A- Hamzah bin ‘Abd-Al-Muttalib, may Allah be pleased with him, the Master of Martyrs in the sight of Allah The Almighty on the Day of Judgment
Hamzah, may Allah be pleased with him, the Lion of Allah, fought fiercely in the battle and bravely slaughtered the Mushriks (polytheists), and chopped off the heads of many of those who carried the flag who belonged to Banu ‘Abd Ad-Daar. While he was in that state of bravery and courage, Wahshi lay in wait for him, until he became within range, then threw his spear at him and killed him. We will let Wahshi tell us about the painful scene; he said,
Hamzah, may Allah be pleased with him, had killed Tu‘aymah bin ‘Adiyy bin Al-Khiyaar at the Battle of Badr, so my master, Jubayr bin Mut‘im said to me, “If you kill Hamzah in revenge for my paternal uncle, you will be set free.” When the people set out for the battle of Uhud in the year of ’Aynayn [’Aynayn is a mountain near the mountain of Uhud, and between it and Uhud there is a valley], I went out with the people for the battle. When the army aligned to fight, Sibaa‘ came out and said, “Is there any [Muslim] to accept my challenge to a duel?” Hamzah bin ‘Abd Al-Muttalib, may Allah be pleased with him, came out and said, “O Sibaa’! [and then insulted him by his mother, Umm Anmaar], Do you challenge Allah The Almighty and His Messenger?” Then Hamzah, may Allah be pleased with him, attacked and killed him.
I hid behind a rock, and when he came near me, I threw my spear at him, driving it through his neck until it came out from between his legs, causing him to die.
When all the people returned to Makkah, I too returned with them. I stayed there in Makkah till Islam spread. Then I left for At-Taa‘if, and when the people [of At-Taa‘if] sent their messengers to the Prophet I was told that the Prophet did not harm messengers, and so I too went out with them till I reached him. When he saw me, he asked: “Are you Wahshi?” I replied, “Yes.” He said: “Was it you who killed Hamzah?” I replied, “What happened is the same as you have been informed.” He said: “Could you hide your face from me?” So I went out.
When the Messenger of Allah died, and Musaylimah Al-Kaththaab [The Liar] appeared claiming to be a prophet, I said, “I will go out to Musaylimah to kill him, and thus make amends for killing Hamzah.” So I went out with the people to fight Musaylimah and his followers, and then legendary events took place concerning that battle. Suddenly I saw a man [Musaylimah] standing near a gap in a wall. He looked like an ash-colored camel and his hair was disheveled. I threw my spear at him, driving it into his chest in between his breasts till it passed out through his shoulders, and then an Ansaari [helper] man attacked him and struck him on the head with a sword. [‘Abdullaah bin ‘Umar, may Allah be pleased with him, then commented]: “A slave girl on the roof of a house said, “Alas! The chief of the believers [referring to Musaylimah] has been killed by a black slave [i.e.Wahshi]!” [Al-Bukhari]
Points of Benefit
1- The Prophet asked about the killing of Hamzah, may Allah be pleased with him
After the battle had ended, the Messenger of Allah asked his Companions, may Allah be pleased with them: “Who among you has seen the place where Hamzah was killed?” One of them said, “I have seen the place where he was killed.” He said to him: “Then go and show it to us.” The Messenger of Allah came out until he stood by the dead body of Hamzah, may Allah be pleased with him, and saw him, with his stomach cut open, and his body mutilated. The man exclaimed, “O Messenger of Allah! By Allah, his body has been mutilated.” (According to another narration, when the news of the killing of Hamzah, may Allah be pleased with him, reached the Messenger of Allah he wept and when he saw him, he groaned.) The Messenger of Allah stood among those who had been killed, and said: “I am a witness to these. Shroud them in their blood [i.e. do not wash their bodies]. Indeed, there is no injury [caused] in [the Way of] Allah, but that on the Day of Judgment, it will come bleeding, having the color of blood and the smell of musk. Give precedence in the grave to the one among them who memorized the greatest portion of Quran.”
The martyrdom of Hamzah, may Allah be pleased with him, and other Companions of the Messenger of Allah who were killed in the Battle of Uhud was the fulfillment of a the vision of the Messenger of Allah . Before setting out to Uhud, the Prophet told his Companions, may Allah be pleased with them, about his vision. He said: “I saw [in a dream] a crack in my sword, Thul-Faqqaar, which I interpreted as a break among you, [i.e. a defeat would strike you]; and I saw as if I was mounting a ram, which I interpreted as the leader of a battalion; and I saw as if I was wearing fortified armor, which I interpreted as Madeenah; and I saw as if cows were being slaughtered, and by Allah, that is [an indication of] goodness, and that is by Allah, [an indication of] goodness.” Then, exactly as the Messenger of Allah had seen in his dream, all came true. [Ahmad in his Musnad]
2- The patience of Safiyyah bint ‘Abd Al-Muttalib, may Allah be pleased with her, on the death of her brother Hamzah, may Allah be pleased with him
According to Az-Zubayr bin Al-‘Awwaam, may Allah be pleased with him
When it was the day of [the battle of] Uhud, a woman came running until she was about to reach those who had been killed. The Prophet disliked that she would see them, so he said, “[Prevent] the woman! [Prevent] the woman!” [Az-Zubayr added], I expected that she was Safiyyah, so I came out running towards her and caught her before she reached those who had been killed. She pushed me on my chest, as she was a strong woman, saying, “Leave me!” Then she rebuked me. I said, “The Messenger of Allah has forbidden you [from seeing them].” She stopped and brought out two garments she had and said, “These are two garments I have brought for my brother Hamzah, for I was told that he had been killed. So, shroud him in them.”
