In the Lap of Halimah al-Sa’diyyah

At that time it was the custom of the Arabs that when a child was born, they would hand the child over to wet nurses who came from the desert so that the child could grow better in the countryside and learn pure Arabic.

The group of wet nurses entered Makkah.

They began searching for houses in which children had been born.

Thus many wet nurses also came to the house of Abd al-Muttalib.

They saw the Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him.

When they learned that this child had been born an orphan, they left him because they thought, “What benefit will we receive from an orphan’s family?”

Thus the wet nurses continued coming and going.

No one wanted to nurse him.

How could they have done so?

This honor was destined for Halimah.

When Halimah arrived in Makkah, she learned that all the other women had obtained children, and only she was left without one.

There was still one orphan child, but the other women had rejected him.

Halimah said to her husband, Abdullah ibn al-Harith:

“By Allah, I dislike the idea of returning without a child while all the other women return with children and may taunt me. Why do we not take this orphan child?”

Abdullah ibn al-Harith replied:

“There is no harm in that. Perhaps Allah will bring goodness and blessing to us through this child.”

So Halimah went to the house of Abd al-Muttalib.

Abd al-Muttalib and Aminah welcomed her.

Aminah took her to the child.

At that time he was wrapped in a woolen cloth.

The cloth was white.

Under him was a green silk cloth.

He was lying straight.

With every breath, a fragrance like musk seemed to spread around him.

Halimah was astonished by his beauty and appearance.

He was sleeping, and she did not want to wake him.

But as soon as she lovingly placed her hand on his chest, he smiled and opened his eyes and looked at her.

Halimah said:

“I saw a light coming from his eyes and reaching the sky.

“I lifted him into my arms and kissed him between his two eyes.

“Then I asked permission from his mother and Abd al-Muttalib.

“I had come with the caravan to nurse a child.

“When I laid him in my lap to feed him, he began drinking from the right side.

“At first I tried to feed him from the left side, but he did not drink from that side.

“He immediately drank from the right side.

“After that this remained his habit.

“He drank only from the right side while my own son drank from the left.”

Then the caravan set out.

Halimah said:

“I mounted my mule and took the child with me.

“When our mule started walking, it became so fast that it overtook all the riding animals of the caravan.

“Before this, because it was so weak, it always remained at the back.

“My female companions were astonished and said:

“‘Halimah! What is happening today? How is your mule walking so quickly? Is this really the same mule on which you came, the one for which every step was difficult?’

“I replied:

“‘Yes, by Allah, this is the same mule. Its condition is extraordinary.’”

Then they reached the settlement of Banu Sa‘d.

At that time the area was suffering from drought and famine.

Halimah said:

“That evening, when our goats returned after grazing, their udders were full of milk.

“Before this, only a little milk came from them and it was difficult to obtain.

“We milked our goats that day and all our containers became full.

“We realized that all this blessing was because of this child.

“This became known among the women around us.

“Their goats continued to produce very little milk.

“In our home, blessing began to appear in everything.

“Other people remained astonished.”

Thus two months passed.

Within two months, he began walking.

When he was eight months old, he began speaking and his words could be understood.

At nine months, he spoke very clearly.

During this time many blessings became apparent.

Halimah said:

“When I brought him to my home, there was no household among Banu Sa‘d that did not seem to smell of musk.

“Thus everyone began loving him.

“When we weaned him, these words came from his blessed tongue:

“‘Allah is the Greatest, exceedingly Great; all praise belongs to Allah abundantly; glory be to Allah morning and evening.’

“The meaning is:

“‘Allah is very Great, Allah deserves abundant praise, and glory belongs to Him morning and evening.’”

When he reached two years of age, we took him to his mother.

At that age, children were normally handed back to their parents.

But we had already seen his blessings and wished for him to remain with us longer.

So we spoke to his mother and said:

“Please allow us to keep the child for one more year.

“I fear that the illnesses and climate of Makkah may affect him.”

After we repeatedly requested this, Aminah agreed.

We took him back to our home.

When he grew older, he would go outside and watch the children.

He would see them playing but would not go near them.

One day he asked me:

“Mother, why do my brothers and sisters not appear during the day?”

He was asking about his foster brother Abdullah and his foster sisters Anisah and Shayma.

Halimah said:

“I told him:

“They go out early in the morning to graze the goats and return after evening.

“When he heard this, he said:

“‘Then send me with them too.’”

After that, he began going with his brothers and sisters.

He would go happily and return happily.

Then one day my children came running back in fear.

They cried out:

“Mother! Come quickly, otherwise Muhammad will be finished!”

We were terrified.

We rushed there.

We saw him standing.

His color had changed and his face was pale.

This was not because he had suffered any physical pain when his chest was opened.

Rather, it was because of the sight of the angels.

Halimah said:

“We asked him:

“‘What happened?’

“He told us:

“‘Two men came to me.

“They were wearing white clothes.

“One of them said, “Is this the one?”

“The other replied, “Yes, this is the one.”

“Then both came near me, seized me, and laid me down.

“After that they opened my abdomen and began searching for something inside.

“At last they found the thing, removed it, and threw it away.

“I do not know what it was.’”

Other narrations explain that the thing was like a small black object.

It is said that this is the place in the human body associated with Satan and that Satan affects human beings through it.

Halimah said:

“Then we brought him home.

“My husband Abdullah ibn al-Harith said to me:

“‘Halimah, I fear that some harm may come to this child, so return him to his family.’

“I said:

“‘All right.’

“Then we set out toward Makkah.

“When I reached the upper part of Makkah, he suddenly disappeared.

“I became completely bewildered.”