Muhammad: Seal of the Prophets — Page 25
MUHAMMAD : SEAL OF THE PROPHETS 25 tender age, he had been well looked after, as he was under God’s special care. We read in the Holy Quran about Moses: ‘I surrounded thee with My love, so that thou mightest be reared under My care…. We delivered thee from sorrow and proved thee in diverse ways…. Then thou camest up to the standard, Moses, and I chose thee for Myself’ (20:40 - 2). As with Moses, so with Muhammad. He was under the direct care of God even from before his birth and was being prepared, step - by - step, for the great responsibility th at God intended to place upon his shoulders. He would be screened and sheltered from all harm, whether physical or moral, but would have to undergo all that was needed for the coordinated and balanced development of his personality. The death of Abdul Muttalib left the children of Hashim without any powerful head, which enabled the other branch of Quraish, descended from Umayya, to gain ascendancy. Their chief at this time was Harb, who held the leadership in war and was followed by a numerous and powerful body of relations. Of Abdul Muttalib’s sons, Harith, the eldest, had died; and the chief of those who survived were Zubair and Abu Talib, both by the same mother as Abdullah, and Abu Lahab, Abbas and Hamzah. The last two were still very young. Zubair was the oldest, and to h im Abdul Muttalib bequeathed his dignity and offices. Zubair left them to Abu Talib who, finding himself too poor to discharge the expensive and onerous obligations of providing for the pilgrims, waived the honour in favour of Abbas. But the family of Hash im had fallen from its high state and Abbas was able to retain only the giving of drink, while the furnishing of food passed into the hands of another branch. Abbas was rich,