Childhood of the Prophet

When Holy Prophet Mohammad (PBUH) came into this world, his father Abdullah had already passed away. After his marriage, Abdullah went on a business tour to Syria with a trading caravan. On his way back to home, he fell ill and could not survive and expired at Yasrib (now Medina) in the youth of his life. Two months after his passing away. Holy Prophet (PBUH) was born on Monday the l2th Rabiul Aww'al (20" August 570 A.D). According to some other traditions Monday 9'h Rabiul Aww’al (22nd April 571 AD) is also found to be reported.

Hazrat Ammna, mother of the Apostle sent the information to her Father-in-law. Abdul Mutlib who at that time was busy in circumambulating Ka’ba. He came home and took the child to Ka’ba and prayed to God to bless the child and protect him. Abdul Mutlib named the baby as Mohammad (PBUH).

As a sign of miraculous birth of the Apostle, the barren look of the deserts of Arabia transformed into refreshing greenery, the trees were laden with the fruits and the people of Makka became prosperous. It was the same year when the famous event of the "Ashab-ul-feel" took place. In this event Abraha's Army of sixty thousand men along with a contingent of 13 elephants were destroyed by the showering pebbles by the swallows and were transmuted into regurgitated cattle-feed like thing.

At the hour of the birth of the Apostle an earthquake demolished the 14 minarets of the palace of the Emperor of Iran Kaiser and the fire kindling for worshipping in the fireplace for centuries was extinguished without any apparent reason.

The Apostle was fed by his mother for three days after his birth and then was fed by Sobia who had also fed Hamza (R.A) an uncle of the Apostle. She was that lucky person who was granted freedom from the bondage of slavery when she announced the news of the birth of the Apostle to Abi Lahub.

It was the tradition of the Arabs to send their suckling to the suburbs, giving them into the custody of the women who would foster them with their milk. The women of the tribe Banu Saad Bin Bakkar took the other children and Halima took the responsibility of the Apostle's rearing and thus she became the foster mother of the Apostle.

The Apostle spent four years of his infancy with Halima and then was returned to his mother. When the Apostle was six years his mother along with Um-e-Ayman went to Yasrib to pay homage to the grave of her late husband. She stayed there for one month and with the passing of each day her health kept on degenerating and on her way back to Makka; she expired near the town of Abwa. Um-e-Ayman brought the young Apostle to his grandfather Abdul Mutlib.

When the Apostle was eight years of age, his guardian grandfather also breathed his last. Before passing away he handed over the responsibility of his orphan grandson to his son Abu Talib.

This was altogether a new turn in the life of the young Apostle. In the age of eight when the children remain busy with their plays, young Mohammad was busy with his duties as a shepherd. He used to look after the sheep, take them to jungle for grazing, picking up the berries for himself and remained busy in other works at home. He did all this so that he should not be a burden for his uncle who loved the young Mohammad dearly for his darling habits and sweet disposition.

Mohammad, in that tender age used to take the sheep herd towards the desert and remained there looking after them all alone. In the vacant hours he used to stare in the fathomless depths of the ski and his eyes would search for something in the limitless horizon. He used to return home before the sunset. The children who learn to survive without having the umbrella of the protection that is provided to the children by their parents and they work hard in their playing age are the self-made people and so was the Apostle.

Abu Talib, uncle of the Apostle was a trader. He took Mohammad along on a journey to Syria when he was twelve. Their caravan halted near Basra. In a monastery a monk named Bahira used to live near that place where the caravan had stopped. In Sametic language Bahira means wise and intellectual. Bahira would seldom come out of his place nor did he ever talk to anybody. But, on that day, when the caravan of the Arab traders stopped there he came out of his monastery and he noticed that the branches of the tree under which the young Apostle was staying were bending in a bowing-like posture. He also noticed that wherever that young lad would go a cloud remained there over him to protect him from the blaze of the sun. He recognized the Apostle being the Last Prophet of God. He advised Abu Talib to look after the lad with great care as he was to accomplish a great mission of God.

Abu Talib inquired from him as to how he could have said such a thing and that his nephew was the same Apostle about whom all the Divine Books had predicted. Bahira stated that when the caravan had reached the other end of that valley, there wasn't any tree or stone that had not bowed for someone worthy of that respect.