We brought the two garments to shroud Hamzah, may Allah be pleased with him, but then we found beside him a man who had been killed and he was from the Ansaar [helpers] whose body was mutilated in the same way as Hamzah’s. We thought it improper to shroud Hamzah, may Allah be pleased with him, in two garments while the Ansaari man had no shroud. We said, “Let one garment be for Hamzah, and the other be for the Ansaari.” We measured them and one was larger than the other. We drew lots among them, and each of them was shrouded in the garment that fell in his lot.
3- “But no one is weeping for Hamzah.”
When the Messenger of Allah returned from the Battle of Uhud, he heard the women of the Ansaar weeping for their dead, and remarked: “But no one is weeping for Hamzah.” Being informed of that, the Ansaari women wept for Hamzah, may Allah be pleased with him. The Messenger of Allah then slept and later awoke while they were still weeping. He therefore said: “Woe to them, are they still weeping for that day? Let them weep, but let none weep for any deceased after today.” [Ibn Maajah, Al-Albaani - Saheeh] Therefore, wailing over the dead was made unlawful from that day onwards.
4- The Messenger of Allah names a baby of the Ansaar, Hamzah
It is narrated on the authority of Jaabir bin ‘Abdullaah, may Allah be pleased with him, that he said, “A baby was born to one of us [i.e. the Ansaar], and so it was asked, [What should we name him?] The Messenger of Allah said: ‘Name him with he name of the dearest one to me, Hamzah bin ‘Abdul-Muttalib.’” [Al-Haakim]
Love for Hamzah, may Allah be pleased with him, was instilled in the heart of the Prophet and attached to his memory. However, Allah The Almighty revealed to His Messenger afterwards the dearest of names to Him; the Messenger of Allah announced this by saying: “The dearest of your names in the sight of Allah The Almighty are ‘Abdullaah and ‘Abdur-Rahmaan.” [Muslim]
5- “Could you hide your face from me?” [Al-Bukhari]
This directive of the Prophet carried no blame nor guilt for Wahshi, may Allah be pleased with him, in so much as it reminded him of the fact that seeing him would psychologically cause him grief and make him recall the memories of the death of Hamzah, may Allah be pleased with him, and the subsequent hideous mutilation of the body of his uncle and how odious this scene was. This might provoke in him human hatred, which he would hardly suppress or resist, except with great difficulty and by which the Prophet would be troubled and grieved. For this reason the Prophet suggested to him to hide his face from him, in order to put an end to the reminder of that calamity. According to an authentic narration, Wahshi, may Allah be pleased with him, said
I came to the Prophet who asked: “Are you Wahshi?” I answered in the affirmative. He asked: “Did you kill Hamzah?” I said, “Yes. Praise be to Allah who has honored him [by being killed] at my hands [a martyr], and has not dishonored me [by being killed] at his hands [while I was a disbeliever].” Some people of the Quraysh then asked, “Do you like him despite the fact that he killed Hamzah?” I said, “O Messenger of Allah, ask for forgiveness [from Allah] for me.” The Messenger of Allah spat thrice on the ground and [gently] pushed me in my chest thrice; he then said: “O Wahshi, set out and fight in the cause of Allah just as you fought before to repel the cause of Allah.”
This a prophetic guideline to remove prior disbelief and contention with Allah The Almighty and His Messenger. However, the reference to fighting in the cause of Allah here shows the fittest way of removing disbelief. It also clarifies how the Prophet exhorted the Muslims to strive to make the flag of Jihaad superior. When Wahshi, may Allah be pleased with him, set out to Yamaamah and killed Musaylimah Al-Kaththaab (The Liar), it was a result of the guidelines of the Messenger of Allah for the best way to remove mistakes, blot out sins, and wash away crimes.
Wahshi, may Allah be pleased with him, himself realized this, as shown from his statement when he killed Musaylimah Al-Kaththaab, “I killed the best of people, [i.e. the master of martyrs, Hamzah bin ‘Abdul-Muttalib, may Allah be pleased with him]; and I also killed the worst of people, Musaylimah Al-Kaththaab [The Liar].”
Among the Martyrs of Uhud - II