Grave of Hamza Ibn Abdul Muttalib
Hamza took little notice of Islam for the first few years. He converted in late 616 CE. Upon returning to Mecca after a hunting trip in the desert, he heard that Amr ibn Hishām (referred in Islamic scriptures as "Abu Jahl" Father of Ignorance) had insulted Muhammad "speaking spitefully of his religion and trying to bring him into disrepute". Muhammad had not replied to him. "Filled with rage," Hamza "went out at a run ... meaning to punish ibn Hishām when he met him". He entered the Kaaba, where ibn Hishām was sitting with the elders, stood over him and "struck him a violent blow" with his bow. He said, "Will you insult him, when I am of his religion and say what he says? Hit me back if you can!"132 He "struck Abu Jahl's head with a blow that cut open his head". Some of ibn Hishām's relatives approached to help him, but he told them, "Leave Abu Umara [Hamza] alone, for, by God, I insulted his nephew deeply".
After that incident, Hamza entered the House of Al-Arqam and accepted Islam. "Hamza’s Islam was complete, and he followed the Apostle's commands. When he became a Muslim, the Quraysh recognised that the Apostle had become strong, and had found a protector in Hamza, and so they abandoned some of their ways of harassing him". 132 Instead, they tried to strike bargains with him; but he did not accept their offers.
Hamza once asked Muhammad to show him the angel Jibreel in his true form. Muhammad told Hamza that he would not be able to see him. Hamza retorted that he would see the angel, so Muhammad told him to sit where he was. They claimed that Jibreel descended before them and that Hamza saw that Jibreel's feet were like emeralds, before falling down unconscious.
Hamza joined the emigration to Medina in 622 and lodged with Kulthum ibn al-Hidm or Saad ibn Khaythama. Muhammad made him the brother in Islam of Zayd ibn Haritha.
