How did Hamza become a Muslim? Here is answer…
The Messenger of Allah -upon him blessings and peace- was not just simply sending his companions to the Kaabah to recite the Quran to the idolaters. He was also personally going to the Meccans from time to time to communicate Divine Revelation. During one of these occasions, Abu Jahl emboldened himself in his insults of the Prophet -upon him blessings and peace-. As if to show off next to his friends who had gathered around, he was just about to take it one step further, when a woman ran to tell Hamza, returning anew from a hunting expedition.
“Hamza, brave Hamza! They are insulting your nephew at the Kaabah. I fear they are about to harm him. They are going to something bad!”
Without wasting any time, Hamza ran to the scene, and using his bow, struck Abu Jahl’s head so fiercely that blood began gushing out of it like a stream. Not expecting an interference of the sort, Abu Jahl was baffled, and fearing for his life, quickly fled the scene. In ones and twos, the idolaters followed, as they all knew very well Hamza’s might. None of Quraysh’s strongest men could face him without growing weak in the knees.
Straight after the incident, Hamza went next to his nephew, Muhammad, the Noble Messenger of Allah -upon him blessings and peace-.
“I have taken your revenge from him…You can be at ease!” he said.
“I will only be at ease if you accept Islam!” the Prophet -upon him blessings and peace- replied.
Suddenly, the curtain of ignorance lifted from Hamza’s heart. Realizing the truth at that instant, the brave Hamza looked at his noble nephew with a smile, and staring at the magnificent glimmer on his face declared his acceptance of Islam.
Hamza –Allah be well-pleased with him-, the Prophet’s -upon him blessings and peace- uncle, was only two years older than the Prophet -upon him blessings and peace-. They had also been breastfed from the same mother.[1]
By saying he could only be at ease if his uncle accepted Islam, the Messenger of Allah -upon him blessings and peace- expressed the superiority of guidance over personal revenge and therefore of the eternal life over passing worldy desires. This incident teaches us that we should always choose the benefit of Islam over our personal interests and that we should seek happiness in the success of the Religion and not from personal achievements.
The day Hamza –Allah be well-pleased with him- became Muslim, Abu Bakr –Allah be well-pleased with him- insisted with the Prophet -upon him blessings and peace- for all the Muslims to go together to the Kaabah and invite everyone there to Islam.
“We are still very few in number”, the Noble Prophet -upon him blessings and peace- replied.
But when Abu Bakr –Allah be well-pleased with him- persisted, with the Companions by his side, the Prophet -upon him blessings and peace- left the house of Arqam to go to the Kaabah. Once they arrived, the moment when Abu Bakr –Allah be well-pleased with him- began inviting people to believe in Allah and His Messenger, the idolaters charged at the Muslims and began beating them. The base Utbah, especially, trampled and kicked Abu Bakr’s –Allah be well-pleased with him- face with his steel-studded boots. Abu Bakr –Allah be well-pleased with him- was left bloody and bruised. It took a great effort from his clan, Taym, to save him from idolater hands.
His clan brought the unconscious Abu Bakr –Allah be well-pleased with him- to his house. Fearing he would die any moment, they returned to the Kaabah, and yelled:
“We swear that if Abu Bakr dies, we will kill Utbah!”
It was well into the night when Abu Bakr –Allah be well-pleased with him- finally regained consciousness. The first thing he asked, with a mighty effort, was:
“Is the Prophet -upon him blessings and peace- all right?”
His mother Ummu’l-Khayr was constantly pleading him to eat something, but Abu Bakr –Allah be well-pleased with him-, as if not hearing anything, was constantly asking:
“How is the Prophet, is he well?”
“I have not heard from your friend, my dear”, his mother responded.
Abu Bakr –Allah be well-pleased with him- then sent his mother to Ummu Jameel,[2] a Muslim woman, to get information about the Messenger of Allah -upon him blessings and peace-. When Ummu Jameel -Allah be well-pleased with her- came around and saw Abu Bakr –Allah be well-pleased with him- in such a horrible condition, she could not help but scream:
“I swear by Allah that only a beast could do something like this to you! May Allah take your revenge!”
