Muhammad ibn Abdullah, the Last Messenger of
Abdul Muttalib was over joyed at his birth and rushed to see the baby. He then took the baby to the Ka’bah, prayed to Allah for the baby’s health, long life and expressed gratitude to Allah for this noble gift. 10
A large number of biographers have quoted that the Holy
Circumcision was followed by an animal sacrifice by Abdul Muttalib, which was a sign of gratitude to
It was a custom among the noble families of Arabia to send their infants for upbringing with the wet nurses of the distinguished tribes of Arabia. 24 They believed that the pure life of the desert would make the child healthier and stronger. Furthermore, this enabled the child to obtain immaculate speech and etiquettes of the pure Bedouin tribes of Arabia. 25 Hence, Aaminah suckled her son for the first seven 26 27 or according to a weak narration, nine days 28 and then sent him to Banu Saad branch of the Hawazin tribe, for upbringing in the natural desert environment. 29
Banu Saad was considered to be one of the best tribes for nursing and nurturing the children. They were a distant branch of Banu Hawazin tribe and were located at the South-Eastern side of Makkah, 30 in between the vicinity of Makkah and Taif. Their settlements were in an arid region named Al-Baubat (البوباۃ), which was a part of the Tihama Region. 31 Women of Banu Saad tribe visited the Quraysh tribe periodically, to take their infants for suckling. Coincidently, some of these women were also expected, shortly after the birth of Prophet Muhammad . 32 It is cited that Aaminah was told in a vision, for three nights, to get the child suckled in Banu Saad ibn Bakr tribe only. 33
Halimah , daughter of Abdullah ibn Harith (Abu Dhuaib) and wife of Al-Harith ibn Abdul Uzza, from Banu Saad ibn Bakr ibn Hawazin tribe, 34 was the lucky lady, who was chosen to become the foster mother of Prophet Muhammad . Abdul Muttalib took Halimah to the room in which Prophet Muhammad was resting. Halimah looked at Prophet Muhammad , who was wrapped in a milk-white woollen cloth while a green silky sheet was beneath him, which was fragranced with musk. When she looked at the sleeping baby, she willed to hold him, but did not want to wake him up. Then, she touched the baby’s chest with soft hands. The baby opened his eyes and smiled. She hugged the baby and kissed his forehead. 35 When Aaminah was handing Prophet Muhammad to Halimah , she recited the following couplet:
أعيذه باللّٰه ذي الجلال من شر ما مر على الجبال
حتى أراه حامل الحلال ويفعل العرف إلى الموالي
وغيرهم من حشوة الرجال... 36
I entrust this child to Allah, the Magnificent (for protection) from the harms and evils that a body may suffer from. (I entrust him) till the time, I will see him, the respected noble one, and showing goodness to the adherents, and other suffering ones and needy.
Ibn Saad only quoted a part of the couplet (mentioned above), the complete poetry can be seen in Mughlatai’s work. 37
Halimah brought the infant to her lodging in Makkah and placed him in her lap for breast feeding. Prophet Muhammad drank the milk till he was satisfied, but left enough milk for his brother so that he could also become content. 38 It is cited from Halimah that, during that period of scarcity, it was the first time that her own son was satisfied and slept peacefully. Before the arrival of the Holy Prophet in her family, she did not have enough milk to feed her son, who being underfed, and was not able to sleep properly. 39
Shortly after that, Halimah’s husband Al-Harith ibn Abdul Uzzah, got up and went to milk their weak and old she-camel which they had brought along. Surprisingly, he found that her udders were full of milk. He milked it and then, he and his wife drank the milk until they were content. 40 The next morning, Harith expressed his opinion to Halimah that she had surely taken a blessed baby. Halimah agreed and hoped for the blessings to continue. 41
Before leaving Makkah, Aaminah had requested Halimah to take good care of the child and had told her that the baby was destined to achieve eminence in the future. Then, she told Halimah about the miraculous things, which she had experienced during the days of pregnancy and what she had been told at the time of Prophet Muhammad’s birth. Then, Halimah and her husband put a saddle on the donkey, which was weak, and made preparations for the return journey. Halimah rode the donkey and bore Muhammad in front of her. 42 Though they started late but surprisingly, their donkey went at such a pace that the other animals could not keep up 43 and they overtook their companions in the valley of Al-Sirar. 44 Thus, the other companions had to ask Halimah to stop and wait for them. 45
The women of her tribe asked Halimah whether she was riding the same donkey on which she had started the journey or had she purchased another one. She told them that she was still riding her old donkey. Hearing this, the other women remarked that something extraordinary had happened. 46 Halimah commented that she had taken the best baby for suckling which she had ever ever seen, and he possessed great blessings. 47
