Hikayat Muhammad Hanafiah (حكاية محمد حنفيه) is a
Malay literary work that recounts the story of
Muhammad ibn al-Hanafiyyah, half-brother of the martyrs of
Shiism
Shīʿa Islam or Shīʿīsm is the second-largest branch of Islam. It holds that the Islamic prophet Muhammad designated ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib as his successor (''khalīfa'') and the Imam (spiritual and political leader) after him, most ...
,
Hasan and
Husayn
Hussein, Hussain, Hossein, Hossain, Huseyn, Husayn, Husein or Husain (; ar, حُسَيْن ), coming from the triconsonantal root Ḥ-S-i-N ( ar, ح س ی ن, link=no), is an Arabic name which is the diminutive of Hassan, meaning "good", " ...
. The story revolves around the aftermath of the
battle of Karbala
The Battle of Karbala ( ar, مَعْرَكَة كَرْبَلَاء) was fought on 10 October 680 (10 Muharram in the year 61 AH of the Islamic calendar) between the army of the second Umayyad Caliph Yazid I and a small army led by Husayn ...
and Muhammad’s role in an uprising against
Yazid I
Yazid ibn Mu'awiya ibn Abi Sufyan ( ar, يزيد بن معاوية بن أبي سفيان, Yazīd ibn Muʿāwiya ibn ʾAbī Sufyān; 64611 November 683), commonly known as Yazid I, was the second caliph of the Umayyad Caliphate. He ruled from ...
, the
caliph
A caliphate or khilāfah ( ar, خِلَافَة, ) is an institution or public office under the leadership of an Islamic steward with the title of caliph (; ar, خَلِيفَة , ), a person considered a political-religious successor to th ...
of
Umayyad Caliphate
The Umayyad Caliphate (661–750 CE; , ; ar, ٱلْخِلَافَة ٱلْأُمَوِيَّة, al-Khilāfah al-ʾUmawīyah) was the second of the four major caliphates established after the death of Muhammad. The caliphate was ruled by th ...
.
Hikayat Muhammad Hanafiah was one of the Hikayats mentioned in the
Malay annals read by the Malay warriors to raise their fighting spirit during the
siege of Malacca by the
Portuguese Empire
The Portuguese Empire ( pt, Império Português), also known as the Portuguese Overseas (''Ultramar Português'') or the Portuguese Colonial Empire (''Império Colonial Português''), was composed of the overseas colonies, factories, and the ...
in 1511.
The following is an extract from the Malay Annals:
::''It was night and all the captains and young men were on guard in the palace. And the young men said, “Of what use is it for us to sit here in silence? It would be better for us to read some story of battle so that we might benefit from it.” “You are right,” said Tun Muhammad Unta. “Tun Indra Sagara had better go and ask for the story of Muhammad Hanafiah,saying that perhaps we may derive advantage from it, as the Feringgi (
Portuguese
Portuguese may refer to:
* anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal
** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods
** Portuguese language, a Romance language
*** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language
** Portu ...
) attack tomorrow.” Then Tun Indra Sagara went into the presence of Sultan and submitted their remark to his highness. And Sultan gave him the
Hikayat Amir Hamzah, saying, “Tell them, I’d give them the story of Muhammad Hanafiah but I fear they’ll not be as brave as he: if they are like Amir Hamzah it will do, so I give them the story of Hamzah.” Tun Indra Sagara came out carrying the story of Hamzah and told them all Sultan had said, and they were silent not answering a word. Then, Tun Isak said to Tun Indra Sagara, “Tell his highness that he is mistaken. His highness must be like Muhammad Hanafiah and we like the captains of Baniar”. Tun Indra Sagara submitted Tun Isak’s remark to Sultan Ahmad, who smiled and answered, “He is right”. And he gave him the story of Muhammad Hanafiah too.''
The text is known through at least 30 manuscripts and a lithographed edition in
Singapore
Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, bor ...
. Although the story is no longer popular today, but it is extremely interesting in that it attests to a Shiite presence in the Malay world at the very beginning of
Islamization
Islamization, Islamicization, or Islamification ( ar, أسلمة, translit=aslamāh), refers to the process through which a society shifts towards the religion of Islam and becomes largely Muslim. Societal Islamization has historically occur ...
.
References
{{Authority control
Malay-language literature