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[PBUH] also. Thus both Masruh bin Thuwaibah and Hamzah[PBUH] were his foster brothers. According to the custom of the Arab nobles, on the eighth day, he was entrusted to lady Halimah of the BanuSa’d clan of the Hawazain tribe to suckle him 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 him develop eloquent speech, because the language of the bedouin was more pure, graceful and eloquent than those living in urban areas.

HalimahSa’diyah would come to Makkah twice a year to show him to his mother and grandfather. HalimahSa’diyah sucked 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].

Upon the return journey after a month, she passed away at Abwa. Abdul Muttalibtook upon himself the responsibilities of looking after the boy. According to other narrations, he remained with BanuSa’d for five years. He[PBUH] 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 from Seerat Ibn Hisham, [History of Ibn Hisham], Halimahbint Abu Dhuiab relates this event in these words: “One day both of my children came fearfully to me and said that two cleanly dressed persons seized our Quriashi brother and split open his chest. I went to the spot along with my husband [Harith bin Abdul-Uzza] and saw that he[PBUH] was sitting there with his face turned pale.

Upon inquiry he stated that two cleanly dressed persons came to him, laid him down with his face up, took out his heart, and extracted 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 calamities.

She told that 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[PBUH] that one day when he[PBUH] was playing with the boys of Makkah, Jibril[Gabriel] 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 it place.

The death of his grandfather Abdul Muttalib

After being brought up for two years under the care and guardianship of Abdul-Muttalib, he reached[PBUH] reached eight years of age that Abdul-Muttalib passed away. When Abdul-Muttalib’s funeral procession was proceeding, he[PBUH] joined it with tearful eyes. However, Abdul-Muttalib had entrusted him to his son Abu Talib before his death, stressing the utmost care and protection for the boy. Despite having several other sons, Abdul-Muttalib was wise enough to give him to the care of Abu Talib because he and Abdullah, the father of the boy, were born of the same mother. The assessment of Abdul-Muttalib came true and the nephew became Abu Talib’s favorite.

The care and support he obtained under his uncle Abu Talib

Abu Talib took special care of his nephew and held him dearer than his own sons. He made him sleep on his own bed. He[PBUH] passed his childhood days in a manner quite strange for the Arabian society. Instead of playing with children of his age group, he felt disgusted in their company and preferred to be in solitude. Allah the Almighty had kept him aloof from every kind of debasement and depravity. A few boys of Quraish forced him to enjoy a marriage celebration where there was dance and music too. But as he reached the spot he was overtaken by sleep and kept sleeping the whole night and got up only when the assembly had dispersed at the end of the celebration. He[PBUH] was thus saved from the undesirable and forbidden activities of the marriage ceremony.

He was, perhaps, seven years old when the Quraish started re-building the Ka’abah which suffered damage from a flood. During the construction work, he[PBUH] joined the party of workers carrying stones and giving them to the masons. He was wearing Izar[waist sheet] which was causing him some trouble doing the work. The nakedness of a boy of seven was not then considered something improper. So, his uncle Abbass grabbed hold of the waist sheet and pulled it so violently that he[PBUH] became naked. He grew shameful to the extent that he fell down unconscious. At least, the people felt the gravity of the situation and put his waist sheet back on and he recovered.

HusseiniYushauBabalWaiz, is the Director of Media & Marketing at the Center for Media & Peace Initiative in New York. He authored three books, including “Islam Promotes Tolerance & Prohibits Terrorism”:- Reviving the Islamic Advocacy of Mercy and Magnanimity to Mankind. This four weeks series showcasing the life brief history of the Prophet[PBUH] will end next week. It was in commemoration of his birth month which my late grandfather, SheikhBabalWaiz was the first to have initiated his maulid in Ghana since 1945. Hence this year marks the 70th milestone of this celebration.

References:

The History of Islam{VolumeOne} ,by Akbar Shah Najeebabadi

Al-RaheeqilMakhtoom[The Sealed Nectar], by ShiekhSaffiyu Rahman Al-Mubarikfurii

QisasilAnbiyah{Stories of the Prophets}, by Imam HafizHafiz Ibn Kathir