Hanzala b. Abi 'Amir: Difference between revisions

'''Ḥanẓala b. Abī ‘Āmir''' (Arabic: حنظلة بن ابی عامر), known as “Ghasīl al-Malā’ika” (washed by angels) (d. 3 A.H./ 624), was one of the [[Sahaba]] or companions of [[the Prophet Muhammad (s)]] who was martyred in the [[Battle of Uhud]]. Hanzala had a special place among his friends and enemies. He cited [[hadiths]] from the Prophet (s) and some other Sahaba. His son, ‘Abd Allah, who was one of the young Sahaba, was the commander in the [[Event of Harra]] in 63 A.H. (682).  

Hanzala was from the Banu ‘Amr b. ‘Awf—a clan of the [[Aws]] tribe. His father was [[Abu ‘Amir Abd ‘Amr b. Sayfi]], a prominent figure in the period of [[Jahiliyya]].

A while after their conversion to Islam, Hanzala and [[‘Abd Allah b. ‘Abd Allah al-Ubayy]] asked the Prophet (s) to give them the permission to kill their fathers, but the Prophet (s) did not allow them to do so. Their fathers, Abu ‘Amir and ‘Abd Allah b. Ubayy, the well-known hypocrite in the early Isalm, became jealous of the Prophet (s) after his immigration to [[Medina]]. Abd Allah b. Ubayy practiced hypocrisy ([[nifaq]]), but Abu ‘Amir went to [[Mecca]], together with some young people from Aws, and joined the polytheists of [[Quraysh]].

==Hanzala, Ghasil al-Mala’ika==

According to sources, in the Battle of Uhud, since Hanzala had just recently married, he asked for the Prophet (s)’s permission to let him spend time with his wife the night before the battle. Early in the morning, he went to the battlefield. His wife, Jamila bt. ‘Abd Allah b. Ubayy, had a dream that she interpreted as the martyrdom of his husband. Therefore, she asked 4 of her relatives to testify that she had spent the night with Hanzala, since she was afraid that there would be a dispute over the child she would give birth to.

In the battlefield, Hanzala defeated [[Abu Sufyan]] and was about to decapitate him, but [[Shaddad b. Aswad b. Shu’ub]] martyred Hanzala. At this time, the Prophet (s) said: “the angels wash his corpse”. Since then, he came to be known as “Ghasil al-Mala’ika” (washed by the angels) and his children were known as “Banu Ghasil al-Mala’ika”.

The martyrdom of Hanzala in the Battle of Uhud was considered to be so important that the polytheists of [[Quraysh]], especially [[Abu Sufyan]], composed poems and paeans about it, including the famous paean, “Hanzala bi Hanzala” (Hanzala for Hanzala), composed by Abu Sufyan as a retaliation of his defeat in the [[Battle of Badr]] in which one of his sons called “Hanzala” was killed.

When the battle was over, there was a rumor that the Prophet (s) was killed. Abu Sufyan and Abu ‘Amir were looking for the Prophet (s)’s corpse but they ran into Hanzala’s corpse. When Abu ‘Amir saw his son’s corpse, he recited an elegy for him, and said, “he is the dearest of all people who are murdered in Uhud to me”. At his request, people of Quraysh avoided mutilating his corpse.

==Abu ‘Amir, Hanzala’s father==

Abu ‘Amir, Hanzala’s father, who was the leader of the Aws tribe, practiced monkhood during the period of [[Jahiliyya]] and talked about the [[resurrection]] and the [[hanif religion]]. He was known as a monk and knew a lot about the Bible. According to [[Baladhuri]], he sought to be known as a prophet himself. However, after a long conversation with the Prophet (s), the Prophet (s) called him a vice person, though he claimed to be committed to the hanif religion.

After the conversation, Abu ‘Amir became upset at the Prophet (s). So he joined [[Quraysh]] together with 65 people and started to invite the polytheists of Quraysh as well as the Jews and [[Ansar]] in [[Medina]] to rise against the Prophet (s). In the [[Battle of Badr]] he did not accompany the polytheists of Quraysh, but in the [[Battle of Uhud]], he was one of the first people who started the war. He dug some pits on the Muslims’ way to the battlefield in which a polytheist—who sought to kill the Prophet (s)—fell and was later killed by Muslims.  

After the [[Conquest of Mecca]], he fled to [[Ta’if]] and when people of Ta’if converted to Islam, he moved to [[al-Sham]] (or Levant). There he planned to prepare weapons and troops in order to attack Medina, but he died there in 9th or 10th A.H. (630 or 631).  

The well-known [[Dirar Mosque]], that God ordered the Prophet (s) to destroy (the Quran, 9:107), was built at Abu ‘Amir’s instigation. He planned to defeat the Prophet (s) in Medina and then give a speech in that mosque. According to some sources, the phrase “and in preparation for one who warred against Allah and His messenger aforetime” refers to Abu ‘Amir. According to Miqrizi, Abu ‘Amir was determined to exhume the grave of [[Amina bt. Wahb]], the Prophet (s)’s mother, but, by the intervention of God, he failed to do so.

==’Abd Allah the son of Hanzala==

Hanzala’s son, ‘Abd Allah, was one of the youngest [[Sahaba]] of the Prophet (s). his [[kunya]] was Abu ‘Abd al-Rahman or Abu Bakr. He was born 9 months after Hanzala’s martyrdom in the Battle of Uhud. He was later known as a righteous, virtuous, honorable and worshiping man, who always looked down out of humbleness.

In addition to being Hanzala’s son, what made him well-known in the Islamic history was his commandership in the [[Event of Harra]]. ‘Abd Allah narrated [[hadiths]] from the Prophet (s), [[‘Umar b. Khattab]], [[Abu Bakr]], [[‘Abd Allah b. Salam]], and [[Ka’b al-Ahbar]]. People such as [[Qays b. Sa’d b. ‘Ubada]], [[Asma’ bt. Zayd]], [[‘Abd Allah b. Abi Malika]], [[‘Abbas b. Sahl]], [[Damdam b. Haws]], [[‘Abd Allah b. Yazid al-Khatmi]], [[Salih b. Abi Hisan]], and [[‘Abd al-Malik b. Abi Bakr]] narrated hadiths from him.