Unit 2.

Early life and Childhood of Prophet

Mohammad (SAW)

‫بسم هللا الرحمن الرحيم‬

 Objectives
At the end of this lesson, learners should be able to:
 State birth of Prophet Mohamed(PBUH).
 Who was the foster mother of Messenger Mohammad
(S.A.W).
 Explain brought up of Messenger Mohammad (S.A.W).
 Explain briefly during Caravan accompanied by
Mohammad (pbuh).
 Analyze the during his Teenage.
 Describe the marriage of Prophet of Allah and Khadija.
 2.1. INTRODUCTION
 Muhammad is the last prophet and founder of Islam.
 He (PBUH) was an Arab’s religious, social, and political
leader.
 He was a prophet sent by ALLAH to preach and confirm
the teachings of Adam(a.s), Ibrahim(a.s), Musa(a.s), Isaa
(a.s), and other Prophets of ALLAH.
 2.2. Birth and Infancy
 Muhammad (PBUH) was born around 571, AD in Mecca
(now in Saudi Arabia).
 The Holy Prophet Muhammad (s) was the son of Abdullah
ibn Abd Al- muttalib and Amina bint Wahb.
 His father, Abdullah, passed away a few days before his
birth.
 He was born in the city of Mecca in Arabia.
 His forefathers were the chiefs of the tribe of Quraysh.
 Foster Mother and Journey To Countryside
 It was customary among the noble families of Quraysh that
they entrusted their new-borns to country-women so that
they might be brought up in the open and healthy
environments.
 According to this custom, therefore, the mother of the Holy
Prophet gave him into the care of Halima Sa'dia, a lady
belonging to the tribe of Banu Sa'd.
 Halima Sa’dia and other women from countryside travelled
to Mecca looking for babies to suckle.
Cont..
At length they reached Makkah looking for children to
suckle.
Not one single woman amongst them accepted the
Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him)
when he was offered.
As soon as they were told that he was an orphan, they
refused him.
Every woman who came with Halima got a baby to
suckle and when we were about to depart.
 Cont...
 Halima Sa’dia finally accepted to suckle
without paid.
 He grew up in the hilly country, learning their
pure Arabic
Prosperity and Virtues of Halima’s Family

