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| Matyr of Uhud -Saidina Hamzah RA |
Hadhrat Hamzah’s shroud
Hadhrat Hamzah , who was Nabi’s SAW
dear uncle and one of his earliest supporters, passed away in Uhud.
The ruthless enemy brutally cut of his nose, ears and organs. He was
ripped open and his heart, lungs and liver were torn out and the
whole body was thoroughly mutilated. While Nabi SAW was
making arrangements for the burial of
the dead, he caught sight of Hadhrat Hamzah’s body and was shocked
to find it in that condition. He covered the body with a sheet of
cloth.
Hadhrat Hamzah’ssister Safiyyah also
came to see her martyred brother for the last time. Nabi SAW fearing
that the sight might be too much for her to bear, asked her son
Hadhrat Zubair to discourage her from seeing the body. She however,
said: “Yes, I have heard that the wretches have mutilated my dear
brother’s body. It is not too much in the path of Allah and we
should accept it. I will bear all this
patiently and may Allah in His Grace
have mercy on us all.” Hadhrat Zubair informed Nabi SAW of his
mother’s resolve.
| Saidina Hamzah the matyr of Yhud |
Nabi SAW gave her permission to see
the body. When she saw what they had done to it, she simply
exclaimed, ‘Inna lillahi wa inna ilaihi raaji-oon’ and offered a
prayer for his soul. In another Hadith, Hadhrat Zubair himself
narrates the incident. He says: “We made out a woman drawing near
the place where the Shuhada of Uhud had been gathered. As she
approached us, I recognized her to be my own mother. I advanced to
stop her, but she proved to be too strong for me.
She thrust me aside, with the words,
‘Leave me alone,’ When I told her that Nabi SAW had prohibited
her from seeing the body, she at once stopped and explained, ‘On
hearing the news of my brother’s death, I have brought a couple of
sheets for his shroud. Take these sheets and make use of them.’
When we took the sheets and began enshrouding the body, we noticed
the dead body of an Ansaari named hadhrat Suhail lying close by in
the same condition. We considered it a shame to enshroud Hadhrat
Hamzah’two sheets, while the body of another Muslim brother lay
bare. We therefore decided to use one sheet each for the two bodies.
We discovered that one sheet was bigger
than the other, so we drew lots and the bigger sheet came to the lot
of Hadhrat Suhail and the smaller one to that of Hadhrat Hamzah . We
found that the sheet meant for Hadhrat Hamzah was too small and would
not cover his body. When we covered the head, the feet were exposed
and when we pulled it down to cover the feet, the head was exposed.
Nabi SAW said, ‘Cover the head with the sheet and the feet with
tree leaves.’”
This is how the body of Hadhrat Hamzah
, the dear uncle of Nabi SAW who wore the crown of perfection, was
buried. Look at the spirit of the Sahabah, who could not tolerate
Hadhrat Hamzah being enshrouded in two sheets and another Muslim
brother remaining without a shroud. Although Hadhrat Hamzah deserved
preferential treatment due to his exalted position, his body was
covered in a smaller
sheet that had fallen to his lot. Can
there be a better example of sympathy, equality and self-sacrifice?
Is it not shameful on our part, that we, who call ourselves the
followers of these illustrious people, do not possess any of these
qualities?
