Our Beloved Master - His Early Life — Page 23
•oUR BELoVED MASTER• 23 ‘Abdul-Mu tt alib, “It can never be that such a capable son should thus be made to die. You should draw a lot between ten camels and ‘Abdullah. If the lot is drawn in the camel’s name, just slaughter the camels. ” Hence, the lot was drawn a second time. It again came out in ‘Abdullah’s name. The people said, “Now draw the lot between twenty camels and ‘Abdullah. ” But it still came out in ‘Abdullah’s name. At the repeated insistence of his people, ‘Abdul-Mu tt alib kept on increasing the number of camels by ten each time but ‘Abdullah’s name was drawn every time. Finally, when the number of camels had reached one hundred, the lot was drawn in the camels’ name. ‘Abdul-Mu tt alib was very happy to see this. But he drew it once more to be very sure. And this time too, it came out in the camels’ name. Only then, with much joy, did he sacrifice one hundred camels in lieu of ‘Abdullah. This same ‘Abdullah was the father of our Holy Prophet Muhammad sa.