Who is Ham or Hama ibn Heem ibn Lamis ibn Iblees? If you recall the story of an old man meeting prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon him), you are on the right track.
The story is about an old jinn who came to prophet Muhammad (PBUH) to deliver greetings of Hazrat Isa A.S (Jesus). The conversation is really interesting to listen to.
Here, I will tell you the complete story and give you a reference. So, let’s have a look at who is Hama.
Hama:
Ham or Hama is a very old jinn that claims that he is the decent of Ibless and there is a gap of just two generations between him and Ibless. Meaning that he is among those jinns who have lived for thousands of years. Is it still alive or not? Allah knows best.
Well, that looks interesting and you might be thinking that Hama will be an evil jinn because of being a descendant of iblees. But the truth is, he is not evil.
You will understand this when you will read the story but here comes an important point.
Does Iblees have children?
Yes, Ibless do have children like us. Ibless was not the first ever jinn as Surah Kahf mentions:
“And remember when We said to the angels, ‘Prostrate to Adam,’ and they prostrated, except for Iblis, who was of the jinn and he rebelled against the command of his Lord…” Surah Al-Kahf (18:50)
The phrase “who was of the jinn” represents that he was one of them. This means that there were others before him. Well, this ayah also indirectly mentions that they have a community, and a community is made after reproduction.
But for more stronger reference, look at the below ayah:
“…Indeed, he (satan) and his tribe see you from where you do not see them…” Surah Al-A’raf (7:27)
Tribe! What is a tribe made of? Some families, that are under the supervision of that tribe’s leader. So, clear now? Ibless indeed has children and he is the leader of all jinns.
Story of Hama Ibn Heem Ibn Lamis Ibn Iblees:
This story is mentioned in one of the most reputable books in Islamic scholarly literature, Dalail -un- Nubuwwah, by Abu Nu’aym al-Isfahani.
The story is narrated by Hazrat Umar Ibn al Khattab (RA) when he and Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) along with some sahaba were sitting in the Tihama mountain range and the whole incident happened at that time.
Okay, so here is the complete context:
Hazrat Umar (RA) said that:
“Once we were sitting with Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) on one of the Tihama mountains when a very old man, walking through the mountains, came to Prophet (PBUH) and greeted them and sat on a rock quietly.
The Prophet (PBUH) asked him about him and he said his name is Hama. I am from Jinns and only two generations have passed between me and Ibless.
Prophet (PBUH) asked him about his age. He replied I don’t remember that but I remember the night when Qabeel killed Habel, that night I was a few years old child. But I was able to understand different situations.
I used to play in the mountains and used to see human inhabitance out of curiosity from mountains. I have seen the era of prophet Nooh (Noah) (AS) when they used to teach his nation.
When he used to cry over the condition of their nation, I also began to cry after seeing him. And in those days, I got inclined to Allah.
I have seen the time of Hazrat Mosa (AS). He taught me the Torah and said that Hama if you ever met Prophet Isa, deliver him my greeting.
So, oh Muhammad (PBUH), I also saw Isa (AS) (Jesus) and he said if you ever met prophet Muhammad (PBUH), send him my greetings. So, oh prophet, I came to deliver greetings of Isa Ibn Maryam to you.
Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) got tears in his eyes after listening to this and said, May peace be upon Isa Ibn Maryam until the end of time.
And oh Hama! Greetings to you for delivering their message.
Then Hama said, O Muhammad, do the same with me as prophet Mosa did to me (teach me the Quran as Mosa taught me Torah).
Then, the Prophet (PBUH) taught him 7 Surahs in front of us.
- Surah Al-Waqi’ah
- Surah Al-Mursalat
- Surah An-Naba
- Surah At-Takwir
- Surah Al-Falaq
- Surah An-Nas
- And at end Surah Al-Ikhlas
And then instructed him O Hama, keep coming to meet me from time to time.
Hazrat Umar Ibn al Khattab said, that shortly after this incident, the prophet (PBUH) died and we never saw Hama then. We don’t even know if he is alive or not.
This is the complete story of Hama or Ham Ibn Heem Ibn Lamis Ibn Iblees. The conversation was happening in Arabic. So, you might be wondering, what language do jinns speak. I have written an article on it and you can read that.
Now, a few people might consider it a fake story because this is not narrated in well-respected hadith books like Sahih Bukhari and Muslim.
However, the book Dalail -un- Nubuwwah by Abu Nu’aym al-Isfahani is respected too. It contains miracles and extraordinary events in the Prophet’s life.
However, I have provided this information for informational purposes. The information is collected from various sources during research but most of the credit goes to Furqan Qureshi Blogs (For Urdu Listeners).
