Amr ibn Hisham (), better known as Abu Jahl (; ) known before Islam as Abu al-Hakam (), was the Meccan Qurayshite polytheist leader known for his opposition to the Islamic prophet Muhammad. He was the most prominent flag-bearer of opposition towards Islam.
A prominent head of the Makhzum clan, Amr was known as Abu al-Hakam ('Father of Wisdom') among pre-Islamic Arabs. After Muhammad began preaching monotheism, Amr opposed him and often physically attacked early Muslims. He persecuted many Muslim converts, including Sumayya, and Yasir ibn Amir. His cruel torture methods towards Muslims made Muhammad give him the title Abu Jahl ('Father of Ignorance') and Firawn al-Umma ('Pharaoh of the Nation').
Following the migration to Medina, Amr gathered a large army of polytheists to attack Medina. On 13 March 624, the Battle of Badr took place, in which Amr was a major leader. In the battle, Amr was fatally wounded by Mu'awwidh ibn Amr and Mu'ādh ibn 'Amr and eventually killed by Abd Allah ibn Masud.
Ancestry and early life Amr was born in Mecca in .Aḥmad ibn Yaḥyā ibn Jābir al-Balādhurī, Ansāb al-Ashrāf (The Genealogies of the Nobles), Beirut: Dār al-Fikr, 1996, volume 1, page 147: "Abū Jahl was killed on the Day of Badr when he was seventy years old." His father was Hisham ibn al-Mughira, an arbitrator of local disputes in Mecca in the Hejaz (western Arabia). He belonged to the Banu Makhzum, a leading clan of the Quraysh tribe and Mecca's pre-Islamic aristocracy. Hisham was known as the 'lord of Mecca' and the date of his death was used by the Quraysh as the start of their calendar. Amr was also called Ibn al-Hanzaliyya, indicating that his mother belonged to the Hanzala tribe.
Biography His epithet was Abū l-Ḥakam (أبو الحكم) (literally "father of wise judgments") as he was considered a man of deep wisdom by the pagans, cunning and understanding by the elders of Quraysh for which they trusted his opinion and relied on him as an elite member of their assembly. Even at the age of thirty, he used to attend the special assemblies held at Dar an-Nadwa, the residence owned by Ḥakīm ibn Ḥizām, although the rule of age of entry to these private assemblies was at least forty.
‘Amr ibn Hishām opposed Muhammad and rejected his teachings. Muhammad, in that context, referred him as Abū Jahl (أبو جهل) (literally "father of ignorance"). Muhammad said, “He who calls Abu Jahl 'Abu Hakam' has made a serious mistake. He should seek forgiveness from Allah for this.”The Life of Muhammad: A Translation of ibn Isḥāq's Sīrat Rasul Allāh with introduction & notes by Alfred Guillaume, Oxford University Press, 1955. Amr was also known as Asad al-Aḥlāf, "Lion of the Allies", as a staunch representative of the groups that had sworn to fight against Islam and Muhammad.Letter No.28, 2nd paragraph, Peak of Eloquence (Page-575), ; retrieved 11 January 2015 Amr ibn Hisham had a trace of a scar on his knee which helped 'Abdullah ibn Mas'ūd to identify him among the slain and wounded soldiers of Quraysh in the battlefield of Badr. 'Amr ibn Hishām was almost the same age of Muhammad. Once in their youth, they had been pressed together at the table of 'Abdullah ibn Jud'ān at-Taymī. Muhammad was thinner than ibn Hisham and gave him a push which sent him to his knees and one of them was scratched so deeply that it left a permanent scar.
According to Bukhari, 'Amr was among the chieftains that in varying degree kept a "relentless hostility" towards the Muslims. Amr Hishām opposed Muhammad when he began preaching publicly. The following causes of dissension created hostility towards Muhammad:
Power struggle between Banū Makhzūm and Banū ‘Abd Manāf Amr ibn Hishām once "secretly" went out by night to listen to Muhammad as he was praying in his house while Abu Sufyan and Al-Akhnas ibn Shurayq also did the same thing. Every one of them chose a place to sit where he could listen, and none knew where his fellow was sitting. So they passed the night listening to him, until as the dawn rose, they dispersed. On their way home they met and reproached one another, and one said to the other, 'Don't do it again, for if one of the light-minded fools sees you, you will arouse suspicion in his mind.' Yet they continued doing this for the next two days.
Amr later told al-Akhnas ibn Sharīq, “We competed with Banū ‘Abd Manāf in everything to attain status and nobility. They fed people, so we also fed people. They gave charity, so we also gave charity. They looked after people; so did we. We did these until we became equal. And now they say, ‘A prophet has come from us who receives revelations from the sky’ How can we possibly be able to compete with this? By Allah, we will never believe in him and we will never accept his message!”
