Hanzalah ibn Abi Amir

ProfileHanzalah ibn Abi Amir

Hanzalah (may Allah be pleased with him) was of the Aws in Madinah, the son of Abu Amir ar-Rahib, the monk. According to the early biographies, his father was a religious man who had read the Torah, dressed in coarse wool and said that he was waiting for the prophet who would come. When the Prophet ﷺ came from Makkah, and from Quraysh, Abu Amir turned against him, went to Makkah and fought against the Muslims at Uhud. His son Hanzalah became a Muslim and was among the Prophet's ﷺ Companions. According to the early biographies, he married Jamilah, the daughter of Abdullah ibn Ubayy ibn Salul, the chief of the hypocrites, who was herself a Muslim, so that a daughter and a son of the two great opponents of the Prophet ﷺ were among the believers. Their wedding was the night before Uhud.

According to the early biographies, Hanzalah asked the Prophet ﷺ for leave to spend the night with his wife, and it was given. In the morning, hearing the call to battle, he left without bathing and went to Uhud. According to the early biographies, he fought bravely, knocked Abu Sufyan off his horse and was about to kill him when another man killed Hanzalah. The Prophet ﷺ said that the angels were washing their Companion, and asked his people to ask his wife about him. She said that he had gone out at the call to battle while he was in a state of janabah, and the Prophet ﷺ said that this was why the angels washed him (Sahih Ibn Hibban, graded hasan by al-Albani and sahih by Shu'ayb al-Arna'ut). He became known as the one washed by the angels. According to the early biographies, the Companions found him on the battlefield as if he had just bathed, with water on him when they had none to drink, and the Prophet ﷺ said that he had seen Hanzalah's body raised between heaven and earth and washed by the angels. According to the early biographies, Jamilah dreamed that night that he was taken up into the sky and a gate was shut behind him. According to the early biographies, she gave birth to their son, Abdullah ibn Hanzalah, who was killed at al-Harrah by Yazid's army.

Some reports name the woman who asked the Prophet ﷺ for a separation from Thabit ibn Qays, saying that she had no complaint about his religion or character but did not wish to be in disbelief after Islam, as Jamilah, daughter of Salul, and the Prophet ﷺ told Thabit to take back his garden from her (Sunan Ibn Majah, graded sahih). Other reports give a different name, Habibah bint Sahl, and early biographers differ on whether Jamilah the widow of Hanzalah was the same woman.

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