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The Birth of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH)
and
the Early Years of his Life
CE 570 to 661
By Sayyid Ali Ashgar
Razwy
Muhammad, the future apostle of God, was a
posthumous child. Shaikh Muhammad el-Khidhri
Buck, professor of Islamic History, Egyptian
University, Cairo, says in his book,Noor-ulYaqeen
fi Seeret Sayyed al-Mursaleen(1953).
He (Muhammad ibn Abdullah) was born in the house
of his uncle, Abu Talib, in the “quarter” of
Banu Hashim in Makkah, on the 12th of Rabi al-Awal
of the Year of the Elephant, a date that
corresponds to June 8, 570.
His midwife was the mother of Abdur Rahman ibn
Auf. His mother, Amina, sent the tidings of the
auspicious birth to his grandfather, Abdul
Muttalib, who came, took him in his arms, and
gave him the name Muhammad.
Muhammad's share in his patrimony was one maid
servant, Umm Ayman; five camels and ten sheep.
This is proof that prophets can inherit
property, and if they can inherit property from
their parents, they can also bequeath property
to their own children.
Being a prophet does not disqualify them from
receiving their own patrimony nor does it
disqualify their children from receiving theirs.
This statement may appear to be a non-sequitur
in this context but it is not. Muhammad, the
Prophet of Islam, may God bless him and his
Ahlul-Bait, had bestowed upon his daughter,
Fatima, as a gift, the estate of Fadak.
But when he died, Abu Bakr, the khalifa, and
Umar, his adviser, seized the estate on the plea
that prophets do not bequeath any property to
their own children, and whatever wealth they
possess, belongs, after their death, not to
their children, but to theirumma (the
people).
It is a grim penalty that one has to pay in
Islam for being the son or daughter of its
Prophet. Everyone else in the umma has
the right to inherit the wealth and property of
one's father but not the daughter of Muhammad,
the Messenger of God!
It was a custom among the Quraysh to send their
children into the desert to spend their early
years in a climate that was more salubrious than
that of Mach. Children built up stronger bodies
in the wide open spaces and pure air of the
desert than they could in the stifling and
noisome air of the City.
There was one more reason why the Arab
aristocrats sent their children to live in the
desert. They were purists in speech, and were
great “aficionados” of words. They were
fascinated by the Arabic language, its words,
their meanings and the various nuances of their
meaning; and they took great pride in their own
eloquence. In fact, the upper classes in Makkah
predicated their authority on their rhetorical
power. Makkah was the meeting-place of many
caravans and its Arabic had become corrupted
into a kind of “pidgin Arabic”.
The Arab aristocrats did not want their children
to learn and to speak the pidgin Arabic of
Makkah; they wanted them to speak only the pure
and uncontaminated language of the desert. They,
therefore, sent their children away from Makkah
to protect them from all such deleterious
effects during the early years of their lives.
Amina gave her child, Muhammad, to Halima, a
woman of the tribe of Banu Asad, living in the
east of Makkah, for nursing. The infant Muhammad
spent the first four years of his life in the
desert with his wet-nurse. Sometime in the fifth
year of his life, she is reported to have
brought him back to his mother in Makkah.
Muhammad was six years old when Amina, his
mother, died. He was then taken by Abdul
Muttalib, his grandfather, to his home. But only
two years had passed when Abdul Muttalib also
died.
Just before his death, Abdul Muttalib called all
his sons together and told them that he was
leaving two “bequests” for them; one was the
leadership of the clan of Banu Hashim, and the
other was Muhammad ibn Abdullah, their nephew,
an orphan of eight.
He then asked them who among them wanted his
power and authority as the leader of the tribe,
and who among them would take charge of the boy
who had lost both parents. Most of his sons
showed much eagerness to be named the leader of
the tribe but no one volunteered to take charge
of Muhammad.
As Abdul-Muttalib surveyed the assembly and
contemplated the future of the boy, Muhammad, an
uneasy silence fell over the scene. But it
didn't last long. Abu Talib, one of his sons,
stepped forward and said that he wanted the son
of his late brother, Abdullah, and that he had
no interest in authority and power.
