The Prophet's Birth and Childhood
Makkah was covered by a heavy blanket of darkness. No signs
of life and activity could be observed in it. Only the moon slowly emerged from
behind tie darkened surrounding mountains and cast its pale, delicate rays upon
the simple, austere houses and upon the sandy regions outside the city.
Little by little, midnight gave way to dawn. A gentle breeze
rustled through the burning land of the Hijaz and prepared it for a short rest.
Now the stars, too, added to the beauty of this pure banquet of nature and
smiled at the residents of Makkah.
It was now early dawn and the early rising, vigilant night
birds were singing beautifully in that heavenly weather. They seemed to be
speaking in a romantic language to their Beloved! The horizon was on the verge
of the brightness of dawn but still a mysterious silence prevailed over the
city. All were asleep. Only Amina was awake, feeling the contractions she had
been expecting.
Soon her baby was born, and thus, after several months of
waiting, Amina had the pleasure of seeing her child in the early dawn of the
17th of Rabi ul-Awwal.
THE WONDERFUL BABY
The Prophet was born and his blessed birth gave rise to
numerous wonderful incidents in the sky and on the earth, especially in the
East, the cradle of civilization.
News of these events spread quickly and informed the people
of an imminent, very significant incident. Since this newborn child was
predestined to destroy the people's old superstitious beliefs and customs and
to lay new foundations for human progress and prosperity, from the very
beginning he sounded the reveille.
On that blessed night, the Persian monarch Anushiravan's
magnificent palace, which incarnated a false fantasy of power and eternal
monarchy and upon which people looked with fear and awe, trembled. Fourteen
of its turrets collapsed, and the fire in the fire-temple of Persia,
which had been flaming for 1,000 years, was suddenly extinguished.
So the humiliated worshippers of that false, destructive
object of worship, whose minds had been blocked by the obstacles of prejudice
and false imitation and who thus could not reflect upon nature took notice of
the truth and were attracted toward a totally different direction. The drying
out of the Savah Lake awakened the people of another great region."
HALIMA, THE PROPHET'S NURSE
For many centuries it had been customary among the Arabs to
give their newborn children to women from the tribes around the city to be wet-nursed.
This was done so that their children would grow up in the fresh air and the
natural environment of the desert and also learn the eloquent Arabic dialect
whose purest form was to be found at that time in the desert.
For this reason and since Amina had no milk to feed her
child, Abdul Muttalib, his grandfather and guardian, felt it necessary to
employ an honorable, trustworthy lady to look after the child of his dear son,
Abdullah. After making appropriate inquiries, he selected Halima, who was from
the Bani Sa'd tribe (a tribe famous for bravery and eloquence) and who was
rated among the most chaste, noble women.
Halima took the infant to her own tribe and looked after him
as though he were her own child. The Bani Sa`d tribe had long been suffering
from famine in the desert. The dry desert and lack of rains had added much to
their poverty and misery.
But from the very day lie entered Halima's house, good
fortune and blessings entered with him. Her life, which had been filled with
poverty and destitution, suddenly changed into a happy and prosperous one. The
pale faces of Halima and her children became rosy and full of life. Her dry
breasts swelled with milk, and the pasture of the sheep and camels of that
region turned fresh and green, whereas before he came to their tribe, people
lived in poverty and faced many difficulties.
He grew up more rapidly than other children, ran more
nimbly, and did not stammer like them. Good fortune and auspiciousness so
accompanied him that all the people around him easily realized this fact and
admitted it. Halima's husband, Harith, told her, `Do you know what a blessed
baby we have been given?'
IN THE STORM OF EVENTS
The Prophet was just six years old when his mother,
Amina, left Makkah for Medina to visit her relatives and probably to pay a
respectful visit to her husband's grave. He accompanied his mother on that
trip. But after visiting her relatives and expressing love and loyalty to her
husband at Abdullah's graveside, on her way back to Makkah, Amina passed away
at a place named Abwa'. Thus, the Prophet had lost both his mother and
father by that tender age when every child needs a father's affections and a
mother's loving embrace.
