Day: February 23, 2024

CHAPTER ONE

Lineage and Early Life

Noble lineage

He is Muhammadﷺ, the son of ‘Abd-Allāh, the son of ‘Abd alHMuttalib, the son of Hashim, the son of ‘Abd Munaf, the of Quṣayy, the son of Kiläb, the son of Murrah, the son of Ka’b, the son of Lu’ayy, the son of Ghalib, the son of Fihr, the son of Mālik, the son of al-Naḍr, the son of Kinānah, the son of Khuzaymah, the son of Mudrikah, the son of Ilyas, the son of Muḍar, the son of Nizar, the son of Ma’d, the son of ‘Adnan,² until Isma’īl, the son of [Allah’s friend] Ibrāhīm AlaihisSalam.

Birth

He  ﷺ was born on Monday during the month of Rabi’ al-Awwal in the Year of the Elephant.³ There are various narrations which contend that [he was born] on the second, or the eighth, or the ninth or the twelfth of the month. This [latter date] is the popular opinion amongst the majority [of scholars].

His  mother did not experience any heaviness or any cravings [for certain foods whilst pregnant]. Some have mentioned that she experienced heaviness at the beginning of conception and then lightness thereafter as the pregnancy progressed; thus it was, on either account, an extraordinary pregnancy.

He ﷺ was born circumcised and cheerful, with his fingers clenched except for his index finger which was pointing [upwards] like someone who is glorifying Allah by the index finger [pointing upwards] (tasbīḥ).

There is disagreement [amongst scholars] over the duration of the pregnancy: some have said it was nine months, which is the popular opinion, while others have said six [months].

Monday is a blessed day, since it has been related from Imam Aḥmad that he said: ‘Ibn ‘Abbās said, “The Prophet ﷺ was born on albia a Monday, commissioned with Prophethood on a Monday, passedom away on a Monday, left as a migrant from Mecca to Medina on a Monday, arrived in Medina on a Monday and raised the Black Stone on a Monday.”

On the night of his birth,ﷺ astonishing things and strange phenomena occurred, such as many of the idols falling on their faces and from their places, light emerging with him as he was born, such that the palaces of Sham were illuminated, the palace of Chosroes trembled and its balconies collapsed, the extinguishing of the Persian fire which had not been extinguished for a thousand years prior and the lake of Säwah drying up.

Nurse-maids and wet-nurses

The first woman to suckle him ﷺ was his mother Lady Aminah al-Zahriyyah, followed by Thuwaybah al-Aslamiyyah for a number of days. Thuwaybah was Abū Lahab’s slave whom he set free when she brought to him the good news of the Messenger’s ﷺbirth; subsequently, Allah somewhat alleviated [his punishment in the hellfire] because of his happiness with his birth, as related by al-Bukhārī with a mursal chain of transmission. [It is further narrated that] Abū Lahab was seen after his death [in a dream] in which he mentioned that his punishment is lessened every Monday because he freed Thuwaybah out of joy with the Messenger of Allah’s birth.

Ibn Mandah considered Thuwaybah to be one of the Companions, but other scholars have disagreed. Thuwaybah used to visit Allah’s Messengerﷺ after he ﷺmarried Khadijah, and heﷺ would honour her, as would Khadijah. He continued to send her clothes and gifts after migrating [to Medina] until she passed away.

Thereafter, Halimah bint Abi Dhu’ayb al-Sa’diyyah suckled him.com with the milk from her [pregnancy with her] son ‘Abd Allāh, the brother of Anisah and al-Shīmah. She took him with her to her land beyond al-Ta’if amongst the Bani Sa’d, and there he stayed with her amongst them for four years according to the correct opinion. By suckling him, she gained much good in terms of ample sustenance and prosperity.

Al-Shīmah – who is Ḥalīmah al-Sa’diyyah’s daughter – would, together with her mother, look after him. Halimah returned him [back to his mother] out of fear for him, because of the incident

wherein his chest was split open¹0 when he was four or five years old. She did not see him after that except twice: once after heﷺ had married Khadijah, when she came complaining to him of a drought, and so Lady Khadījah gave her twenty sheep and other gifts; and the second time was on the Day of Ḥunayn.”

Umm Ayman Barakah al-Ḥabashiyyah also took him in her care.¹2 Heﷺ had inherited her from his father. When he grew up, he freed her and gave her away in marriage to Zayd ibn Ḥārithah.¹³

Upbringing

He ﷺwas raised as an orphan, as his father passed away whilst his mother was pregnant with him, and so his grandfather ‘Abd alMuṭṭalib took custody of him. When heﷺ reached the age of six, his mother took him to al-Madīnah al-Munawwarah together with Umm Ayman Barakah al-Ḥabashiyyah – who would look after him – visiting his maternal uncles from Banī Najjār. She stayed with them for a month and then [set off to] return with him, but she became ill en route and passed away; she was buried in al-Abwä’. So his carer Umm Ayman returned him to his grandfather ‘Abd al-om Muṭṭalib in Mecca. It has also been narrated that his mother was carried after that to Mecca and buried therein; and that is related by Ibn al-Jawzi in al-Wafā.

Then his  grandfather passed away when he ﷺ was eight yearsold, and so his paternal uncle Abū Țālib took custody of him in compliance with his grandfather’s bequest. His paternal uncle Hazrat Abu Talib was his father’s full brother. Thus, Hazrat Abu Talib became his protector against his enemies and would treat him very affectionately.

When he  ﷺreached twelve years of age, he ﷺ travelled to Sham with his uncle Abu Talib; however, his uncle returned him from fear of the Jews after the monk Baḥīrā made him afraid of them. He later went another time to Sham on business for Khadijah, together with the latter’s servant Maysarah. He ﷺwas twenty-five years old at the time, and this was on the sixteenth of Dhu alHijjah. He ﷺrested under the shade of a tree, whence Nastür the Monk, said, ‘No one has rested under this tree except a prophet.’

States before receiving the Message

Before being commissioned as a messenger, he was religious alb and devout in worship, detesting idols and unlawful things. He would occupy himself with herding would later say, ‘Allah did not send a prophet except that he herded sheep [at some point in his life]’; someone [once] asked, ‘And [what about] you?’ To which he replied, ‘Yes.’ al-Bukhārī narrated it.

He would [also] trade. Al-Sa’ib ibn Abi Sa’ib had a trade partnership with him, and it was to him that he said on the Day of the Conquest, ‘Welcome, my brother and partner.’ Heﷺ would neither flatter or argue [when conducting business]. He conducted business for Khadijah and travelled to Shām for it, returning with unimaginably vast profits.