Halima Sa’dia also narrated about the prosperity due to the

Mohammad’s care (PBUH) and said:
• When I lifted him in my arms and returned to my place I put him
on my breast and to my great surprise, I found enough milk in it.
• He drank to his heart’s content, and so did his foster brother and
then both of them went to sleep although my baby had not been
able to sleep the previous night.
• My husband then went to the she-camel to milk it and, to his
astonishment, he found plenty of milk in it.
Cont..
• He milked it and we drank to our fill, and enjoyed a
sound sleep during the night.
• The next morning, my husband said: Haleemah, you
must understand that you have been able to get a
blessed child." And I replied: "By the grace of All, I hope
so.
 Cont..
The other amazing narrations reported are:
Halima’s return journey and her subsequent life, as long as the
Prophet [pbuh] stayed with her, was encircled with a halo of good
fortune.
The donkey that she rode when she came to Makkah was lean and
almost foundered; it recovered speed much to the amazement of
Haleemah’s fellow travelers.
By the time they reached the encampments in the country of the
clan of Sa'd, they found the scales of fortune turned in their favour.
The barren land sprouted forth luxuriant grass and beasts came
back to them satisfied and full of milk.
Removing Blood Clot From the heart
• It was reported that Angle Gabriel came down and ripped
open the chest of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon
him) and took out his heart. He then extracted a blood-clot
from it, and said: “That was the part of Satan in you.
• After that the heart of the Prophet (peace and blessings be
upon him) was joined together and restored to its place.
 2.3. Childhood of Prophet Mohammad ( PBUH)
 The Holy Prophet Muhammad (s) spent the first five years of
his life with Halima and then she returned him to his mother,
Amina.
 His mother brought him up with great love and devotion.
When he was about six years old (575 Ce), she took him
to Madina for a few days.
Muhammad Becomes an Orphan
• When Muhammad was six his mother took him to Yathrib,
an oasis town a few hundred miles north of Mecca, to stay
with relatives and visit his father's grave there.
• On the return journey, Amina took ill and died. She was
buried in the village of Abwa on the Mecca-Medina
Road.
• Halima, his nurse, returned to Mecca with the orphaned boy
and placed him in the protection of his paternal grandfather,
Abdul Al-Muttalib.
 Cont.
 In this man's care, Muhammad learned the rudiments of
statecraft. Mecca was Arabia's most important pilgrimage
center and Abdul Al-Muttalib was most respected leader.
 He controlled important pilgrimage concessions and
frequently presided over Mecca's Council of Elders.
 Muhammad in Mecca in Care of an Uncle
 Upon his grandfather's death in 578, Muhammad, aged
about eight, passed into the care of a paternal uncle,
Abu Talib. Muhammad grew up in the older man's home
and remained under Abu Talib's protection for many
years.
 Now the Holy Prophet began to live with his uncle Abu Talib.
Fatima, daughter of Asad, who was the wife of Abu Talib loved
Muhammad (a) as if he were her own son.
 Abu Talib, too, was very good to him. When he undertook a
journey for the purpose of trade, he took his young nephew
along with him.
 Cont..
• Muhammad (a) acquired, under the guidance of his
uncle, fair knowledge and experience of business, and
was well spoken of by persons who happened to come in
touch with him.
 Bahira
 While still in his teens, Muhammad accompanied his uncle
on trading journeys to Syria, gaining experience in
commercial trade, which was the only career open to him
as an orphan.
 Islamic tradition states that when Muhammad was either
nine or twelve, while accompanying a caravan to Syria he
met a Christian monk named Bahira, who is said to have
foreseen Muhammed’s career as a prophet of God
 Cont...
He readily enough recognized the Prophet [pbuh] and said while
taking his hand: "This is the master of all humans. Allah will send
him with a Message which will be a mercy to all beings .
Abu Talib asked: "How do you know that?" He replied:
 When you appeared from the direction of ‘Aqabah, all stones
and trees prostrated themselves, which they never do except
for a Prophet.
 I can recognize him also by the seal of Prophethood which is
below his shoulder, like an apple.
 We have got to learn this from our books.
 Cont..
He also asked Abu Talib to send the boy back to Makkah
and not to take him to Syria for fear of the Jews. Abu Talib
obeyed and sent him back to Makkah with some of his men
servants.
2.4.Prophet Muhammad's (PBUH)Teens (580-
594)
• When young boy, Muhammad worked as a shepherd to
help pay his keep (his uncle). In his teens he sometimes
traveled with Abu Talib, who was a merchant,
accompanying caravans to trade centers.
• On at least one occasion, he is said to have traveled as
far north-west as Syria. Older merchants recognized his
character and nicknamed him El–Amin, the one you can
trust.
Conti...
• Muhammad (saw) so successfully executed these trusts
that people were perfectly satisfied with his honesty.
• The people, therefore, respected him very much and
used to call him Sadiq (the truthful) and Amin (the
trustworthy).
2.5. Muhammad Acts as Caravan Agent for Wealthy
Tradeswoman, Khadija

 In his early twenties (594), Muhammad entered the

service of a wealthy Meccan merchant, a widow named
Khadija bint Khawalayd.
 The two were distant cousins.
 Muhammad carried her goods to the north and returned
with a profit.
Cont.
• Khadija was a very successful merchant.
• It is said that when the Quraysh's trade caravan travellers
gathered to embark upon their summer journey to Syria or
winter journey to Yemen, Khadija's caravan equaled the
caravans of all other traders of the Quraysh put together.
• Khadija was given many honorifics, including 'The 'Princess of
Quraysh.
• It is said that she fed and clothed the poor, assisted her
relatives financially, and provided marriage portions for poor
relations.
 Cont..
 Khadija was said to have neither believed in nor worshipped
idols, which was a typical for pre-Islamic Arabian culture.
 Khadija did not travel with her trade caravans; instead, she
employed others to trade on her behalf for a commission.
 In 595 Khadija needed a co-worker for a transaction in Syria.
She hired Muhammad ibn Abdullah, then 25 years old, for
the trade in Syria, sending word that she would pay to double
her usual commission
 Cont...
 Mecca prospered too, becoming a well–off trading
center in the hands of an elite group of clan leaders who
were mostly successful traders.
 With the permission of Abu Talib ibn Muttalib, his
uncle, Muhammad was sent to Syria with one of
Khadija's servants.
 This caravan experience earned Muhammad the
honorifics of al-Sadiq ('the Truthful') and al-Amin ('the
Trustworthy' or 'the Honest').
 Cont..
 She sent one of her servants, Maysarah, to assist him.
Upon returning, Maysarah gave accounts of the
honorable way in which Muhammad had conducted his
business, bringing back twice as much profit as Khadija
had expected.
 Muhammad's Marriage and Family
Life
 Impressed by Muhammad's honesty and character, Khadija
eventually proposed marriage.
 They were wed in about 595. He was twenty-five. She was
nearly forty.
 Muhammad continued to manage Khadija's business affairs,
and their next years were pleasant and prosperous.
Cont..
She disclosed her wish to her friend Nafisa, daughter of
Maniya, who immediately went to Muhammad [pbuh]
and broke the good news to him.
He agreed and requested his uncles to go to Khadijah’s
uncle and talk on this issue. Subsequently, they were
married.
The marriage contract was witnessed by Bani Hashim
and the heads of Mudar.
This took place after the Prophet’s return from Syria.
 Cont..
 He gave her twenty camels as dowry.
 She was, then, forty years old and was considered as
the best woman of her folk in lineage, fortune and
wisdom.
 She was the first woman whom the Messenger of
Allah [pbuh] married.
 He did not get married to any other until she had died.
 Six children were born to them, two sons who both
died in infancy, and four daughters.
 Con
 Khadijah born all his children, except Ibrahim: Al-Qasim,
Zainab, Ruqaiyah, Umm Kulthum, Fatimah and ‘Abdullah.
All his sons died in their childhood and all the daughters
except Fatimah died during his lifetime.
 Fatimah died six months after his death. All his daughters
witnessed Islam, embraced it, and emigrated to Madinah.
 Only Ibrahim had another mother( Maria al- Qibtiyya ).
2.6. Rebuilding Al-Ka‘bah and the Arbitration Issue

