Hamzah bin Abdul Muttalib embraces Islam

Once, Abu Jahl happened to pass by the Prophet near Mount Safa. He began insulting the Prophet and, according to sources, hit him on the head with a stone causing him to bleed.

The Prophet ever patient, did not respond to Abu Jahl’s harrassment. A slave woman who belonged to Abdullah bin Jad’an witnessed the scene. Satisfied with himself, Abu Jahl went to the Ka’bah and sat with a group of men from the Quraysh.

Shortly aterwards, Hamzah returned from hunting with his bow. When the slave woman told him what happened to his nephew, Hamzah turned on Abu Jahl, “You bag of wind, do you dare abuse my nephew when I follow his religion?” Hamzah struck Abu Jahl’s head with his bow and made a gash. Men from Banu Makhzoom (Abu Jahl’s tribesmen) and Banu Hashim (Hamzah’s tribesmen) rose against each other until Abu Jahl ordered his relatives to stay put, saying, “Let Abu Ammara [Hamzah] go. I abused his nephew unjustly.”

Hamzah’s sudden conversion was obviously the result of a strong sense of family honour. The Prophet had been trying for six lonely, difficult years to spread the message of Allah, and Hamzah had not given it much thought until then. Soon, however, something began to grow in Hamzah’s heart. He realised that faith was taking root and he began to see that his love for Islam went beyond any kinship he had with Muhammad . His faith in Allah would become so powerful that he would later be called “Ashadullah” (The Lion of Allah).