The
Father of Muhammad (صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم)
One day Abdul-Muttalib saw in his
dream the location of the well of Zamzam and started digging for it. In that
spot two idols Isâf and Nâilah were being kept. The Quraish resented this
disturbance and became hostile and ready to fight. Although they were only two,
father and son, they dominated the scene and continued digging the well.
Realizing his isolation Abdul-Muttalib invoked Allâh the Almighty that in case
He gave him ten sons, he would sacrifice one of his sons in the name of God.
After a short period the well appeared and he was also blessed with ten sons.
The appearance of the Zamzam well
established the prestige of Abdul-Muttalib over the Quraish and all of them
acknowledged his leadership and virtues. When his sons had grown, he got ready
to fulfil his vow. He went to the Ka'bah along with all his sons and drew lots
before Hubal. By chance the arrows of chance chose his youngest son, Abdullah
who was very dear to Abdul-Muttalib. Since Abdul-Muttalib was adamant in fulfilling
his vow, he left for the altar along with Abdullah.
All his brothers, sisters and chiefs
of the Quraish tried hard to hold Abdul-Muttalib back from implementing his
plan but he remained unshaken. After much discussion they turned to Sajâ', a
famous soothsayer. She pointed out that blood money for their
(Abdul-Muttalib's) clan was ten camels. Thus they should put Abdullah on one
side and ten camels on the other and then draw the lots.
In the case that the camels were
chosen they would be slaughtered, but if Abdullah is chosen they should add ten
more camels and draw again. They should keep adding to the number of the camels
until the camels were drawn. This exercise went on until the number of camels
reached one hundred. Abdul-Muttalib drew the lots twice more for his personal
satisfaction but each time it fell upon the camels. Hence one hundred camels
were slaughtered and Abdullah was saved. Since that time, the blood money of
one killed was fixed at one hundred camels. The table of genealogy of Abdul-Muttalib
is given on the facing page.
The
Birth of the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم)
Only a few days before the year of
Elephant, Abdul-Muttalib married his son, Abdullah to Âminah bint Wahb
belonging to a noble family of the Quraish in Yathrib (Al-Madinah). Abdullah
was then 24. On the same occasion Abdul-Muttalib himself married Hâlah bint
Wuhaib, a relative of Âminah. Hamzah was born from his marriage to Hâlah bint
Wuhaib.
A few days after the marriage,
Abdul-Muttalib sent Abdullah to Syria along with a trade caravan. On his
return, Abdullah fell sick and stayed in Yathrib (Al-Madinah) with his
relatives and sent his father news about his illness. Abdul-Muttalib sent his
son Hârith to bring Abdullah back to Makkah under his care and protection. But
Abdullah died before Hârith reached Al-Madinah and was already buried in the
graveyard of his relatives, Banu Najjâr.
Hârith came back to Makkah
empty-handed and gave Abdul-Muttalib this soul shattering news. Abdullah had
left behind a few camels, goats and a slave-girl, Umm Aiman. Âminah was then
pregnant and so the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم)
became an orphan while still in the womb of his mother.
He (صلى
الله عليه وآله وسلم) was born 52 or 55 days after the event of
the year of Elephant. His mother had dreamt an angel telling her that the baby
to be born had been named Ahmad. Thus she named him Ahmad, while Abdul-Muttalib
named his grandson Muhammad. According to the report of Abul-Fida, when the
people asked Abdul-Muttalib as to why he gave his grandson a new name, setting
aside all the names current in his family, he replied: "It is because I
have a longing that my grandson should be praised and commended by one and all
in the world."
Childhood
Days
Initially, after his birth,
Thuwaibah, the freed slave-girl of Abu Lahab bin Abdul-Muttalib suckled him for
seven days. She had suckled Hamzah, the uncle of the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم) also. Thus, both Marash bin Thuwaibah and
Hamzah رضي الله عنهما were his foster
brothers. According to the custom of the Arab nobles, on the eighth day he was
entrusted to lady Halimah of the Banu Saad clan of the Hawazin tribe to suckle
and bring him up. The nobles of Arabia would entrust their babies to Bedouin
women so that they would become healthy and strong in the open and free climate
of the desert. Besides it would help develop eloquent speech, because the
language of the Bedouin was more pure, graceful and eloquent than those living
in urban areas.
Halimah Saadiyah would come to
Makkah twice a year to show him to his mother and grandfather. Halimah Saadiyah
suckled him for two years and he remained with her for four years altogether.
His mother summoned him to Makkah at the end of four years. When he was six,
his mother took him to his relatives in Al-Madinah (Yathrib). On their journey
after a month, his mother passed away at Abwa. Abdul-Muttalib took upon himself
the responsibilities of looking after the boy. According to other narrations,
he remained with Banu Saad for five years. He (صلى
الله عليه وآله وسلم) was five years of age and he was out
grazing goats along with his foster brother and sisters and other boys of the
same age when the event of the opening up of his chest occurred.
According to a narration of Seerat
Ibn Hisham, Halimah bint Abu Dhuaib relates this event in these words: “One day
both my children came fearfully to me and said that two cleanly dressed persons
seized our Quraishi brother and split open his chest. I went to the spot along
with my husband (Harith bin Abdul-Uzza) and saw that he (صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم) was sitting there with his face turned
pale. Upon inquiry we stated that two cleanly dressed persons came to him, laid
him down with his face up, took out his heart, and extracted something from
it.” But Halimah found no trace of any injury or spot of blood. Having thought
that the boy was affected by a jinn or something, she brought him to Makkah
without loss of time and related the whole event to his mother. But his mother
instead of being afraid of what had happened, spoke with all the confidence at
her command that her son would achieve a very distinctive place in the world,
and would surely remain safe from all worldly evils. She told how, when he was
in her womb, she heard many things from the angels and noticed many uncommon happenings.
Imam Muslim reports from Anas bin Malik رضي الله عنه
that one day when he (صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم)
was playing with the boys of Makkah, Jibril (Gabriel) عليه
السلام came to him, split his chest, took out a black drop from it and
said: “It was the portion of Satan.” Following that he washed his heart in a
tray of gold with Zamzam water and then put it in its place.
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