Episode 19: Conversion of Hamza ibn Abdul-Muttalib
Abu Jahal Insults the Prophet:
Abu Jahal continued to try and stop the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ from spreading dawah and one day, when the Prophet was on Mount Safa, he insulted him.
Hamza ibn Abdul-Muttalib, the uncle of the Prophet, was away on his travels to hunt for animals.
When he returned to Makkah, a woman who saw the incident came to Hamza ibn Abdul-Muttalib and told him about the way Abu Jahal insulted the Prophet ﷺ.
Hamza’s Anger and Conversion:
An angry Hamza went to Abu Jahal who was with his tribe, the Banu-Makhzum. He hit Abu Jahal with a heavy blow on his face and Abu Jahal started to bleed.
Hamza ibn Abdul-Muttalib told Abu Jahal: How dare you insult my nephew and I am on his religion!
Hamza was so angry that he said he was part of the religion of Islam, despite the fact that he actually had not accepted the religion.
The tribe of Banu-Makhzum got up to fight but Abu Jahal diffused the situation.
Hamza ibn Abdul-Muttalib then realised what he said and knew he could not retract the statement because this was not an honourable thing to do.
He stayed up all night asking Allah SWT for guidance and Allah put Iman in his heart.
The next day, he went to his nephew, the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ and took the Shahadah.
The Prophet and his companions were very happy because Hamza ibn Abdul-Muttalib was a powerful man and when the Quraysh heard about this, they became very worried.
The Quraysh Target the ‘Weak’ Muslims:
now, the disbelievers of the Quraysh decided to target the ‘weak’ Muslims, who were those that had no family protection.
They were Muslims in private and the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ would teach them the religion of Islam privately at Dar’ul Arqam, which was a house in a hidden place near Mount Safa.
This was the house of a man named Al-Arqam who accepted Islam and he was originally part of the Quraysh and the tribe of Banu-Makhzum.
The Quraysh threatened to hurt anyone who would come to Makkah and mention the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ.
The Story of Abu Dharr al-Ghifari:
There was a tribe called Ghifar who lived in an area that the Quraysh would pass towards Syria.
The people of Ghifar were poor so when the Quraysh would come, they would ambush their caravans. In Makkah, they were known as thieves.
A man from this tribe was Abu Dharr, who was an honest man and he had no interest in the idol worshipping ways of the disbelievers.
When he heard that the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ was teaching people about the Oneness of Allah, he wanted to find out more information about the Prophet, so he sent his brother Unais to Makkah.
Unais witnessed the threats that the Quraysh would make to people just for mentioning the Prophet’s name.
He went back and told Abu Dharr that there is a man called Muhammad that worships one God alone and he teaches good manners and commands the good and forbids the evil.
Abu Dharr’s Search for the Prophet:
Abu Dharr then decided to go to Makkah, and he waited by the Kabah for thirty days with no food and only drank the water of Zam-Zam.
He was not allowed to ask about the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ because of the threats that the Quraysh stipulated if they heard anyone mention his name.
One day, he saw two little girls come towards the Kabah to worship the idols of Isaf and Nailah (mentioned in Episode 1).
Abu Dharr mocked and insulted the idols and the two girls told him to worship the idols, but he replied: why am I going to worship two immoral fornicators?
The two girls were disturbed and while they left, they saw Abu Bakr and the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ, who asked them what had happened.
The girls replied: there is a guy who is speaking very badly about our idols.
Abu Dharr Meets The Prophet:
This is when the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ finally met Abu Dharr.
The Prophet taught him the fundamentals of Islam and Abu Dharr accepted Islam.
The Prophet ﷺ knew that he would be targeted by the Quraysh because he had no strong family connections.
Abu Dharr wanted to learn more about Islam so the Prophet told him: Follow me, but keep a distance and when I enter a house (Dar’ul Arqam), wait some time before entering the house.
Abu Dharr learnt about Islam for fifteen days and the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ then instructed him: Now you have to go back to your tribe and you have to teach them what you have learnt.
Abu Dharr Accepts Islam Publicly:
Before Abu Dharr went, he went to the Kabah and proclaimed the Shahadah in front of the Quraysh.
The Quraysh then attacked him and the Prophet’s uncle Abbas ibn Abdul-Muttalib, who had not accepted Islam at that point, jumped on Abu Dharr to protect people from hurting him.
Abbas ibn Abdul-Muttalib told the Quraysh: how can you hurt this man from Ghifar, we have to pass through this town every time we go to Syria.
Eventually, the Quraysh left him alone but the next day Abu Dharr did this once more, and the Quraysh attacked him again.
Once again, Abbas ibn Abdul-Muttalib protected Abu Dharr and told the Quraysh the same thing as he did the previous day.
Abu Dharr Spreads Islam to His Tribe:
Abu Dharr went back to his tribe and called his brother to Islam, who accepted the religion.
Then, they went to their mother and she also became a Muslim and at this point, half of the tribe of Ghifar accepted the religion.
When the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ migrated to Madinah, the other half of the tribe also accepted Islam and they migrated to Madinah as well.