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Wahshi ibn Harb | |
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| Died | |
| Nationality | Rashidun |
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Wahshi ibn Harb ("The Savage, Son of War"), also known asAbu Dusmah was a former slave ofJubayr ibn Mut'im before becoming a freedman and aSahabi (companion of theIslamic prophetMuhammad).[2] He is best known for killing a leadingMuslim fighter,Hamza ibn ‘Abd al-Muttalib, Muhammad's uncle, prior to converting toIslam, and afterwards reportedly killingMusaylimah, the leader of an enemyapostate army waging war against the Muslims.
Wahshi (وحشي, which means "the savage" or "the wild one")[3] had been appointed byHind bint Utbah to kill one of the three persons (Muhammad, Ali ibn Abi Talib, or Hamza ibn ‘Abd al-Muttalib) to avenge her father's death during theBattle of Badr.[citation needed]
Wahshi said in reply, "I didn't approach Muhammad at all, because his companions are nearer to him than anyone else. Ali too is extraordinarily vigilant in the battlefield. However, Hamza is so furious that, while fighting, he does not pay any attention to any other side and it is possible that I may be able to make him fall by some trick or by taking him unawares."[citation needed] Hind was content with this and promised that if he was successful in performing the job she would set him free. Some believe that Jubayr made this promise to his slave (Wahshi) as his (Jubayr's) uncle had been killed in the Battle of Badr.[citation needed]
He later converted to Islam and claimed to have killedMusaylimah (also known asMusaylimah al-Kadhdhaab meaning "Musaylimah the Liar") during theBattle of Yamama in 632. Wahshi relates his story of conversion:
After theBattle of Uhud, I continued to live inMakkah for quite a long time until the Muslims conquered Makkah. I then ran away toTa'if, but soon Islam reached that area as well. I heard that however grave the crime of a person might be, [God] forgave him. I, therefore, reached [Muhammad] withShahadatayn on my lips.[4]Muhammad saw me and said "Are you the same Wahshi, the Ethiopian?" I replied in the affirmative. Thereupon he said: "How did you kill Hamza ibn Abd al-Muttalib?" I gave an account of the matter.Muhammad was moved and said: "I should not see your face until you are resurrected, because the heart-rending calamity fell upon my uncle at your hands". (It is explained by Islamic scholars that the reason for Wahshi avoiding Muhammad, was not out of continued anger against Wahshi, but in case Wahshi interpreted a look on the face of Muhammad as anger for him, which would therefore make him distraught[citation needed].) Wahshi says: "So long asMuhammad was alive I kept myself hidden from him. After his death the battle with Musaylimah took place. I joined the army of Islam and used the same weapon against Musaylimah and succeeded in killing him with the help of one of theAnsar. If I killed the best of men (Hamza ibn Abd al-Muttalib) with this weapon, the worst man, too, did not escape its terror.[5]
— Conversation of Wahshi ibn Harb and the incident related toHamza ibn Abdul-Muttalib