Hanzala Ibn Abi Amir (r.a.)

Hanzala Ibn Abi Amir was a valiant man who longed to become a martyr. He got married one day before the Battle of Uhud and left home to fight the polytheists at Uhud the next morning. His dead body was washed by angels.

He was one of the notables of the Aws tribe. He was very strong and shrewd; he had high ethics. Before Islam, he used to live in seclusion and worship. He practiced the religion of Hanif. He liked living in seclusion. He hated worshipping idols.

Hanzala Ibn Abi Amir became a Muslim after the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) came to Madinah. His father, Abu Amir, was together with the enemies of the Prophet. When the Prophet came to Madinah, he went to Makkah and joined the polytheists. Therefore, he was given the nickname fasiq.

Hanzala (r.a.) was known as “Taqi” (pious) among his friends. He had high ethics. The belief in his heart became exuberant. He was always together with the Messenger of Allah. His father joined Makkan polytheists with a group of fifty people from his tribe and formed a front against the Messenger of Allah (pbuh).

Hanzala took part in the Battles of Badr and Uhud; he fought heroically. He was single when he took part in the Battle of Badr. A little while after this battle, he got engaged to Abdullah Ibn Ubayy Ibn Salul’s daughter, Jamila, who became a Muslim. Their marriage took place one day before the Battle of Uhud. On the night of the marriage, the Messenger of Allah and his Companions were going to set off to go to Uhud. He asked permission from the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) to spend the night at home. The prophet gave him the permission.

Hanzala, who had just got married, spent the night with his wife. He left home early in the morning and caught up with the Prophet at Uhud. When the Prophet arranged the ranks for the battle, he joined the Companions.

Hanzala, who displayed great heroism on the Day of Uhud, attacked the polytheists zealously like the other Companions. He attacked them with the desire of being a martyr. He attacked them with his sword without having a rest. He fought all day by shooting arrows and swinging his sword around. The polytheists started to run away. Abu Sufyan, the commander of the army of the polytheists was left alone When Hanzala saw him, he drew his sword and cut off the legs of his horse. Abu Sufyan fell down with his horse. Abu Sufyan, who was very afraid, did not know what to do. He started to shout as loudly as he could, “O Qurayshis! I am Abu Sufyan. Hanzala is going to kill me; save me!” At that moment, everybody was busy with saving himself. Nobody seemed to heed him. While Hanzala was preparing to attack him, Saddat Ibn Aswad approached him from behind and hit Hanzala on the back with his spear. Hanzala wanted to hit him but Saddat hit him again and martyred him.

Abu Sufyan, who organized the expedition of Uhud in order to take the revenge of the Battle of Badr, accepted the death of Hanzala in return for the death of his son, Hanzala, in the Battle of Badr. He regarded him to have been killed for his son. The polytheists started to cut off the organs of the martyrs with the feeling of revenge.  Hanzala’s father Abu Amir, who was a polytheist, prevented his dead body from being harmed.

When Hanzala was martyred, the Messenger of Allah said about him,

“I saw the angels wash Hanzala between the sky and the earth from a silver tray with rain water.” Abu Usayd Said said, “I went to see Hanzala and saw rain water dropping down from his head. I returned and told the Messenger of Allah about it. The Messenger of Allah sent somebody to his wife and asked her about it. His wife said Hanzala left home in a hurry without making ghusl to catch with the Muslims at Uhud. After this incident, he was called “Ghasilu’l-malaika = the person who was washed by angels”. The tribe of Aws took pride in him saying, “Hanzala, who was washed by angels, is from our tribe.”

Hanzala’s wife, Jamila, saw a dream on the night of the wedding.In the morning, she called four family members of Hanzala and made them witnesses to the actualization of her wedding with Hanzala. She said if she had a baby, it would belong to Hanzala. The witnessed asked, “Why did you find this necessary?” Jamila told them about the dream she had. She said, “In my dream, I saw the sky open to Hanzala and it shut again after he had entered into it.” Her dream turned out to be true and Hanzala was martyred. She had a child called Abdullah. This child known as Abdullah Ibn Hanzala is the Abdullah that the people of Madinah paid allegiance against Yazid Ibn Muawiya. He was martyred during the time of Yazid.

We ask Allah Almighty to enable us to attain the intercession of both the father and his son. Amin.