Hind al-Hunnud

Who is Hind al-Hunnud?

Hind was a member of the Quraish tribe of the kingdom of Kindah. She was involved in fighting early Muslims. The climax of this campaign came at the Battle of Badr, which she led in 624 AD, against Muhammad himself, but the Quraysh were defeated and her father, brother and uncle were killed. In 625, Hind al-Hunnud along with fifteen other women accompanying troops in a battle near Medina, sang songs to inspire warriors. While at the battle she exulted over the body of the man who killed her father, chewed his liver, and made jewellery from his skin and nails.

For a time she directed a guerrilla war of vengeance against the enemy, but eventually, outnumbered and surrounded, she was compelled to submit and convert to Islam. In her military heyday Hind had been not only a war-leader but a priestess of the "Lady of Victory" inspiring the women to sacred chants for valour and victory.