After a tiring journey, they reached their home. It was the year of famine, but after Prophet Muhammad’s arrival in Banu Saad, things changed for Halimah’s family. Recalling this, Halimah states that she knew no other part of the earth, more barren and desolate than their territory, but when their family had Muhammad with them, their flock started to produce milk in abundance, while majority of the people of their tribe did not have a single drop of milk in their animals’ udders. Noticing this, the people of her tribe instructed their shepherds to graze their cattle along with Halimah’s animals, but even then, their animals could not produce enough milk. She had realized that it was a special blessing from Allah which had been bestowed upon them because of the blessed baby. Her flock became fat and their numbers increased remarkably in a short time, and everything around them started to prosper. 48
During the fostering period, many important events took place which clearly reflected that Muhammad was not an ordinary child. One of the remarkable acts of justice and equality was that during the fostering period, Muhammad only drank milk from one side and left the other side for his foster brother Abdullah ibn Hartih. 49 Beside this, Prophet Muhammad’s physical growth was remarkable. None of the other children grew as marvellously as he did. By the time he was two, he looked older, 50 as if he was four years old. 51
The people of the tribe would bring their sick people and cattle to Prophet Muhammad , so he could touch and bless them. It was said that if Muhammad had touched them, they would be cured in a short time, by the will of Allah. 52 Al-Bayhaqui cites that during Prophet Muhammad’s stay at Banu Saad, the whole tribe sensed a strong fragrance of musk all around them. 53
Once, Halimah's son Dhumra hit a goat with an arrow that broke its leg. The goat approached Muhammad as if, it was complaining against Dhumra. Then, Muhammad kept his hand on the broken leg and it was cured in no time. Halimah’s son told her that everything around Muhammad including stones, plants, trees etc. would greet him and speak to him. If he ordered the cattle to move, they started moving and if he asked them to stop, they followed his orders and stopped. 54
At another time, one of Muhammad’s play mates told Halimah that once, they were in the pasture with their cattle when a predatory beast appeared. All of the children became afraid. The beast turned to Muhammad and started rubbing its cheeks on the earth in front of him. Then, the beast spoke like a human and greeted him. Muhammad said something in its ear and the beast left. The child also added that when they asked Muhammad about what he had said in the ear of the beast, he replied that he had told the beast not to come near that valley again. 55
After two years in the Banu Saad tribe, Halima and her husband brought the baby (Muhammad ) back to Aaminah . 56 However, they wanted to extend Muhammad’s stay with them for some more time as they had witnessed the blessings during his stay. They insisted so much that Aaminah finally agreed to their request and sent Muhammad back with them.
Content with Aaminah’s decision, the couple returned home. Two or three months passed without any extraordinary event or interference, then, the event of Shaq Al-Sadar (شق الصدر) i.e., “Opening of the Chest” took place. 57 Before this event, Halimah had seen a similar incident in her dream and tried to stop Muhammad from going outside to the pastures with other children, but on Muhammad’s insistence, she allowed him to go and Shaq Al-Sadar (The Opening of the Chest) took place. 58
While Muhammad was grazing the cattle with his foster brother Abdullah ibn Harith, 59 Gabriel (Jibraeel) , the Angel appeared, took hold of Muhammad , lay him flat on the ground and ripped open his chest. Gabriel then took out Muhammad’s heart, removed a clot of blood from it and said that it was the part of Satan. Then, he washed Muhammad’s heart with Zamzam water in bowl of gold and then returned it to its place. 60
Muhammad’s foster brother and the other boys had witnessed this event as well, so they rushed home to inform Halimah that her foster son had been murdered. When she got this news, all the members of the family rushed to the site of the event and saw Muhammad upright and alone, but with a pale face. They embraced him and his foster father asked him about the incident. Muhammad told them that, two men in white clothes had put him on the ground, opened his chest, took something out and threw it away. After listening to his account, Halimah and his husband got worried and instantly took him back to their residence. 61
Biographers have recorded several unusual events which took place during Prophet Muhammad’s stay at Banu Saad, which included a cloud which used to cover the Holy Prophet in the severe heat. Ibn Saad states that Halimah herself saw a cloud shadowing Prophet Muhammad . The cloud halted when he stopped and moved with his movement. She got frightened, and decided to send Muhammad back to his mother. He was five years old at that time. 62
Once, a number of Abyssinian Christians saw Muhammad when he was with his Halimah and tried to kidnap him after observing him. 63 When they saw the seal of Prophethood and the reddishness in his eyes, they inquired from Halimah , whether the boy was afflicted with an eye sore or was that a permanent state of eyes. Halimah replied that his eyes remained in this state. 64 They claimed that they had known all about the boy and wanted to take him to their king. Halimah managed to take the boy away from them with difficulty 65 and rushed home.
