Hamzah ibn Abd al-Muttalib

Hamzah was the Prophet's paternal uncle and was close in age to him — they were also foster-brothers through Thuwaybah. He was known as the strongest and most courageous man of Quraysh, renowned as a hunter and warrior. His conversion to Islam came after Abu Jahl publicly insulted and struck the Prophet near the hill of Safa. A freed slave woman of Abdullah ibn Jud'an witnessed the incident and told Hamzah when he returned from hunting. Enraged, Hamzah went straight to Abu Jahl at the Ka'bah and struck him with his bow, saying: 'Will you insult him when I follow his religion?' Abu Jahl's companions moved to help, but Abu Jahl stopped them, admitting: 'I did insult his nephew terribly.' Initially Hamzah's declaration was driven by tribal honour, but that night he prayed and his heart was opened to Islam. His conversion dramatically strengthened the Muslim position — the Quraysh became more cautious in their persecution. At Badr, he fought with extraordinary bravery, killing several of the leading Quraysh fighters. At Uhud, he was targeted specifically. Jubayr ibn Mut'im had promised his Abyssinian slave Wahshi his freedom if he killed Hamzah. Wahshi waited and threw his javelin with deadly accuracy, striking Hamzah in his lower abdomen. Hind bint Utbah, whose father Hamzah had killed at Badr, mutilated his body and chewed his liver. When the Prophet saw Hamzah's mutilated body, he wept and said: 'I will never be struck by anything greater than this.' He called Hamzah 'Sayyid ash-Shuhada' (the Leader of the Martyrs).