Wahshi

Sirah Transcript by Yasir Qadhi > Martyrdom of Hamzah b Abd al-Muttalib RA

Another sad incident of Uhud is of course the martyrdom of Hamzah b. Abd al-Muttalib (حمزة بن عبد المطلب) RA, the uncle and a very close friend of the Prophet ﷺ. He was killed by Wahshi (وحشي), the slave of Jubayr b. Mut'im (جبير بن مطعم), the son of Mut'im b. Adi. (At this time, Jubayr wasn't a Muslim, but he converts to Islam later on.) In Uhud, Jubayr's uncle Tu'aymah b. Adi (طعيمة بن عدي) was killed by Hamzah. so Jubayr wants revenge, he tells his slave Wahshi, "If you kill Hamzah, you will be free." So it's a double revenge: (i) Hamzah killed his uncle, so he wants Hamzah killed, and (ii) just like he lost his uncle, he wants the Prophet ﷺ to lose his uncle.

Wahshi does eventually accept Islam later on [8 AH], and he preserves this story in the first person: "I was a slave in Makkah, and I had no desire to get involved in the war. However, Jubayr my master promised me my freedom if I kill Hamzah. So I took my best javelin/spear and walked into the battle. And wallahi, I had no desire to do anyone harm except for Hamzah, in order to get my freedom. I began following Hamzah wherever he goes, and I kept on hiding until finally when he killed so-and-so, chopped him off, as soon as he lowered the sword, I stepped out from behind the bush, Hamzah's back was to me, I threw my javelin with the MOST force that I could, [note: so this was a cowardly move by Wahshi, but he wasn't concerned about chivalry right now, he just wants his freedom], and it went through Hamzah and came through the front. Hamzah turned around to try and fight me, [subhan'Allah, what a warrior he was], but he was not able to, and he died." It is also said that Wahshi aimed for the armor chinks when it slides around and exposes the skin/garment of Hamzah. And subhan'Allah, how else would Hamzah RA be killed except in this manner. Nobody could kill him in a true one on one combat.

Jubayr and Wahshi were both eventually guided to Islam, and this shows us that not a single person can be disregarded when it comes to accepting Islam, no matter how evil the enemy.

As for Wahshi, he fled to Ta'if right before the Conquest of Makkah [later in 8 AH] because he knew that the Prophet ﷺ would not spare him. So he flees to Ta'if, and after a year, Ta'if also becomes a Muslim city; Wahshi had no idea what to do, "I felt the whole world was going to collapse on me," so he went to exile in Syria. Somebody eventually told Wahshi that the Prophet ﷺ never kills anyone who accepts Islam. So he accepted Islam in this manner. Not the most noble way to accept Islam, but he's a Muslim nonetheless. So he went to Makkah cloaked, and his face covered so that he would not be recognized, and accepted Islam in front of the Prophet ﷺ, "I bear witness that there is no god except Allah, and you are the Messenger of Allah!" The Prophet ﷺ asks him, "Are you Wahshi?" He says, "Yes." The Prophet ﷺ said, "Tell me how you killed Hamzah." Wahshi then told him the story, and the Prophet ﷺ cried to the point that his beard got wet. The Prophet ﷺ then told Wahshi, "Hide yourself from me; let me not see your face." This is a difficult punishment for Wahshi, since every time the Prophet ﷺ was around, he had to hide himself. We seek Allah's refuge from such punishment, as we want to be with the Prophet ﷺ in Jannah.

(Tangent: Wahshi was also involved in drinking khamr. And Umar RA would have him punished multiple times; so much so that Umar RA said, "Wallahi, I knew that Allah would not leave the one who killed Hamzah untouched." And the punishment for drinking is 40 lashes. [Side note: This shows us that no doubt the generation of the sahaba is the best generation, but that doesn't make them superhuman. They had their sins, and Allah SWT will forgive them. Their sins are shown to us so that we humanize them and not make them superhuman. They had sins, including drinking, fornication, etc., —and they were punished for that— but they would never lie about or be unfaithful to Allah and His Messenger ﷺ. So we always have a lot of respect for them, and we always say radi-Allahu-anhum wa radu-anh [رضي الله عنهم ورضوا عنه - Allah is pleased with them and they are pleased with Him].] And at the end of his life, Wahshi did repent.)

Wahshi further related that when he heard about the advent of a false prophet called Musaylimah al-Kadhdhab (مسيلمة الكذاب - Musaylimah the Liar) [in 11 AH], he made a du'a to Allah, "O Allah, allow me to take the life of Musaylimah in substitution for what I did to Hamzah." And he took the SAME spear that he killed Hamzah with, and he went with Khalid b. al-Walid, and he targeted Musaylimah like he targeted Hamzah. "I threw my javelin. And at the same time, one of the Ansar attacked him from the other side with his sword, so Allah knows which one of us actually killed Musaylimah." But he considers this to be his kaffarah (كفارة - expiation). (And of course technically, Wahshi killed Hamzah when he was a non-Muslim, so it's not as if that sin will be on his Scales on the Day of Judgment.)

Sirah Transcript by Yasir Qadhi > Those Who Were Not Granted Amnesty

3. Wahshi (وحشي) — the murderer of Hamzah b. Abd al-Muttalib. And Wahshi knew he would not be spared. So as soon as Makkah was conquered, he fled to Ta'if. And he only converted when the people of Ta'if converted, i.e., 1 year later — he was a member of the delegation sent from Ta'if to Madinah [see episode 95. When he converted, at that point in time, the Prophet ﷺ forgave him and asked him to tell the story of how he killed Hamzah in detail. So Wahshi told him everything. And it's said the Prophet ﷺ was crying when he heard this. After, the Prophet ﷺ said to him, "I have forgiven you, but don't show me your face." Subhan'Allah, what a punishment. So Wahshi, as long as the Prophet ﷺ lived —what a punishment— he could not be in the same area as the Prophet ﷺ. [See also: episode 48.]

Sirah Transcript by Yasir Qadhi > Musaylimah the False Prophet

In any case, Musaylimah was eventually killed in the Wars of Ridda [12 AH] by none other than Wahshi, as Wahshi wanted to atone for killing Hamzah RA [see episode 48, so he took the same javelin he killed Hamzah with and executed Musaylimah al-Kadhdhab, Musaylimah the Liar. (Side note: The Banu Hanifa was the largest and the worst of the murtad tribes during the battle.)