When the battle of Uhud had concluded, the Noble Prophet (peace be upon him and his family) dispatched Harith Ibn Samt to search for the body of his uncle, Hamzah, amongst the dead. When Harith witnessed that Hamzah’s liver had been taken out and his body mutilated by cutting off the ears, nose and other parts of the body, he could not bring himself to inform the Noble Prophet (s.a.w) of this unpleasant occurrence.
As a result, the Noble Prophet (s.a.w) himself arrived amongst the dead, but when his eyes fell upon the mutilated body of his uncle, he was immensely disturbed. As he wept, he said: “By Allah! Nothing has disturbed me more than this. If Allah grants me dominance over the Quraish, I shall mutilate seventy of their individuals.”
At that moment, Jibrail descended with the following verse: “And if you take your turn, then retaliate with the like of that with which you were afflicted; but if you are patient, it will certainly be best for those who are patient,” whereupon the Noble Prophet (s.a.w) said: “I shall exhibit patience over this calamity.”
The person who killed Hamzah was Wahshi – the slave of Jubair – who, upon the orders of Hind (Muawiyah’s mother. Her father, ‘Atabah, had been killed in the battle of Badr) had torn open Hamzah’s stomach, pulled out his liver and presented it to her. Taking the liver she bit into it, but by Divine decree was unable eat it. Arriving at Hamzah’s body, she went on to mutilate it and then rewarded Wahshi by gifting him her necklace, bracelet and ear-rings. ( Muntakhab al-Tawarikh, pg. 51 )