ʿUtbah ibn Rabīʿah () (), also known as Abū al-Walīd () was one of the prominent pagan
leaders of the Quraysh during the era of
Muhammad
Muhammad ( ar, مُحَمَّد; 570 – 8 June 632 Common Era, CE) was an Arab religious, social, and political leader and the founder of Islam. According to Muhammad in Islam, Islamic doctrine, he was a prophet Divine inspiration, di ...
. He is the father of
Abu Hudhayfa ibn 'Utba
Abū Ḥudhayfa ibn ʿUtba (Arabic: أبو حذيفة بن عتبة; died 633), full name Abū Ḥudhayfa ibn ʿUtba ibn Rabīʿa was an early companion of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. He was the son of Utba ibn Rabi'a, one of the Leaders of Ban ...
,
Walid ibn Utbah
Walīd ibn ʿUtba (died 624) was the son of Utba ibn Rabi'a and brother of Abu Hudhayfa ibn Utba and Hind bint Utba. Just like his father, Walid was opposed to Muhammad and Islam.
He was a fierce Meccan warrior who was killed by Ali ibn Abi Tali ...
,
Hind bint Utbah
Hind bint ʿUtba ( ar, هند بنت عتبة), was an Arab woman who lived in the late 6th and early 7th centuries CE; she was the wife of Abu Sufyan ibn Harb, a powerful man of Mecca, in western Arabia. She was the mother of Mu'awiya I, the foun ...
and father-in-law of
Abu Sufyan ibn Harb
Sakhr ibn Harb ibn Umayya ibn Abd Shams ( ar, صخر بن حرب بن أمية بن عبد شمس, Ṣakhr ibn Ḥarb ibn Umayya ibn ʿAbd Shams; ), better known by his '' kunya'' Abu Sufyan ( ar, أبو سفيان, Abū Sufyān), was a prominent ...
. Utbah was killed by
Hamza ibn Abdul-Muttalib
Ḥamza ibn ʿAbd al-Muṭṭalib ( ar, حمزة بن عبد المطلب; 568 – 625)Muhammad ibn Saad. ''Kitab al-Tabaqat al-Kabir'' vol. 3. Translated by Bewley, A. (2013). ''The Companions of Badr''. London: Ta-Ha Publishers. was a ...
in the
Battle of Badr
The Battle of Badr ( ar, غَزْوَةُ بَدِرْ ), also referred to as The Day of the Criterion (, ) in the Quran, Qur'an and by Muslims, was fought on 13 March 624 CE (17 Ramadan (calendar month), Ramadan, 2 Anno Hegirae, AH), near the ...
.
Family
Utbah's father was
Rabi'ah ibn Abd Shams and his mother was Atiqa bint Abdul Uzza from Banu Amir ibn Luay. He also had a brother named
Shaybah ibn Rabi'ah Shaybah ibn Rabīʿah (Arabic: شيبة بن ربيعة) (c.560–624) was the brother of Utbah ibn Rabi'ah belonging to the clan of Banu Abd Shams (parent clan of Banu Umayyah) from the tribe of Quraysh of Mecca. He was also a champion of the Mecc ...
. His mother was
Suhayl ibn Amr
Suhayl ibn ʿAmr ( ar, سهيل إبن عمرو), also known as Abū Yazīd, was a contemporary of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, and a prominent leader among the Quraysh tribe of Mecca. Clever and articulate, he was known as the ''Khatib'' (orato ...
's sister. Later on, Utbah's son, Abu Hudhayfa married Suhayl's daughter, Sahla, who bore him a son named
Muhammad ibn Abi Hudhayfa
Muhammad ibn Abi Hudhayfa (Arabic: محمد بن أبي حذيفة ) was the son of Abu Hudhayfa ibn 'Utba and Sahla bint Suhail. Since his father adopted Salim Mawla Abi Hudhayfa as his son, Muhammad ibn Abi Hudhayfa and Salim Mawla Abi Hudhay ...
and with whom he adopted
as a son, thefore making them the grandchildren of both Utbah ibn Rabi'ah and his stepmother's father,
Suhayl ibn Amr
Suhayl ibn ʿAmr ( ar, سهيل إبن عمرو), also known as Abū Yazīd, was a contemporary of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, and a prominent leader among the Quraysh tribe of Mecca. Clever and articulate, he was known as the ''Khatib'' (orato ...
.
Death
Utbah was killed in the
battle of Badr
The Battle of Badr ( ar, غَزْوَةُ بَدِرْ ), also referred to as The Day of the Criterion (, ) in the Quran, Qur'an and by Muslims, was fought on 13 March 624 CE (17 Ramadan (calendar month), Ramadan, 2 Anno Hegirae, AH), near the ...
, as narrated in the hadith collection of
Sunan Abi Dawud
''Sunan Abu Dawood'' ( ar-at, سنن أبي داود, Sunan Abī Dāwūd) is one of the ''Kutub al-Sittah'' (six major hadith collections), collected by Abu Dawud al-Sijistani (d.889).
Introduction
Abu Dawood compiled twenty-one books related to ...
