At a glance
His family- Dates
- Died 3 AH (625 CE)
- Who
- Uncle and foster brother of the Prophet ﷺ, one of the great fighters of the early community
- Stages
- The Call in Makkah, and Building Madinah
ProfileHamzah ibn Abdul-Muttalib
Hamzah (may Allah be pleased with him) was the Prophet's ﷺ uncle but close to him in age, and the two had been nursed by the same woman, so they were also foster brothers. In Makkah he was known as a strong man and a hunter.
His turn to Islam came in a single afternoon, around 615 or 616 CE. Abu Jahl had insulted the Prophet ﷺ near Mount Safa, and the Prophet ﷺ had said nothing in reply. Hamzah heard of it when he came back from hunting. He went straight to the Kaaba, found Abu Jahl and struck him with his bow, then declared that he followed the same faith. The believers, who were few and under pressure, now had a powerful protector.
Hamzah migrated to Madinah and fought at Badr. At Uhud, in 3 AH, he was killed, and the Prophet ﷺ grieved deeply for him. He is called Asadullah, the Lion of Allah, and Sayyid ash-Shuhada, the master of the martyrs.
Meet them inWhere they appear in the seerah
SourcesSources for this profile
The books, lectures and maps behind this page are listed on our Sources page.