Once during a journey, Halimah narrated some of the miraculous events of Muhammad’s birth in front of a group of Jews. The Jews consulted each other and decided to kill the boy. But, before fulfilling their evil plan, they asked Halimah if the boy was orphan. When she replied in negative, pointed towards her husband and stated that he was his father and she was his mother, the Jews refrained in fulfilling their plan. 66
Once, Muhammad was with Halimah at the festival of Ukkaz. While she was busy there, one of the kahin (soothsayer) saw Prophet Muhammad and observed some of the signs of Prophethood in him. He shouted and asked the people to kill the boy. He claimed that if the boy was not killed, he would become a king. When Halimah heard these things, she took her foster child and went away from the soothsayer. 67
A similar incident took place at the festival of Dhu Al-Majaz. On her way back, while Halimah was passing by Dhu Al-Majaz fair, she found an astrologer there who used to tell people about the future of the children. When he saw the seal of Prophethood, and the reddishness in Prophet Muhammad’s eyes, he started shouting and called the people to kill the boy as the boy would eliminate their religions by destroying their idols and establishing authority over them. He tried to grab Prophet Muhammad , but instantly lost his senses and later, died in the state of madness. 68
When Prophet Muhammad was returned permanently to Aaminah , he was five or six 69 years old. Al-Baladhuri advocates that the authentic and proved view is that he was returned to his mother permanently by the age of five and remained with her till the age of six. 70
A soothsayer visited Makkah after Prophet Muhammad had been returned to his mother. When he saw Prophet Muhammad , he suggested that the Quraysh should kill this child and claimed that the boy would divide and slay them. Abdul Muttalib protected Prophet Muhammad and took him away from the scene. Ibn Jawzi claims that the Quraysh always remained fearful about the things which the soothsayer had spoken about Muhammad . 71
When Halimah took Prophet Muhammad back to Makkah, she lost him in the crowd in the outskirts of Makkah. She searched for him, but could not find him. Finally, she met Abdul Muttalib (Prophet Muhammad's grandfather) and told him that she had brought Muhammad back, but had lost him in the upper part of the city. After hearing this, Abdul Muttalib went to the Ka’bah and prayed to Allah to send Muhammad back. 72 Ibn Saad narrates that Abdul Muttalib said following lines on this occasion:
لاهُمَّ أد راكبي محمدا أده إلي واصطنع عندي يدا
أنت الذي جعلته لي عضدا لا يبعد الدهر به فيبعدا
أنت الذي سميته محمدا 73
O Allah, guide the rider of Muhammad , Bring him to me and forge a bond in my favor. You are the one who made him my support, Never to be distanced as time stretches on. You are the one who named him Muhammad .
Another narration states that Abdul Muttalib, with some men of Quraysh, went to search for Muhammad and found him playing with some branches and leaves, nearby a tree, in the valley of Tihama. 74 As a sign of gratitude to Allah, Abdul Muttalib slaughtered twenty camels, many sheep and cows to feed the people of Makkah. 75 Then, he was handed over to his mother.