Soon after, upon Abu Bakr’s –Allah be well-pleased with him- request, she informed him that the Messenger of Allah -upon him blessings and peace- was safe, waiting at the House of Arqam.
“By Allah, I will neither eat nor drink until I see him”, Abu Bakr insisted.
Once things settled down and everyone went their own way, his mother Ummu Jameel took Abu Bakr –Allah be well-pleased with him- by the arm and carried him to the Light of Being -upon him blessings and peace-. The moment he saw the Prophet -upon him blessings and peace-, Abu Bakr –Allah be well-pleased with him- fell at his feet. The state of his dear friend affected the tender heart of the Prophet -upon him blessings and peace-. Abu Bakr –Allah be well-pleased with him- managed to say:
“May my mother and father be ransomed for you! I am fine, really. That sordid man knocked me around a little, that’s all!” He then asked the Prophet -upon him blessings and peace- to pray for the guidance of his mother.
Not long after, with the blessings of the Noble Prophet’s prayers, Abu Bakr’s honorable mother also joined the circle of belief.[3]
Alarmed by the steady rise of Muslim numbers and the acceptance of Islam by leading figures like Hamza –Allah be well-pleased with him-, the idolaters held a meeting to come up with ways to stem the tide.
“The issue of Muhammad has gotten serious” they discussed. “It is starting to get disturbing. Let us send our most able poet and sorcerer to him, so he can have a word!”
They chose Utbah ibn Rabiah for the purpose. Utbah repeated at length the offers formerly made by the idolaters. The Messenger of Allah -upon him blessings and peace- listened quietly for him to finish. He then asked, “Have you finished what you have to say Abu’l-Waled?”
Utbah nodded.
“Now listen to me then!” The Messenger of Allah -upon him blessings and peace- then began reciting chapter Fussilat, until the verse of prostration, for which he fell prostrate. Getting up, he then added:
“You have now heard what I have to say. Here it is and there you are!”
On the way back, Utbah was seen from a distance by the idolaters, who could clearly notice his change of expression.
Once Utbah came, they anxiously asked him to explain what happened.
“I swear by Allah that I have never heard a word of the like I just heard. Poetry, magic, sorcery…it’s none of the kind! When Muhammad said:
فَإِنْ أَعْرَضُوا فَقُلْ أَنذَرْتُكُمْ صَاعِقَةً مِّثْلَ صَاعِقَةِ عَادٍ وَثَمُودَ
‘But if they turn aside, then say: I have warned you of a scourge like the scourge of Aad and Thamud,’ (Fussilat, 13) I blocked his mouth and begged him to read no further for the sake of our kinship. For I knew that whatever Muhammad says, comes true…I feared that Divine wrath would fall upon us.
Now listen to me, Quraysh! Leave him alone with his affairs, step aside! If Arabs happen to kill him, then you will be saved through others! But if he becomes sovereign over the Arabs, then his sovereignty means your sovereignty, and his honor means yours! Then, thanks to Muhammad, you will be the happiest of men!”
“He cast a spell on you with his words, Utbah!” the idolaters exclaimed in response.
“I only say what I think”, replied Utbah. “But you are free to do as you wish!” (Ibn Hisham, I, 313-314; Ibn Kathir, al-Bidayah, III, 111-112)
[1] See Ibn Hisham, I, 312-313; Hâkim, III, 213; Ibn Kathir, al-Bidaya , III, 84.
[2] Umm Jameel bint Hatib, a Muslima, is not to be confused with her namesake, Abu Lahab’s wife.
[3] See Ibn Asîr, Usdu’l-Ghâba, VII, 326; Ibn Kathir, al-Bidaya , III, 81.
Source: Osman Nuri Topbaş, The Prophet Muhammed Mustafa the Elect, Erkam Publications
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