It was the general custom of the Arabs living in towns to send their children away to bedouin wet nurses so that they might grow up in free and healthy surroundings of the desert. Thereby they would develop a strong body and acquire the pure speech and manners of bedouins, who were noted both for chastity of their language and for being free from those vices which usually develop in inactive societies.
The Prophet (P.B.U.H) was later entrusted to Halimah Bint Abi Dhuaib from Bani Sa'd bin Bakr. The Prophet had several foster brothers and sisters. Tradtions delightfully relate how Halimah and the whole of her household were favored by successive strokes of good fortune while the baby Muhammad (pbuh) lived under her care.
Ibn Ishaq states that Halimah narrated that
she along with her husband and a suckling baby, set out from her village in the company of some women from Banu Sa'd bin Bakr in quest of children to suckle. she said: It was a year of drought and famine and we had nothing to eat. I rode on brown mule, We also had with us an old she-camel. By Allah, we could not get even a drop of milk. We could not have a wink of sleep during the night for the child kept crying because of hunger. There was not enough milk in my breast and even the she-camel had nothing to feed him. we used to constantly pray for rain and immediate relief. At Length we reached Makkah looking for children to suckle. Not even a single woman among us accepted Allah's Messenger offered to them because he was an orphan.
Every woman who came with me got a suckling and when we were about to depart I said to my husband " By Allah, i do not like to go back along with the other women without a baby, i should go to that orphan and i must take him". he said "there's no harm in doing so and perhaps Allah might bless us through him".
So i went and took him, when i lifted him in my arms and returned to my place, i put him on my breast and to my surprise there was enough milk in it. he drank to his heart content and so did his foster brother (who was not able to sleep the previous night). My husband went to milk the she-camel who had plenty of milk in it. he milked it and we drank to our fill and enjoy a sound sleep that night.my husband next morning said "By Allah! O Halimah, you must understand you have gotten a blessed child" and i replied: "by the grace of Allah, i hope so".
Tradition is clear on the point that Halimah's return journey and her subsequent life as long as the Prophet (PBUH) stayed with her, was encircled with a halo of good fortune.
Muhammed stayed with Halimah for two years until he was weaned as Halimah said:
We then took him back to his mother earnestly requesting her to have him stay with us and so we may benefit from the good fortune and blessings he brought us. we persisted in our request, expressing our anxiety over the child catching a certain infection peculiar to Makkah. At last, we were granted our wish and the Prophet (pbuh) stayed with us untill we returned with him.
[Ibn Hisham 1/162-164]
The Prophet stayed with them untill he was about 4 or 5 years old. [ Ibn Hisham 1/162-164]
then as related by Anas (r.a) in Sahih Muslim;
Gabriel (A.S) came down, opened his chest and took out the heart, he then extracted a blood-clot out of it and said "that was the part of Satan in thee" And then he washed it with the water of Zamzam in a gold basin. After that the heart was joined together and restored to its place. the boys and playmates came running to his mother (Halimah) and said "Verily, Muhammad has been murdered". They all rushed towards him and found him to be all right and that only his face was white/bright. And Anas (r.a) said "I have seen the mark that was left on his chest" [Sahih Muslim 1/92]
BACK TO HIS PASSIONATE MOTHER
After this event, Halimah was worried about the boy and returned him to his mother with whom he stayed until he was 6. [ Talgih Fuhum Ahlil-Athar. p.7. Ibn Hisham 1/168]
In respect of the memory of her late husband, Aminah (Prophet's mum) decided to visit his grave in Yathrib (Madinah). She set out to cover a journey of 500KM with her orphan boy, her father in-law ('Abdul Muttalib) and a woman servant (Umm Aiman). She spent a month there and then made her way back to Makkah. On the route, she suffered a severe illness and died in Abwa on the road between Makkah and Madinah. [ Ibn Hisham 1/168]
to be continued soon inshaalah.
*Context was taken from the revised Edition of of Ar-Raheeq Al-Makhtumi's The Sealed Nectar.
ok thats it for this post. Till next time Peace be unto you!
Salaam
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