Wahshi ibn Harb

ProfileWahshi ibn Harb

Wahshi (may Allah be pleased with him) was the son of Harb. According to the early biographies, his kunya was Abu Dasmah, and he was an Abyssinian slave of Jubayr ibn Mut'im, known for his skill in throwing a spear, which rarely missed.

His own account was told in Hims, long after the Prophet's ﷺ death, to Ja'far ibn Amr ibn Umayyah and Ubaydullah ibn Adi ibn al-Khiyar, who went to hear it. They asked where he lived, and were told that he was in the shade of his palace, like a full waterskin. They greeted him and he returned the greeting. Ubaydullah had his turban wrapped round his face, so that only his eyes and feet showed, and asked whether Wahshi knew him. Wahshi looked and said that he did not, but that Adi ibn al-Khiyar had married Umm Qital, the daughter of Abu al-Is, who had a boy in Makkah, and Wahshi had looked for a wet-nurse for that child, and handed him to her, and Ubaydullah's feet were like that child's feet. Then Ubaydullah uncovered his face, and asked him to tell of the killing of Hamzah.

Wahshi said that Hamzah had killed Tu'aymah ibn Adi at Badr, and his master Jubayr had told him that if he killed Hamzah in revenge for his uncle, he would be set free. When the army set out for Uhud, he went with it. When the lines formed, Siba' came out and asked for someone to fight him, and Hamzah came out, and killed him. Wahshi hid under a rock, and when Hamzah came near, he threw his spear into his lower belly so that it went through his body, and killed him. When the army went back to Makkah, he went with them, and stayed there until Islam spread. Then he went to Ta'if, and when the people of Ta'if sent messengers to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, he was told that the Prophet ﷺ did not harm messengers, and went with them. When the Prophet ﷺ saw him, he asked, "Are you Wahshi?" He said yes. He asked whether it was he who had killed Hamzah, and Wahshi said that it was as he had been told. The Prophet ﷺ said, "Can you hide your face from me?" So Wahshi went out. When the Prophet ﷺ died and Musaylimah the liar appeared, Wahshi said that he would go out to him and kill him, to make up for killing Hamzah. He went out with the people, and when the battle was joined, he saw a man standing by a gap in a wall, with dishevelled hair like an ash-coloured camel, and threw his spear into his chest so that it came out between his shoulders. An Ansari ran at him and struck him on the head with a sword. Ibn Umar said that a slave-girl on a roof cried that the commander of the believers had been killed by a black slave (Sahih al-Bukhari).

According to the early biographies, Hind bint Utbah had promised him gold and jewels if he killed Hamzah, and had urged him on. According to the early biographies, after killing Hamzah he took his freedom and lived in Makkah, and did not fight in the later battles, and when the Prophet ﷺ was coming for the Conquest, he went to Ta'if. According to the early biographies, he came with the delegation of Thaqif in the Year of Delegations, 9 AH, and accepted Islam. According to the early biographies, he used to sit behind the others when the Prophet ﷺ was speaking, so as not to be seen. According to the early biographies, he fought in the conquest of Syria, and at the Yarmuk, and lived in Hims, where he was respected, and died in the time of Uthman.

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