When the Messenger of Allah [pbuh] was thirty five, Quraish

started rebuilding Al-Ka‘bah. That was because:
 It was a low building of white stones no more than 6.30 metres
high, from the days of Ishmael.
It was also roofless and that gave the thieves easy access to its
treasures inside.
It was also exposed to the wearing factors of nature because:
• It was built a long time ago, that weakened and cracked its
walls.
• Five years before Prophethood, there was a great flood in
Makkah that swept towards Al-Ka‘bah and almost demolished it.
Cont..
• Quraish was obliged to rebuild it to safeguard its holiness and
position.
The chiefs of Quraish decided to use only licit money in
rebuilding Al- Ka‘bah, so all money that derived from harlotry,
usury or unjust practices was excluded.
They were, at first, too awed to knock down the wall, but Al-
Waleed bin Al-Mugheerah Al-Mukhzumi started the work.
Seeing that no harm had happened to him, the others
participated in demolishing the walls until they reached the basis
laid by Abraham.
Cont..
When they started rebuilding its walls, they:
Divided the work among the tribes.
Each tribe was responsible for rebuilding a part of it.
The tribes collected stones and started work.
The man who laid the stones was a Roman mason called Baqum.
The work went on in harmony till the time came to put the sacred
Black Stone in its proper place.
Then strife broke out among the chiefs, and lasted for four or five
days, each contesting for the honor of placing the stone in its
position.
Cont..
Daggers were on the point of being drawn and great bloodshed
seemed imminent.
Luckily, the oldest among the chiefs Abu Omaiyah bin
Mugheerah made a proposal which was accepted by all.
He said:
• Let him, who enters the Sanctuary first of all, decide on the point.
Then, the Messenger of Allah [pbuh] should be the first to enter
the Mosque.
On seeing him, all the people on the scene, cried with one voice:
"Al-Ameen (the trustworthy) has come. We are content to abide
by his decision.
Cont..
Calm and self-possessed, Muhammad [pbuh] received the
commission and at once resolved upon an expedient which was
to conciliate them all.
He asked for a mantle which he spread on the ground and
placed the stone in its centre. He then asked the
representatives of the different clans among them, to lift the
stone all together.
When it had reached the proper place, Muhammad [pbuh] laid
it in the proper position with his own hands.
This is how a very tense situation was eased and a grave
danger averted by the wisdom of the Prophet [pbuh].
Cont.
Quraish ran short of the licit money, they collected, so that:
• They eliminated six yards area on the northern side of Al-
Ka‘bah which is called Al- Hijr or Al-Hateem.
• They raised its door two metres from the level ground to let in
only the people whom they desired.
• When the structure was fifteen yards high they erected the roof
which rested on six columns.
Cont..
When the building of Al-Ka‘bah had finished:
• It assumed a square form fifteen metres high. The side with the
Black Stone and the one opposite were ten metres long each.
• The Black Stone was 1.50 metre from the circumambulation
level ground. The two other sides were twelve metres long
each.
• The door was two metres high from the level ground.
• A building structure of 0.25 metre high and 0.30 metre wide on
the average surrounded Al-Ka‘bah.
• It was called Ash Shadherwan, originally an integral part of the
Sacred Sanctuary, but Quraish left it out.
Exercise
1. Describe the birth, infant and childhood of our prophet
Mohammad (PBUH).
2. Describe the prosperity encountered by Halima Sa’dia and
her family under Prophet Mohammad ( PBUH)’s care.
3. Discuss the Bahira story.
4. Explain the marriage of Prophet Mohammad (S.A.W) and
Khadija.