Al-Mughīrah ibn Shu‘bah, a man from aṭ-Ṭā’if, once visited Makkah. He was walking with ibn Hishām in the streets when they came across Muhammad. Muhammad invited ‘Amr ibn Hishām to Islam by saying, “Why don't you accept Islam and believe me as the Messenger of Allah?” ‘Amr ibn Hishām said, “O Muhammad, when are you going to stop cursing our gods? If you want us to testify that you have fulfilled your mission, we will testify for you. And if I knew that you are telling the truth, I would have already followed you.” Muhammad then left. ‘Amr ibn Hishām looked at al-Mughīrah and said, “I know that he is telling the truth, but there is something holding me back. The descendants of Quṣayy ibn Kilāb ibn Murrah [whereas Banū Makhzūm was the descendant of Yaqaẓah ibn Murrah] wanted al-Ḥijābah (Guardianship of al-Ka‘bah & preservation of its key), as-Siqāyah (Custody of Zamzam & catering the pilgrims during the Ḥajj), al-Ifādah (Authority of trade & commerce), al-Liwā’ (Authority of the banner of battles), the authority of armed forces and an-Nadwah (Assembly of the Quraysh). We sacrificed all in favor of them [Banū Makhzūm was only in charge of the cavalry, Khālid ibn Walīd being its commander] and started picking up & competing with them. When we are running neck to neck, they say ‘We have a prophet among us’; How can we compete with that? By Allah, we are never going to accept this.”Bayhaqī
Persecution of Muslim converts Amr ibn Hisham stirred up the Meccans against the Muslims. When he heard that a man had become a Muslim, if he was a man of social importance and had relations to defend him, he reprimanded him and poured scorn on him, saying, 'You have forsaken the religion of your father who was better than you. We will declare you a blockhead and brand you as a fool, and destroy your reputation.' If he was a merchant he said, 'we will boycott your goods and reduce you to beggary.' If he was a person of no social importance, he beat him and incited people against him.Guillaume, p145 Therefore, many converted slaves had to suffer the "extreme savagery" of Hishām.
It has been told that Amr ibn Hisham often put heavy stones on the backs of his slaves if they made a mistake. Convert slaves belonging to the polytheist Quraysh received the harshest punishment. Hishām beat Ḥarīthah bint al-Mu‘ammil, one such slave, for her conversion to such an extent that she lost her eyesight. He also attacked Sumayya, the mother of ‘Ammār ibn Yasir, and inflicted on her mortal wounds by stabbing her with a spear in her private parts. She was the first Muslim to meet martyrdom in the cause of Islam. Hishām also persecuted Ammar's father Yasir ibn Amir and his brother Abdullah and tortured them to death right in front of his eyes.
Amr ibn Hisham had once clawed at ‘Abdullah ibn Mas‘ūd and punched him in Mecca.
The Man from Banu Irāsh The "harassment" of Hishām was not only directed to his own people, but his "misdemeanor" extended to the people outside of Mecca also.
Once a man from the tribe of Irāsh came to Mecca complaining that Hishām had bought some camels from him without paying him back. When the Irāshi man asked people to help him, they referred him to Muhammad with the intention of stirring up an argument. Muhammad brought him to Hishām's house and asked him to give the Irāshi man's money that he owed him. Hishām immediately came back with the money with his face looking extremely pale and timid. The disappointed Quraysh blamed Hishām with sarcasm later on. He said, “Woe unto you all! As soon as I heard the knock on my door, I heard a terrifying sound which filled me with awe. When I looked to see what it was, it was the most colossal and vicious camel I had ever seen towering over my head. By Allah, if I had delayed or refused it would have devoured me alive!”
While Muhammad was in Mecca some twenty Christians came to him from Abyssinia (or Najrān) when they heard news of him. Muhammad answered all their questions and read the Quran to them. Their eyes flowed with tears and they accepted Islam. Hishām intercepted them as they were leaving, saying, 'God, what a wretched band you are! Your people at home sent you to bring them information about the fellow, and as soon as you sat with him you renounced your religion and believed what he said. We don't know a more asinine band than you'. They answered: 'Peace be on you. We will not engage in foolish controversy with you. We have our religion and you have yours. We have not been remiss in seeking what is best.'
Hostility to Muhammad According to Islamic scriptures, one day Hishām declared, "I call God to witness that I will wait for him tomorrow with a stone which I can hardly lift and when he prostrates himself in prayer I will split his skull with it. Betray me or defend me, let the Banū 'Abdu Manāf do what they like after that." The Qurayshi people said that they would never betray him on any account, and he could carry on with his project. When morning came Hishām took a stone and sat in wait for Muhammad. The apostle rose to pray while Quraysh sat in their meeting, waiting for what Hishām was to do. When the apostle prostrated himself, Hishām "took up the stone and went towards him, until when he got near him, he turned back in flight, pale with terror, and his hand had withered upon the stone, so that he cast the stone from his hand". The Quraysh asked him what had happened, and he replied that when he got near him a camel's stallion got in his way. "By God", he said, "I have never seen anything like his head, shoulders, and teeth on any stallion before, and he made as though he would eat me."
Narrated ‘Abdullah ibn ‘Abbas: Hishām said, "If I see Muhammad praying at the Ka'ba, I will tread on his neck." When the Prophet heard of that, he said, "If he does so, the Angels will snatch him away."Sahih Bukhari 6.482