The Holy Prophet's (sa) Emotions & Obedience of his Companions

Then the Holy Prophet(sa) went to the body of Hazrat Hamza(ra). It is narrated that the Prophet(sa) expressed such sentiment and gave the glad tiding of high status to Hazrat Hamza(sa) in the following way:

When the Prophet (sa) visited the body of Hazrat Hamza (ra) and saw that his liver had been cut out and chewed, Ibn Hisham records this in his biography of the Prophet (sa) that the Holy Prophet (sa) stood by the body of Hazrat Hamza (ra) and said:

“O Hamza, no trial like this (i.e. your demise) will I ever face again. I have never seen a more painful scene till today.”

Then, the Holy Prophet (sa) said:

“Angel Gabriel has given me the tiding that Hamza bin Abdul Muttalib has been noted as the Lion of the Prophet in the seven heavens.”

(Sirat Ibn-e-Hisham, p.395, Bab Sariyatu Hamzah, Daru Ibn Hazm, 2009, Beirut)

Hazrat Zubair (ra) narrates that it was the day of the Battle of Uhud, and near the end of the expedition, a woman was seen running towards the battlefield. It was well-nigh that she would see the bodies of the martyrs. The Holy Prophet (sa) did not desire for women to go there and witness the disfigured bodies of the Companions. For this reason, he stopped the woman.

Hazrat Zubair (ra) narrates, “After observing carefully I noticed that the woman was my mother Hazrat Safiyyah (ra). Hence, I went running toward her, and before she could reach the bodies of the martyrs I caught up with her. When she saw me, she pushed me aside by the chest. She was a strong woman. She said for me to move aside and that she would not listen to anything I had to say. I informed her that the Holy Prophet (sa) told me to stop her from seeing the corpses. When she heard this she immediately stopped and took out two white pieces of cloth. She told me that she had brought these white cloths for her brother Hamza (ra) as she had been informed of his martyrdom.”

Hence, this was the obedience of the people in that era that as soon as they heard an instruction of the Holy Prophet (sa), in spite of all her anguish and despite her eagerness, she immediately controlled her emotions and stopped when the Holy Prophet’s (sa) instruction was mentioned. This is absolute obedience.

Hazrat Safiyyah (ra) then said, “I have brought these white cloths for my brother Hamza (ra) as I have been informed of his martyrdom, so go and shroud him in these.” Hazrat Zubair (ra) says, “When we were about to shroud Hazrat Hamza (ra) in these two cloths, we saw an Ansari companion lying beside Hazrat Hamza (ra), who had also been martyred and his body was also disfigured in the same manner as Hazrat Hamza (ra). We felt guilty to shroud Hazrat Hamza (ra) in two cloths whereas this Ansari companion had no cloth at all, therefore we decided to wrap Hazrat Hamza (ra) in one cloth and the Ansari Companion in the other. We realised that one companion was taller than the other, so we drew lots to see who would be buried in which cloth.

(Musnad Ahmad bin Hanbal, Vol. 1, p. 452, Hadith No. 1418, A’alamul Kutub, 1998, Beirut)

Hazrat Hamza (ra) was shrouded in one cloth. When his face was covered, his feet went bare, and when the cloth was drawn down to his feet, his face would become bare. At this the Holy Prophet (sa) instructed for his face to be covered with the cloth, and for his feet to be covered with lemongrass.