Hamza ibn Abdul-Muttalib

Born around 568, Hamza was Muhammad's foster brother and paternal uncle. He embraced Islam around 616 following a confrontation with Abu Jahl, then emerged as one of the prophet's fiercest defenders. He fought in the early expeditions and at Badr, where the new faith's survival hung in the balance. He fell at the Battle of Uhud in 625, and the loss reverberated—Islamic tradition gave him the title Asadullah, Lion of God, and named him leader of the martyrs.