The early life of the Messenger of Allah(PBUH)
Childhood
He was born in Makkah on 22nd April, 571 A.D. into the Hashemite branch of the Quraish, a prominent tribe of Arabia, a direct descendant of Hazrat Ibrahim through his son Ismael. (Peace be upon them). Leaving aside some individuals, most of the Hashemites were the monotheists in Arabia. His father's name was Abdullah, meaning, slave of Allah. He was the youngest out of eleven sons of Abdul Muttaleb, the grand Chief of Makkah, sixty generations after Prophet Ismael (PBUH). Due to this noble connection, his family had always enjoyed a position of honor and respect among all the Arab families. They had produced several men of distinction and eminence in Arab history (1, 19, 43). The great Quassi was one of them, who unified Quraish and started democratic rule by consensus among several sub-tribes. He is the one who first built the People's House, a sort of modern parliament building, called.
Dara-tul-Nadwa in Makkah دارة الندوة which means "House of Debating".
Abdullah was the most charming son of Abdul Muttaleb. His illustrious father trained him as an export/import businessman who took part in many trading missions on his behalf. When he was twenty-five years old, his father married him to the best maiden of the whole clan, Amna, daughter of the chief of Bani Zahra, another monotheist. Some of her family members had migrated to Yathrib, a town 300 km north of Makkah. Who knew at that time that one day this connection was to play an important role in the life of the Messenger of Allah's (PBUH) family? After passing a few months of matrimonial life, Abdullah went to Syria with a trade caravan. On his way back home, he was seized with illness in Yathrib and died there. To the young bride th, is was the greatest shock, particularly when she was going to be a mother soon. Thus Muhammad (PBUH) was an orphan at his birth. His mother (May Allah be pleased with her) stated that at the time of her son's birth, she felt that a light had emerged from her body which illuminated East and West. Perhaps inspired by this dream, Abdul Muttaleb named the young infant "Mohammad", which means "The most admired one". Since this was a very rare name then, Makkan chiefs laughed over it, but Abdul Muttaleb proudly predicted that before long you would see him true to his name. And how right he was!
In those days it was customary among noble Makkan families to send their infants in the care of nurses of tribes in the rural areas so that they could grow in the clean open air of the desert and learn pure Arabic speech. Amna (RAH) also gave her son to the loving care of Halima Saadia, a noble lady of the desert tribe of Bani Saad, who lived some thirty kilometers outside Makkah. His foster parents were poor people, but with the coming of this child (PBUH), their luck changed. Their goats
began to yield milk more than anyone else's herd and their lands became fertile as never before. After two years, the child Mohammad (PBUH) was brought back to his mother, but due to the plague in Makkah, he was returned to the pure desert air for another couple of years.
He was an extraordinary individual from his early childhood. Recounting the days of his childhood, his foster mother Halima Saadia says, "He did justice right from the beginning. He sucked milk only from one side, leaving the other for his foster brother Abdullah". She says "His growth was better than other children and he seemed much bigger than his age. Whoever saw him was struck by the innocence and charm of his personality. His face radiated like a full moon in darkness. He went out to play with other children, but he would not take part in untidy activities. Instead, he would prefer to go with his foster father to graze the goats" (9), (31)
When he reached the age of six (577 AD), he was brought back to Makkah in the loving care of his mother. She was waiting for this moment for a long but was prevented by plague only. Her first act was to take her son to Yathrib to show him the grave of his father. What were his feelings, we don't know, but 47 years later when he had to migrate from Makkah, he chose the new home for Islam, which had already given the final resting place to his father and then to his mother. In the course of his stay there, he also learned to swim and made many friends. Like any other child, he roamed freely in the streets of Yathrib with his friends, enjoying playing in its gardens of dates and grapes.
The son and the mother stayed about one month in Yathrib. They enjoyed every minute of this stay, being together most of the time. Saying farewell to his friends, maternal cousins , and relatives, they left for Makkah where his grandfather was waiting for them anxiously. But Allah Subhana-Hu had different
plans for him. On her way back to Makkah, at a place called Abwa, a small town about 65 Km outside Yathrib, Anna suddenly became very sick. She did not survive her illness and was buried there (May Allah have mercy on her forever). To the young child (PBUH) the world may have seemed filled with darkness to see his mother being committed to the earth, Leaving his father and mother back there, he left for Makkah, obviously with a very heavy heart in the company of the slave girt Umm-i-Aimen (RAH), who henceforth was to play the role of mother for him. Perhaps being an orphan was necessary for his training to be independent, self-reliant, and self-confident, to stand alone to face the world in the delivery of the Message of Allah to the whole of humanity, against all odds, 34 years later. This tragic event.
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