with about thirty emigrants and a white standard. Some works call this the first standard formally tied by the Prophet, while the chronological ordering of the earliest expeditions differs among historians. The force met a much larger Quraysh caravan party, but Majdi ibn Amr al-Juhani mediated and no battle occurred.

At Badr in 2 AH, Hamza stood among the three Muslim champions who answered the opening challenge of the Quraysh. Sahih al-Bukhari connects a passage in Surat al-Hajj about two disputing groups with these combatants: Hamza, Ali and Ubaydah ibn al-Harith on one side, and Utbah, Shaybah and al-Walid on the other. Reports differ over the exact pairing of each duelist, so the secure point is that Hamza was central to the encounter and to the Muslim victory. Other accounts also associate him with the deaths of prominent Quraysh fighters, which later shaped the motive for vengeance against him.

At Uhud in Shawwal 3 AH/625 CE, Hamza fought in the forward ranks while the battle shifted from early Muslim advantage to severe disorder after many archers left their assigned position. Later biographical reports describe him fighting with exceptional force and using the title ‘Lion of Allah’. The strongest narrative of his death is the long account of Wahshi ibn Harb in Sahih al-Bukhari. Wahshi said that Jubayr ibn Mut‘im promised him freedom if he killed Hamza in revenge for a relative killed at Badr, and that he waited for an opportunity rather than meeting Hamza in a direct duel.

Wahshi reported that Hamza first struck down Siba‘ ibn Abd al-Uzza and then passed near his hiding place. Wahshi threw a spear that caused Hamza’s death. This first-person account establishes the killer, the method and the revenge motive with unusual clarity. Early historical and biographical works also report that Hamza’s body was mutilated. Famous later retellings add detailed scenes and assign individual actions, but their chains and wording are not equally strong; therefore this article preserves the established fact of mutilation without treating every dramatic detail as certain.

The Prophet’s grief at the sight of Hamza is strongly represented in the biographical tradition, and reports also preserve concern that Hamza’s sister Safiyyah should not be overwhelmed by the condition of his body. Some funeral narratives differ in their details. The sounder general evidence concerning the martyrs of Uhud is that they were buried where they fell, without being transferred back to Madinah. Reports that the Prophet repeatedly offered a separate funeral prayer over Hamza are not as strong as the evidence that the Uhud martyrs were buried together under the battlefield rules applied that day.

Ibn Ishaq's sira preserves a report from the family of Abd Allah ibn Jahsh that the Prophet placed Abd Allah with his maternal uncle Hamza in one grave; Ibn Ishaq expressly notes that he heard this detail only from Abd Allah's family. The Medina Research and Studies Center independently identifies the traditional grave of Hamza and Abd Allah as the specifically recognized shared grave within the Uhud Martyrs Cemetery. Current mapping also lists a distinct present marker for the Grave of Hamza at that recognized area. The dedicated GPS fields in this record use that current marker point. The evidence therefore supports a historically recognized shared grave and a verifiable present location, while still distinguishing today's surface marker from the original burial fabric.

The Medina heritage synthesis reports that the first burial was near the battlefield and that flood danger in 49 AH / 669 CE led to a transfer to the position recognized in the present cemetery. This is a later historical site report rather than a contemporary seventh-century document. The same study traces domes, enclosures, boxes, a mosque and repeated building or removal in later centuries. These architectural phases belong to the history of commemoration and protection; they do not prove that an original grave marker or structure survived unchanged. The present enclosure therefore marks the traditional shared-grave area while its visible surface reflects later interventions.

Hamza’s historical importance rests on kinship, moral choice, leadership and sacrifice. He used his social standing to protect the Prophet, accepted responsibility in the earliest Madinan expeditions, fought prominently at Badr and was martyred at Uhud. The titles Asad Allah and Sayyid al-Shuhada became deeply attached to his memory in Muslim literature, although the strength of individual hadith formulations is not uniform. His biography therefore joins authenticated reports, early sira, family-transmitted burial memory and later commemoration, with each strand kept at its proper evidential level.