Hazrat Hamza's (ra) Burial
Hazrat Zubair bin al-Awwam (ra) relates that on the day of the Battle of Uhud, the Holy Prophet (sa) made reference to both of his own parents for him; meaning he said, “May my mother and father be sacrificed for you.”
(Musnad Ahmad bin Hanbal, vol. 1, p. 450, Zubair bin al-Awwam, hadith no. 1408, Alam-ul-Kutb, Beirut, 1998)
It is narrated by Hazrat Zubair (ra) that on the day of the Battle of Uhud, a lady passed by very swiftly. She was close to seeing the bodies of the martyrs, and the Holy Prophet (sa) did not like for this woman to see the bodies as they had been severely mutilated. Thus, he ordered for her to be stopped. Hazrat Zubair (ra) relates that he suspected it was his mother, Hazrat Safia (ra). And so, he went running towards her and met her before she reached the bodies of the martyrs. Upon seeing him, she placed her hands on his chest and pushed him back – she was very strong. She said, “Move aside, I will not speak to you” – she was not going to listen to anything he said. Hazrat Zubair (ra) informed her the Holy Prophet (sa) had firmly instructed that she should not see the bodies of the martyrs. Upon hearing this and learning that it was a command from the Holy Prophet (sa), she immediately stopped. She took out two pieces of cloth which she had brought with her and said, “These are two sheets I have brought for my brother Hamza, as I received news of his martyrdom. Bury him in these sheets.”
In one narration, Hazrat Safia (ra) stated, “I am aware that my brother’s body has been mutilated, and this has been endured in the way of Allah. Why should we be displeased with what Hazrat Hamza (ra) has endured in the way of Allah? God-Willing, I will remain patient and seek its reward from Allah.” Upon hearing this response from his mother, Hazrat Zubair (ra) went to the Holy Prophet (sa) and narrated the entire incident to him. The Holy Prophet (sa) instructed that Hazrat Safia (ra) should be allowed to go to see her brother’s body. Hazrat Safia (ra) proceeded to her brother’s body and upon seeing it, prayed, “Verily to Allah we belong and to Him shall we return” and also prayed for his forgiveness. Then the Holy Prophet (sa) ordered for him to be buried.
The narrator further states that when Hazrat Hamza (ra) was about to be wrapped in two sheets, they saw an Ansari companion beside him who had also been martyred. His body had also been mutilated as had been carried out with Hazrat Hamza (ra). [The narrator says] “We felt ashamed that Hazrat Hamza was being buried in two sheets while there was not even a single sheet for the Ansari companion. Thus, we decided to bury Hazrat Hamza (ra) in one of the sheets and bury the Ansari companion in the other. We found that one of them was taller than the other; thus, we drew lots and whichever sheet was drawn for either of the two, they were buried in it. Even then it was not enough and the rest of the body had to be covered with grass.”
(Musnad Ahmad bin Hanbal, vol. 1, p. 452, Zubair bin al-Awwam, hadith no. 1418, Alam-ul-Kutb, Beirut, 1998) (al-Sirat al-Nabawiyyah li Ibn Hisham, Vol. 2, p. 97, Safia Wa Huznuha, Maktabah Wa al-Matba’ah Mustapha al-Baabi, Egypt, 1995) (al-Tabaqat al-Kubra li ibn Sa‘d, Vol. 3, p. 10, Dar-ul-Kutub al-Ilmiyyah, Beirut, 1990)