Uqba ibn Abi Muayt

Uqba ibn Abi Muayt was a prominent Qurayshi from the Banu Umayya clan, a close associate of Abu Jahl, and one of the most aggressive persecutors of the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ in Mecca. He had initially shown some openness to the Prophet's message, but his friendship with Ubayy ibn Khalaf and social pressure from the Qurayshi leadership caused him to turn against Islam and become one of its most active enemies.

He is most widely remembered for one act of vile persecution: while the Prophet ﷺ was prostrating in prayer near the Kabah, Uqba took the intestines and stomach contents of a slaughtered camel and placed them on the Prophet's back, pressing down so that he could not rise from prostration. The Prophet ﷺ remained in that state until his daughter Fatimah came, removed the filth, and cleaned him. The Prophet ﷺ then made a specific supplication against those responsible, naming them — and classical sources note that all those named, including Uqba, were killed at Badr.

Another incident recorded in classical seerah is that Uqba once spat in the face of the Prophet ﷺ in a public gathering — an act of profound disrespect. On a separate occasion, he attempted to strangle the Prophet ﷺ with his own garment, and was pulled away by Abu Bakr.

At the Battle of Badr in 2 AH (624 CE), Uqba was captured alive. He was executed by order of the Prophet ﷺ — one of two prisoners from Badr who were executed rather than ransomed, the other being al-Nadr ibn al-Harith. The reason given in classical sources was the particular severity of his crimes against the Prophet ﷺ and the early Muslim community. When he begged for his life, asking what would happen to his children, the Prophet ﷺ responded: 'The Fire.' His execution was carried out by Asim ibn Thabit or Ali ibn Abi Talib, according to different narrations.

Uqba's story is recorded in hadith collections and classical seerah works as an account of the severity of early Meccan persecution and the divine protection of the Prophet ﷺ through those trials. His specific acts of cruelty against the Prophet ﷺ during prayer are among the most cited examples of the hostility the early Muslim community endured.