Hind bint Utbah

Hind bint Utbah ibn Rabiah was the wife of Abu Sufyan ibn Harb and one of the most formidable and complex figures of the early Islamic period. Her story spans fierce enmity to Islam and eventual acceptance of the faith — a transformation that demands both honesty about the past and respect for her Islam.

Hind was deeply hostile to Islam from its earliest days, in large part because the Battle of Badr claimed the lives of her father Utbah ibn Rabiah, her brother al-Walid ibn Utbah, and her uncle Shaybah ibn Rabiah — all killed fighting the Muslims. Her grief turned into fierce determination for revenge. She reportedly funded warriors going to Uhud and incited the Qurayshi army to fight with poems and chants. After the Battle of Uhud in 3 AH, when Hamza ibn Abdul-Muttalib — the Prophet's uncle — was killed, Hind mutilated his body, cutting open his chest and chewing his liver. This act is recorded in classical seerah with historical seriousness. Classical scholars note this was a terrible act done in a state of consuming grief and tribal rage.

At the Conquest of Mecca in 8 AH (630 CE), Hind came among the women of Mecca to accept Islam before the Prophet ﷺ. The famous pledge of the women was taken, and when the conditions were recited — not to associate partners with Allah, not to steal, not to commit fornication, not to kill their children, and not to disobey the Prophet in what is right — Hind made pointed interjections that are recorded with dry humor in the classical sources. The Prophet ﷺ accepted her Islam.

After her conversion, Hind became a Muslim woman and is counted among the Companions of the Prophet ﷺ (Sahabiyyat). She reportedly expressed deep regret for the actions of her pre-Islamic life. In Islamic ethics, the Companions are held in honor, and one of the established principles of Ahl us-Sunnah wal-Jama'ah is that we do not speak ill of any Companion after their Islam. Her pre-Islamic actions are recorded as history — described as they were, without softening — while her Islam is acknowledged and her status as a Companion is respected.

She passed away during the caliphate of Umar ibn al-Khattab, around 14 AH (635 CE). She was the mother of Muawiya ibn Abi Sufyan, who became a Companion of the Prophet ﷺ and later the founder of the Umayyad Caliphate.