Abū Jahl

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The death of Abū Dschahl, during the Battle of Badr

Abū Dschahl ( Arabic أبو جهل, DMG Abū Ǧahl ; * approx. 570 ; † 624 ) is the nickname of one of the most bitter opponents of the prophet Mohammed . His real name was Abū l-Hakam ʿAmr ibn Hishām ibn al-Mughīra. After his mother he also became Ibn al-Hanzaliyya  /ابن الحنظلية / Called Ibn al-Ḥanẓalīya .

The nickname

The nickname Abu Dschahl أبو جهلbecame ʿAmr b. Hisham bestowed by later Muslim tradition. In this epithet the word jahiliyya ("the time of ignorance") is heard. According to Islamic understanding, this is the pagan, pre-Islamic period. The epithet means "father of ignorance". Hans Jansen translates it as "Erzheide".

Life

Abu Dschahl was about the same age as Mohammed. He was a Meccan and came from the respected Quraishite clan of the Machzūm. Muslim traditions paint a very negative picture of him. It is reported that he the Prophet's companions 'Ammār ibn Yasir, who is a sojourner ( Halif heavily battered) was his clan after his conversion to Islam. It is said that ʿAmmār's mother Sumaiya, who was a client of Abū Jahl and also joined Mohammed, fared even worse . According to Islamic tradition, one day her Abu Dschahl assumed that she only believed in Mohammed because she was in love with him. Then he thrust a lance into her heart and killed her. She is therefore considered to be the first female martyr in Islam. Abū Jahl is said to have threatened noble Muslims with damaging their reputation, and he is said to have covered merchants with boycott threats .

It is also reported that he reviled Mohammed and participated in a murder plot against him. However, a miraculous vision prevented him from harming Mohammed physically. Abu Dschahl's influence was based on his wealth. His opposition to Mohammed is guaranteed. He and his brother al-Harith b. Hisham persuaded their “milk brother” ʿAyyasch b. Abi Rabiʿa to return to Mecca and possibly detained him there against his will.

death

Abu Dschahl found his death in the Battle of Badr , which is also attributed to his lust for battle. During the battle he received from ʿUtba b. Rabiʿa the nickname "the one with the perfumed bottom". Before the battle he prayed: "Let him perish who breaks the kinship bond the most" . According to tradition, this caused his downfall. He was killed by Muʿadh b. ʿAmr b. al-Jamuh and Muʿawidh b. "Afra". Mohammed is said to have called him the "Pharaoh of his people" when he saw his corpse.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Hans Jansen: Mohammed. A biography. Munich 2008, p. 138
  2. ↑ a b c d Concise Dictionary of Islam. Leiden 1976, keyword ABU DJAHL
  3. ↑ Cf. ʿAbd ar-Raḥmān as-Suhailī: at-Taʿrīf wa-l-iʿlām fīmā ubhima min al-asmāʾ wa-l-aʿlām fī l-qurʾān al-karīm . Ed. ʿAbdā Muhannā. Dār al-kutub al-ʿilmīya, Beirut, 1987. p. 95.
  4. ↑ a b Encyclopaedia of Islam: Keyword ABU DJAHL
personal data
SURNAME Dschahl, Abū
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Amr bin Hisham
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Adversary of the Prophet Mohamed
DATE OF BIRTH around 570
DATE OF DEATH 624