Assassination of Asadullâh (the Lion of Allâh) Hamzah bin ‘Abdul Muttalib

hamzah’s assassin, wahshi bin harb, described how he killed hamzah. he said:

"i was a slave working to jubair bin mut‘im, whose paternal uncle tu‘aimah bin ‘adi was injured at badr battle. so when quraish marched to uhud, jubair said to me: ‘if you kill hamzah, the uncle of muhammad, stealthily you shall be manumitted.’ "

"so i marched with the people to uhud." he used to describe himself as, "i am a picaro good at spearing." "so when the two parties fought, i set out seeking hamzah. i saw him amidst people fighting. he was like a white and black striped camel, striking severely with his sword and no one could stand on his way. by allâh! when i was getting ready and trying to seize the fit opportunity to spear him, hiding sometimes behind a tree or a rock hoping that he might draw nearer and be within range — at that moment i caught sight of siba‘ bin ‘abd al-‘uzza going closer towards him. when hamzah observed him, he said: ‘come on! o son of the ‘clitoris-cutter.’ — for his mother used to be a circumciser. then he struck one strong stroke that could hardly miss his head."

wahshi said: "then i balanced my spear and shook it till i was content with it, then i speared him and it went down into his stomach and issued out between his legs. he attempted moving towards me but he was overcome by his wound. i left him there with the spear in his entrails till he died. then i came to him, pulled out my spear and returned to the encampment place. i stayed there and did not go out, for he was the only one i sought. i only killed him to free myself. so as soon as i got back to makkah, i became a free man." [ibn hisham 2/69-72; sahih al-bukhari 2/583]