. In it,
Ali ibn Abi Talib
ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib ( ar, عَلِيّ بْن أَبِي طَالِب; 600 – 661 CE) was the last of four Rightly Guided Caliphs to rule Islam (r. 656 – 661) immediately after the death of Muhammad, and he was the first Shia Imam. ...
is quoted saying:
:''(At the
battle of Badr
The Battle of Badr ( ar, غَزْوَةُ بَدِرْ ), also referred to as The Day of the Criterion (, ) in the Quran, Qur'an and by Muslims, was fought on 13 March 624 CE (17 Ramadan (calendar month), Ramadan, 2 Anno Hegirae, AH), near the ...
) Utbah ibn Rabi'ah came forward followed by his son and his brother and cried out: "Which of you shall challenge us in a traditional 3 champions' combat duel?" Some young men of the
Ansars responded to his call. Utbah asked them: "Who are you?" They told him. He responded: "You are brave indeed. However, we expect to face our peers, our equals, your allies from Quraish who have betrayed us!"
Hamza ibn Abdul-Muttalib
Ḥamza ibn ʿAbd al-Muṭṭalib ( ar, حمزة بن عبد المطلب; 568 – 625)Muhammad ibn Saad. ''Kitab al-Tabaqat al-Kabir'' vol. 3. Translated by Bewley, A. (2013). ''The Companions of Badr''. London: Ta-Ha Publishers. was a ...
took out his sword and summoned two of us to join him, me and
Ubaydah ibn al-Harith
ʿUbayda ibn al-Ḥārith ( ar, عبيدة بن الحارث) () was a relative and companion of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. He is known for commanding the expedition in which Islam’s first arrow was shot and for being the first Muslim to b ...
. Hamza headed straight towards Utbah. After few blows, Utbah was lying on the ground.''
The battle began with champions from both armies emerging to engage in combat. Three of the Ansar emerged from the Muslim ranks, only to be shouted back by the Meccans, who were nervous about starting any unnecessary feuds and only wanted to fight the Quraishi Muslims. So Hamza approached forward and called on Ubayda and Ali to join him. The Muslims dispatched the Meccan champions in a three-on-three melee.
Hamza ibn Abdul-Muttalib
Ḥamza ibn ʿAbd al-Muṭṭalib ( ar, حمزة بن عبد المطلب; 568 – 625)Muhammad ibn Saad. ''Kitab al-Tabaqat al-Kabir'' vol. 3. Translated by Bewley, A. (2013). ''The Companions of Badr''. London: Ta-Ha Publishers. was a ...
killed his opponent Utbah ibn Rabi'ah;
Ali ibn Abi Talib
ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib ( ar, عَلِيّ بْن أَبِي طَالِب; 600 – 661 CE) was the last of four Rightly Guided Caliphs to rule Islam (r. 656 – 661) immediately after the death of Muhammad, and he was the first Shia Imam. ...
killed his opponent
Walid ibn Utba
Walīd ibn ʿUtba (died 624) was the son of Utba ibn Rabi'a and brother of Abu Hudhayfa ibn Utba and Hind bint Utba. Just like his father, Walid was opposed to Muhammad and Islam.
He was a fierce Meccan warrior who was killed by Ali ibn Abi Tali ...
;
Ubaydah ibn al-Harith
ʿUbayda ibn al-Ḥārith ( ar, عبيدة بن الحارث) () was a relative and companion of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. He is known for commanding the expedition in which Islam’s first arrow was shot and for being the first Muslim to b ...
was wounded by his opponent
Shaybah ibn Rabi'ah Shaybah ibn Rabīʿah (Arabic: شيبة بن ربيعة) (c.560–624) was the brother of Utbah ibn Rabi'ah belonging to the clan of Banu Abd Shams (parent clan of Banu Umayyah) from the tribe of Quraysh of Mecca. He was also a champion of the Mecc ...
, but eventually killed him. So this was a victorious traditional 3 on 3 combat for the Muslims.
Now both armies began striking arrows and attacking at each other. A few Muslims and an unknown number of Quraish warriors were killed. Before the real attack began, Muhammad had given orders for the Muslims to attack with their ranged weapons, and only engage the Quraish with
melee
A melee ( or , French: mêlée ) or pell-mell is disorganized hand-to-hand combat in battles fought at abnormally close range with little central control once it starts. In military aviation, a melee has been defined as " air battle in which ...
weapons when they advanced. Now he gave the order to charge, throwing a handful of pebbles at the Meccans in what was probably a traditional Arabian gesture while yelling "Defaced be those faces!"
[Armstrong, p. 176.][Lings, p. 148.] The Muslim army yelled ''"Yā manṣūr amit!"''
["O thou whom God hath made victorious, slay!"] "O thou whom God hath made victorious, slay!" and rushed the Quraishi lines.
See also
*
List of expeditions of Muhammad
__NOTOC__
The list of expeditions of Muhammad includes the expeditions undertaken by the Muslim community during the lifetime of the Islamic prophet Muhammad.
Some sources use the word ''ghazwa'' and a related plural ''maghazi'' in a narrow techn ...
References
560s births
624 deaths
6th-century Arabs
Opponents of Muhammad
People killed at the Battle of Badr
Year of birth unknown
Banu Abd Shams
{{Islam-bio-stub