Chief of the Prophets

Chief of the Prophets — Page 35

Chapter Three 35 Even when Muḥammad sa was granted prophethood, upon seeing Ḥalīmah from afar, he would get up saying, “My mother! My mother!” and spread his mantle for her to sit on. During the Battle of Ḥunain, when thousands of people of Banū Hawāzin, the tribe of Ḥalīmah, were captured on the charge of treason and carnage and presented before Muḥammad sa , he set them free only because of his association with Ḥalīmah. 1 Mother’s Guardianship and the Journey to Yathrib Muḥammad sa had barely spent two years in the company of his mother when she took him to Yathrib to see her relatives and friends. It is quite possible that the real purpose of the visit may have been to visit the grave of her late husband. After a month while returning, she fell sick and passed away, and was buried at a place called Al-Abwā‘. Muḥammad sa was already deprived of the protection of his father; now he had lost the love of his mother as well. The Guardianship of ‘Abdul-Muṭṭalib Muḥammad‘s maid Ummi Aiman, who was with them when his mother died, handed him over to his grandfather, ‘Abdul-Muṭṭalib. ‘Abdul-Muṭṭalib held Muḥammad very dear, so much so that when he would perform the circuit of Ka‘bah, he would carry him on his shoulders. Besides Muḥammad, no one—including his own children—dared to sit next to ‘Abdul-Muṭṭalib while he was sitting on his special rug in the courtyard of the Ka‘bah. The Death of ‘Abdul-Muṭṭalib Muḥammad sa had barely stayed for two years in the guardianship of ‘Abdul-Muṭṭalib, when he too passed away. Muḥammad sa was so attached to ‘Abdul-Muṭṭalib that when his casket was carried away, he walked along with tears continuously flowing down his cheeks. 1 Ibni Sa‘d (Account of the Wet Nurse of Muḥammad sa ).