~6th year of the dawah (c. 616 CE) · 6 BH
One day Abu Jahal, a leader of the Quraysh, publicly cursed and insulted the Prophet ﷺ for as long as he wished, and no one stood up to defend him. Hamzah, the Prophet ﷺ's uncle, was away at the time. He was a well-known archer and one of the strongest men in Makkah.
When Hamzah returned from his expedition, some women taunted him. They asked what kind of uncle he was if his own nephew could be insulted with no one to defend him, and where the honour of Banu Hashim had gone. Hamzah asked whether it had happened in public. They told him the whole of Makkah had seen it.
Furious, Hamzah marched to the Ka'bah with his bow still in his hand. He struck Abu Jahal across the face with it, drawing blood. He demanded to know how Abu Jahal dared to curse his nephew. Then, without having planned it, he declared that he too followed the Prophet ﷺ's religion.
Hamzah went home confused, unsure whether the new religion was true. He prayed to Allah to guide his heart to it if it was true, and spent a sleepless, miserable night. The next morning he went to the Prophet ﷺ and told him everything. The Prophet ﷺ spoke with him until he was convinced, and Hamzah testified that he was speaking the truth.
Hamzah was the most senior man of the Quraysh to accept Islam up to that point. He was a son of Abdul Muttalib and a brother of Abu Talib. After his conversion, the pagans of Makkah had to tone down their open hostility towards the Muslims.
Umar accepted Islam three days after Hamzah, the answer to a prayer for one of two men.
The conversions of Hamzah and Umar, with the emigration, made the Quraysh feel threatened enough to cut off the Banu Hashim.
Other events recorded in 6 BH. Their order within the year is not established; use the storyline above for the sequence.
Cursed the Prophet ﷺ and his ancestors at length in public, as he had never done before.
Who does he think he is to curse our men?
How dare you curse my own nephew?! And I too am a follower of his religion!
Leave him be, for I cursed his nephew like never before.
I testify you are speaking the Truth, and now I don't want to go back to the religion of my forefathers.
O Allah, you know I am one of the leaders of the Quraysh. And I have said something that I cannot take back. So if this matter is true, guide my heart to it. And if it is not true, cause me to die right now.
Said the night after Hamzah struck Abu Jahal and impulsively declared himself a follower of the Prophet's ﷺ religion, unsure whether he had spoken the truth.