Thereafter, Prophet Muhammad lived happily in Makkah with his mother, and enjoyed the adoration and fondness of his grandfather, uncles, aunts and his many cousins with whom he played. Above all, Hamzah and Safiyah , the offspring of Abdul Muttalib’s last marriage were the dearest to him. Hamzah was of his own age while Safiyah was little younger. A powerful and lasting bond was fashioned among the three of them. 76
After expelling the Ethiopian viceroys of the Roman Imperial Power with the assistance of the Persian Empire, Saif ibn Zi-Yazan Al-Himyari established his rule in Yemen. In order to congratulate the new ruler, Abdul Muttalib, along with the delegation of Quraysh went to Yemen. Ibn Hisham states that this meeting between Abd Al-Muttalib and Saif ibn Zi-Yazan took place when Muhammad was just a few years old. The eloquent speech delivered by Abdul Muttalib in the king’s court impressed the king. Before the address ended, the king waved his hand to stop him. Then, he came down from his throne and asked him about his identity. Abdul Muttalib introduced himself before the King. When he came to know that Abdul Muttalib’s mother belonged to Banu Khazraj tribe of Yathrib, which was in fact a Yemeni tribe, the king started to revere him even more. Then, the king asked the delegation to stay in his palace as royal guests. He also made Abdul Muttalib sit with him and offered to share something from his scripture, which he requested Abdul Muttalib to keep a secret. On his concurrence, the king told him about some of the signs of a child, who was about to appear and was destined to be a great ruler of Arabia. Abdul Muttalib realized that, all the signs which the king had mentioned, were present in his grandson, Muhammad . Thus, he prostrated in front of Allah, as a mark of gratitude and told the king that, all the signs which he had mentioned, were found in his own grandson. The king respected him even more and awarded him and his delegation with many precious gifts and slaves. He told Abdul Muttalib to visit him again the next year but it never happened, as the king died soon after. 77
Prophet Muhammad's stay with his mother was extremely short, as she passed away soon after his return from Banu Saad. When Muhammad was brought back by Halimah , Aaminah decided to visit Yathrib (Madinah) in order to familiarise Muhammad with his maternal relatives, the Banu Adi ibn Al-Najjar. 78 Umm Ayman , the lady servant which Aaminah inherited from her husband Abdullah , accompanied her on that trip. 79 According to some sources, Abdul Muttalib also accompanied them on this trip. 80. They travelled on two camels and stayed at Dar Al-Nabigha (دار النابغة) in Yathrib, where Abdullah was buried, 81 in a small hut called Al-Dar Al-Sughra (الدار الصغرىٰ), situated at the left side, but within the house. 82
When they reached Yathrib, Muhammad played different games with the boys of his maternal uncles. He also learnt swimming in a pond of Banu Adi ibn Al-Najjar. Umm Ayman recalls that she noticed a party of Jews keenly observing Muhammad . She heard one of them saying: ‘He (Muhammad ) is the Prophet of this nation and this is the abode of his migration.’ Umm Ayman states that she fully understood the words of Jews. 83
Similarly, during his stay at Yathrib, Prophet Muhammad noticed that a man among the Jews was keenly observing him and then after, left quietly. After that, one day that Jew found Prophet Muhammad alone so he approached him and asked his name. Prophet Muhammad replied that his name was Ahmed. He looked at his back and saw the seal of Prophethood. Then, the Jew commented about Muhammad that he was the prophet of that nation. Then, Muhammad returned to his uncles and informed them about this incident. When his mother heard this, she got concerned and decided to leave Yathrib (Madinah). 84 .
On their return journey Aaminah died at a place called Abwa, 85 a village near Al-Juhfa. This region belonged to Banu Khuza’a and Banu Dhumra tribes. Aaminah’s grave is located there on a small hilly terrain. 86 Some have even recorded her poetic verses, which she narrated to her son Muhammad before her death. She fainted due to the severity of illness and when she returned to her senses, 87 she said:
بارك فيك اللّٰه من غلام يا ابن الذي من حومة الحمام
نجا بعون الملك المنعام فودى غداة الضرب بالسهام
بمائة من إبل سوام إن صح ما أبصرت في الْمنام
فأنت مبعوث إلى الأنام تبعث في الحل وفي الحرام
تبعث في التحقيق والإسلام دين أبيك البر إبراهام
فاللّٰه أنهاك عن الأصنام أن لا تواليها مع الأقوام 88
May Allah bless you O young boy! O son of the one who got away from the circle of death. The one who survived by the help of the Rewarding Great King. Then, by the morning he was redeemed by casting the lots, In exchange of hundred tall camels. If that is true which I have seen in dream, You are sent to the people, so you can distinguish for them, between lawful and unlawful. You are sent with reality and Islam, which is the religion of your righteous father Abraham (Ibrahim) By Allah! I forbid you from worshipping idols so that you not turn to them with other nations.
Similar verses of her poetry are also quoted by Al-Zurqani, 89 and Muhammad ibn Yusuf Al-Salihi Al-Shami, 90 Some have claimed that Aaminah died at Makkah, and was buried at Sh’ub Abi Dab Al-Khuzai at Al-Hajun but it is not established, as specified by Al-Baladhuri. 91 Ibn Ishaq and others have cited that Prophet Muhammad was 6 years of age when his mother Aaminah left this mortal world 92 93 94 while some have reported that he was 8 years old. 95 96 Ibn Habban mentioned that he was 4 97 while some narrators mention that he was either 7 or 9 or 12 98 at the time of Aaminah’s death but, Ahmed ibn Ali suggests that, the most authentic view is that, he was 6 years 3 months and 10 days old, when Aaminah died. 99
Several narrations refer that Prophet Muhammad always recalled his mother, which reveals his sorrow and agony for the loss of his mother at a very early age. 100 After the death of Aaminah , Prophet Muhammad considered Umm Ayman as his mother. 101