Hamza ibn Abd al-Muttalib

He was two or four years older than the prophet. Born in Mecca, he was known for his courage, fearlessness and love of hunting. He was a valiant warrior and well-aimed marksman, always defending the weak and defenseless.

Hamza did not convert to Islam immediately, but after some time. This happened as a result of the rude actions of Abu Jahl in relation to the prophet Muhammad and his companions on the Safa hill . Arriving at the scene of the conflict, Hamza defended the prophet, and the next day he came to him and announced the adoption of Islam. This happened in the second year of Muhammad's prophecy . His presence in the Muslim community greatly strengthened her. After the Hijra, Hamza played a big role in strengthening the Muslim community and statehood .

In response to the inhuman treatment of Muslims , attempts to destabilize the situation in Medina, and the Meccans blocking Muslim access to the Hajj , the Prophet Muhammad was forced to take urgent measures to intimidate the Gentiles . He ordered his military units to block the caravan routes that connected Mecca with Syria . Muslim units began raiding enemy caravans, causing him economic damage . Hamza took a direct part in these campaigns. By order of the prophet, he set out with a detachment of thirty people in Sif al-Bahr and was about to attack the caravan of the Meccans, where Abu Jahl was. However, then the parties preferred to disperse without a fight.

Then Hamza fought heroically at the Battle of Badr and made a huge contribution to the first victory of the Muslim army. At the beginning of the battle, one man entered the duel - al-Aswad ibn Abd al-Asad al-Hazumi, against whom Hamza ibn Abd al-Muttalib came out and killed him. After that, Utba ibn Rabia came out between his brother Shaiba ibn Rabia and his son al-Walid ibn Utba. He stepped forward the lines and challenged the Muslims to a duel. Three Ansars came out, but the Quraysh refused to fight with them and said they would fight with “noble, respected people of the tribe” (or they said they would fight with people from their tribe). The Prophet told Ubaid ibn al-Haris, Hamza and Ali to leave. Hamza immediately killed the puck, and Ali immediately killed al-Walid. Ubaida and Utba exchanged blows and were injured. Ali and Hamza killed Utba and carried Ubaid to the Muslims. Thus, Muslims in a duel of three to three won.

After returning to Medina, the Muslims had a conflict with the Jewish tribe of Kainuk. The Jews did not want to strengthen the Muslim state and violated earlier agreements with Muslims. The cause of the conflict was the molestation of a Jew to a Muslim woman. Seeing this, one of the Muslims defended this woman and killed a Jew. The Jews who fled to the scene killed this Muslim. His relatives asked the Prophet Muhammad for help. Then the prophet turned to the Jews with a proposal to negotiate again and sign an agreement . However, the Jews rejected this offer. In response, Muhammad handed the battle flag to Khamza and instructed him to oppose the Kainuk tribe. Thus, this tribe was forced to capitulate.

A year after the defeat at Badra, the Meccans gathered great strength for revenge. As already mentioned, at the Battle of Badr, Hamza killed Tuaim ibn Adiy, who was the uncle of the influential Meccan Jubair ibn Muti. In this regard, Jubair decided to take revenge on Hamza. To do this, he instructed his black slave Vakhshi , who was notable for his javelin throwing, to join the Meccan army and kill Hamza. In return, he promised to release Vakhshi to freedom (according to another version, the Hind bandage Utba , avenging the death of his father, incited him to death). Having gathered great strength, the Meccans opposed the Muslims. The parties agreed on the battle of Uhud . At first, success was with Muslims. Ali and Khamza managed to kill the Quraish standard bearers. Under the pressure of the Muslims, the pagans began to scatter in panic. In this battle, Hamza fought fiercely and managed to kill a large number of enemies. However, then the Muslim archers abandoned their battle formations and hastened to capture trophies. This made it possible for one of the commanders of the Meccans, Khalid ibn Walid , to gather the remaining forces and go on a counterattack against the Muslims. As a result, Muslims suffered a defeat in the battle, which, however, was not decisive in the course of hostilities. Muslims managed to maintain their main strength and retreat. During this battle, Hamza died heroically. He was treacherously killed by a spear in the back from the side of slave Vakhshi, who was afraid to fight him face to face. Then the enemies abused his body, the wife of Abu Sufyan , Hind bandage Utba , ate his liver in revenge of the Muslims and Hamza. At the time of Hamze's death, he was approximately 57 years old.

Hamza was married to Salma bint Umaye, who was the half-sister of Maimuna bint al-Haris, one of the wives of Muhammad. From this marriage, Hamza and Salma had a daughter, Ammat .

• Ali-zade, A.A. Hamza ibn Abd al-Mutallib // Islamic Encyclopedic Dictionary . - M .: Ansar , 2007 .-- S. http://slovar-islam.ru/books/h.html#HamzaibnAbdal%27Mutallib32 .
• Meredith-Owens, GM Ḥamza b. ʿAbd al-Muṭṭalib // Encyclopaedia of Islam , Second Edition.