Abu Talib's forthright declaration clinched the
matter for Abdul Muttalib. He decided to make
Abu Talib not only the guardian of Muhammad but
also the guardian of the clan of Banu Hashim.
Abdul Muttalib announced on his death-bed that
his son, Abu Talib, would succeed him as the new
chief of Banu Hashim, and that he would also be
the guardian of Muhammad. He then ordered the
assembly to acknowledge Abu Talib as the new
leader of Banu Hashim. The latter complied, and
was then dismissed.
History ratified the judgment of Abdul Muttalib.
His son and successor, Abu Talib, discharged
both duties most honorably.
Sir John Glubb
In 578 Abdul Muttalib died. Before his death, he
charged his son, Abu Talib, to look after
Muhammad. Abdullah, Muhammad's father, had been
the brother of Abu Talib by both their father
and mother. Abdul Muttalib's other sons had
apparently come from different wives. (The
Life and Times of Mohammed, 1970)
Abu Talib and his wife were very happy and proud
to receive Muhammad into their family. They took
him not into their home but into their hearts,
and they loved him more than they loved their
own children.
Abu Talib was a man of great dignity and
commanding presence. During his incumbency as
the leader of Banu Hashim he bore the titles of
the “Lord of Quraysh,” and “Chief of the
Valley.” Like other members of his tribe, he was
also a merchant, and his caravans traveled to
and from Syria and Yemen
In every season, Abu Talib's caravans left
Makkah for their various destinations.
Occasionally, he himself accompanied a caravan
to supervise the sale and purchase of
merchandise in the foreign markets. Young
Muhammad is reported to have traveled with him
to Syria with one of the caravans when he was
twelve years old.
Early in life, Muhammad, the future prophet,
built up a reputation for truthfulness,
integrity and sound judgment. Since there were
no banks in those days, he became a “banker” for
the Makkans. They brought their cash, jewelry,
and other valuables to him for safe-keeping, and
whenever they wanted anything back, he returned
it to them. They called him Amin (trustworthy)
and Sadiq (truthful).
Sir William Muir
Endowed with a refined mind and delicate taste,
reserved and meditative, he (Mohammed) lived
much within himself, and the pondering of his
heart supplied occupation for leisure hours
spent by men of a lower stamp in rude sports and
profligacy.
The fair character and honorable bearings of the
unobtrusive youth won the approbation of his
fellow-citizens; and he received the title, by
common consent, of Al-Amin, ‘the Faithful.' Thus
respected and honored, Mohammed lived a quiet
and retired life in the family of Abu Talib. (Life
of Mohammed, 1877, p. 20)
When Muhammad was twenty years old, a war broke
out between Quraysh, his tribe, and the tribe of
Hawazin. Though he was present in the campaigns
of this war, he did not take any part in
fighting. He did not kill or wound anyone, thus
showing at this early period, his hatred of
bloodshed. He is, however, said to have picked
up arrows from the ground, and to have given
them to his uncles who were fighting.
A few years later, Muhammad was admitted as a
member into the
League of the Virtuous. As mentioned
earlier, this League had pledged itself to
protect the weak, to oppose the tyrants and the
oppressors, and to put an end to exploitation in
all forms.
It is noteworthy that it was the clan of Banu
Hashim, to which Muhammad, the future prophet
belonged, which inaugurated the
League of the Virtuous. Was it a
mere coincidence? There is no way to answer this
question. But by their demarche, the Banu Hashim
had declared war upon iniquity and injustice.
They made it clear that they would not connive
at the crimes of the strong against the weak;
nor would they acquiesce in the exploitation of
the poor by the Quraysh of Makkah.
Not many years later, Muhammad was to launch a
program for the reconstruction of human society
the economic component of which would comprehend
precisely the destruction of exploitation. He
would take the “privileges” of the Quraysh, and
their “right” to exploit the poor and the weak,
away from them.
Montgomery Watt The League of the Virtuous seems to have played an important part in the life of Mecca, and in large part to have been directed against the men and the policies to which Mohammed later found himself opposed. In particular his clan of Hashim came to have a leading role in the League of the Virtuous.(Muhammad, Prophet and Statesman, 1961) |
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