Utbah ibn Rabi'ah

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ʿUtbah ibn Rabīʿah (Arabic: عُتْبَةَ بْنِ رَبِيعَةَ) (c.563-624), also known as Abu al-Walid (Arabic: أبو الوليد) was one of the prominent pagan leaders of the Quraysh during the era of Muhammad. He is the father of Abu Hudhayfa ibn 'Utba, Walid ibn Utbah, Hind bint Utbah and father-in-law of Abu Sufyan ibn Harb. Utbah was killed by Hamza ibn Abdul-Muttalib in the Battle of Badr.

Family[]

Utbah's father was and his mother was Atiqa bint Abdul Uzza from Banu Amir ibn Luay. He also had a brother named Shaybah ibn Rabi'ah. His mother was Suhayl ibn Amr's sister. Later on, Utbah's son, Abu Hudhayfa married Suhayl's daughter, Sahla, who bore him a son named Muhammad ibn Abi Hudhayfa and with whom he adopted Salim Mawla Abu Hudhayfa as a son, thefore making them the grandchildren of both Utbah ibn Rabi'ah and his stepmother's father, Suhayl ibn Amr.

Death[]

Utbah was killed in the battle of Badr, as narrated in the hadith collection of Sunan Abi Dawud. In it, Ali ibn Abi Talib is quoted saying:

(At the battle of Badr) 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 took out his sword and summoned two of us to join him, me and Ubaydah ibn al-Harith. Hamza headed straight towards Utbah. After few blows, Utbah was lying on the ground.^[1]

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 killed his opponent Utbah ibn Rabi'ah; Ali ibn Abi Talib killed his opponent Walid ibn Utba; Ubaydah ibn al-Harith was wounded by his opponent Shaybah ibn Rabi'ah, 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 weapons when they advanced.^[2] 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!"^[3][4] The Muslim army yelled "Yā manṣūr amit!"^[5] "O thou whom God hath made victorious, slay!" and rushed the Quraishi lines.

Life then[]

Wives and children[]

Utbah married 2 times, his wives and children are:

1. His first wife was Safiyyah bint Umayya ibn Abd Shams, from the Banu Umayya tribe. She bore him the following children:
   • Hind bint Utbah, who married 3 times and had nine children.
   • Atika bint Utbah, who married and had a daughter, Qariba.
   • Fatima bint Utbah, who married and had ten children. She also had ten step-children by another wife, Fatima bint Shayba ibn Rabi'a, her cousin.
   • Umm Kulthum bint Utbah, who married and had a son, Salam.
   • Umm Aban bint Utbah, who married and had had five sons.
2. His second wife was Fatima bint Sufyan. She bore him the following children:
   • Abu Hudhayfah ibn Utbah, who married and had a son, Muhammad and an adopted son, Salim.
   • Walid ibn Utbah, who married Barra bint Qays and had three children, Fatima, Hind and Asim
   • Khalid ibn Utbah
   • Hashim ibn Utba
   • Shayba ibn Utba

Relatives[]

Utbah had many relatives, but the best known one is:

1. • Shaybah ibn Rabi'ah

See also[]

• List of expeditions of Muhammad

References[]

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