The Revenge at Uhud
Her father Utbah ibn Rabi’a and her brother were killed by Hamza at the Battle of Badr. At Uhud, Hind hired an enslaved Abyssinian spearman named Wahshi specifically to kill Hamza — offering him freedom in exchange.
After Hamza was killed, Hind went to his body and mutilated it — an act that violated the customs of Arabian warfare even in the pre-Islamic period. The Prophet reportedly wept over Hamza’s body and prayed over it, and the accounts describe him being deeply grieved by the mutilation.
The Quran’s call for proportional response (16:126-127) and the preference for patience (wa la’in sabartum la-huwa khayrun li’l-sabirin) is connected in some commentaries to the Prophet’s reaction at Uhud.
Conversion at the Conquest
When Mecca fell in 8 AH with almost no bloodshed, Abu Sufyan had already submitted. Hind came to the Prophet disguised in a large group of women — having been one of the 17 people specifically exempted from the general amnesty. She took the pledge under her disguise; when she revealed herself, the Prophet reportedly said, “You are she,” and accepted her pledge.
Her pledge conversation with the Prophet is preserved in the hadith collections: he enumerated the conditions of the women’s pledge, and she responded to each with direct, occasionally ironic answers — including about stealing from her husband, to which she asked about whether this had applied to her managing of household finances.
Her Subsequent Life
She is counted among the Companions. She and Abu Sufyan’s son Mu’awiya became the founder of the Umayyad dynasty. She reportedly died during the Byzantine wars in Syria.
See also: Seerah Uhud, Seerah Uhud, Fath Mecca, Seerah Abu Sufyan, Seerah Khalid Ibn Walid