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From Childhood to A Young
Man:
The Prophet Muhammad (Peace Be Upon Him) was born on Monday, the 12th of Rab'i-ul Awwal in the year known as "Year of the Elephant" or 570 C.E. (Common Era) in Mecca, Arabia. Muhammad (Peace Be Upon Him) was the son of "Abdullah Ibn Abdul Muttalib". His mother name was Aamina. She was the daughter of "Wahb Ibn Abdu Munaf".
Muhammad (Peace Be Upon Him) was born few weeks after the death of his father. Before his birth, Aamina (his mother) witnessed many an omen foretelling a great future for her son. After the birth of Muhammad (Peace Be Upon Him) Aamina sent someone to inform his grandfather. He came, looked at the baby lovingly and took him to the Ka’bah where he praised Allah and prayed for the infant. Abdul Muttalib then gave him the name Muhammad, which means, ‘He who is praised’. The Arabs were surprised at the unfamiliar name given to the newborn baby by ‘Abdul Muttalib.
It was customary in Mecca to place the suckling babies under the care of a desert tribe’s woman, where the child grows up in the free, chivalrous air away from the cramp, contaminating atmosphere of the city, and learn the wholesome ways of the Bedouins. Those were the days when the chaste, unaffected and natural expression of the desert people was considered as the finest model of grace and elegance of the Arabic language. The people from the tribe of Bani S’ad were known for the gracefulness of their speech. Halima S’adiya, a member of this tribe, ultimately came to have the precious baby under her wings. This was a year of famine wherein Bani S’ad had been rendered miserable. The tribe came to Mecca to look for children to be suckled, but no woman to whom the Prophet of God (Peace Be Upon Him) was offered, agreed to take the child because none expected a goodly return for nurturing or nursing an infant whose father was already dead. They said, "An orphan! What will his mother and grandfather give in return?" At first, Halima also declined the offer but suddenly she felt a craving for the baby. She had also failed to get a charge for her and, therefore, before going back home, she returned and finally took the baby back with her.
Halima found before long that her household was blest with luck, her breast overflowed with milk, the udders of her she-camel were full and everything seemed to bring forth happiness. The women of Halima’s tribe now spread out the rumor: "Halima, you have certainly got a blessed child." They began to feel envious of her already. Halima weaned the baby when he was two years old, for it is customary upon the foster-children to return to their respective families at such an age. Thus, Halima brought the Prophet of God (Peace Be Upon Him) back to Aamina but begged her to be allowed to keep the boy for some extended time as he had brought her luck. Aamina agreed and allowed Halima to take Muhammad (Peace Be Upon Him) back with her. Some months after his return to Bani S’ad, two angels seized the Prophet of God (Peace Be Upon Him), opened up his chest and extracted a black drop from it. Then they thoroughly cleaned his heart and healed the wound after putting his heart back in its place. The Prophet of God (Peace Be Upon Him) tended the lambs with his foster-brothers in the boundless wilderness of the desert, far away from the pretensions, hypocrisy, pomp and pride of the city, rendering his thoughts dry and clear like the desert air.
When the Prophet (Peace Be Upon Him) was six years old, his mother took him to Yathrib to pay a visit to her father. She also wanted to call on the grave of her late husband, but while on her way back to Mecca, she died at a place called Abwa. The Prophet (Peace Be Upon Him) must have felt lonely and sorrowful at the death of his mother in the middle of his journey. Incidents of such nature had been a common fixture in his life since birth, perhaps as a divine dispensation for his upbringing in a particular way, one which is reminiscent of the great role that he has to play in the future. Finally, the Abyssinian bondwoman, Umm Ayman Barkah, brought him to his grandfather in Mecca.
Abdul Muttalib loved the Prophet (Peace Be Upon Him) so dearly, making him the apple of his eye and never allowed him to be distant from his sight. He would make the Prophet (Peace Be Upon Him) sit beside him on his bed in the shade of the Ka’bah and caress him to show his affection. After reaching eight years of age, ‘Abdul Muttalib also passed away. The Prophet (Peace Be Upon Him) was now left behind, alone and abandoned. He had never seen his father, and would have had no recollection of him, but the death of the adoring grandfather must have been too depressing and inconsolable to bear.
Following the death Of ‘Abdul Muttalib, Abu Talib took the Prophet (Peace Be Upon Him) under his care for he and ‘Abdullah, the Prophet’s father, were brothers by the same mother. Abdul Muttalib had also been insisting upon Abu Talib to take care of the Prophet (Peace Be Upon Him) himself. Accordingly, Abu Talib took the Prophet (Peace Be Upon Him) under his protection and even treated him with more care and affection than his own two sons.
When the Prophet (Peace Be Upon Him) was nine years old, Abu Talib planned to go on a merchant caravan to Syria. Knowing this, the Prophet (Peace Be Upon Him) approached his uncle, and nestling close to him, insisted on accompanying him in the journey. Abu Talib was moved and agreed to take Muhammad (Peace Be Upon Him) with him to Syria. When the caravan reached Busra in Syria, it broke the journey for a short stay and while there, they met a monk by the name of Buhaira who lived in his cell. He came out against his practice, to welcome the merchants and made a great feast for them. The caravan found favor with Buhaira, so they say, because of something that he had seen while he was in his cell. When Buhaira saw Muhammad (Peace Be Upon Him), he observed in him the signs of the Prophethood that he had known and advised Abu Talib: "Return to your home with this youth and guard him from the Jews; for great dignity awaits your nephew". Abu Talib immediately took the Prophet (Peace Be Upon Him) back to Mecca by virtue of Buhaira’s advice.
Heavenly Host had made special arrangements for broadening the mind of the holy Prophet (Peace Be Upon Him) and had taken particular care to shut off the faults and failures of the pagan past from him. Since early youth, the reserved and unassuming young man was known for his gentle disposition and grave purity of life as well as for his candidness, honesty and integrity and his stern sense of duty. His was the straight and narrow path and none could find the slightest fault with him. The fair character and honorable bearing of the Prophet (Peace Be Upon Him) won for him, in the pinnacle of his youth, the title of Al-Amin, meaning the Trusty, from his fellow populace.
When the Prophet (Peace Be Upon Him) was around fourteen or fifteen years of age, the sacrilegious war, known as the "Harb-ul-Fijar", broke out between the Quraish and the tribe of Qays. The Prophet (Peace Be Upon Him) was present at this event such that he picked up the arrows that the enemy had shot and gave them back to the Quraishite fighters. This was to mark his first experience of military operations.
Now the Prophet (Peace Be Upon Him) was coming
into grips of his own life, he turned his attention to scouting a means
of livelihood. Like other lads of his age, he took a shot at the tendering
of sheep and goats. He (Peace Be Upon Him) served
as a shepherd boy to some neighbors. It was not deemed a disgraceful occupation
in those days, rather, it helped one to be watchful, alert and quick, kind
and considerate besides allowing an opportunity to inhale the freedom of
Arabian air and the power of its sand. More than that, it had been the
convention of all the prophets of old which complied with his future prophetic
task. The Prophet (Peace Be Upon Him) after all used
to say: "Verily, there has been no prophet who has not tended the flocks
of goats." On being asked again whether he had also performed the work
of a shepherd, the Prophet (Peace Be Upon Him) affirmed.
"Yes I did." The Prophet (Peace Be Upon Him) was not
completely new to the job for in his childhood days he used to accompany
his foster-brothers in tending their flocks and herds.
for Pedigree Table of Muhammad (Peace
be upon him)
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