He Will Prevail

Halimah said:

“I reached Makkah in a state of distress.

“As soon as I reached his grandfather Abd al-Muttalib, I said:

“‘I was bringing Muhammad tonight, but when I reached the upper region, he suddenly disappeared.

“By Allah, I do not know where he is.’”

After hearing this, Abd al-Muttalib immediately stood near the Ka‘bah and prayed for the child to be found.

Then he set out in search of him.

Waraqah ibn Nawfal was also with him.

The two continued searching until they reached the valley of Tihamah.

Under a tree they saw a boy standing.

The branches of the tree were very dense.

Abd al-Muttalib asked:

“Boy, who are you?”

The Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, had grown tall by then, so Abd al-Muttalib did not recognize him.

His height was increasing rapidly.

He replied:

“I am Muhammad ibn Abdullah ibn Abd al-Muttalib.”

Hearing this, Abd al-Muttalib said:

“May my life be sacrificed for you. I am your grandfather, Abd al-Muttalib.”

He lifted him, embraced him, and began to cry.

He placed him in front of himself on his horse and rode toward Makkah.

When they reached home, he slaughtered goats and cows and invited the people of Makkah to a feast.

After Muhammad was found, Halimah came to Aminah.

She asked:

“Halimah, why have you brought the child now, when you had wished to keep him with you longer?”

She replied:

“He has now grown older.

“By Allah, I have fulfilled my responsibility.

“I continually fear that some accident may happen to him.

“Therefore I am placing him in your care.”

Aminah was surprised by this answer.

She said:

“Tell me truthfully. What has happened?”

Then Halimah told her the whole story.

Halimah had actually witnessed several extraordinary events.

Because of these incidents she had become very worried.

Then the event of the opening of his chest took place, and she was compelled to return him immediately.

Halimah described some of those incidents:

“Once a group of Jews passed by me.

“They claimed to follow the heavenly scripture, the Torah.

“I said to them:

“‘Can you tell me anything about this son of mine?’

“Along with this I told them the details of the Prophet’s birth.

“After hearing them, the Jews said among themselves:

“‘This child should be killed.’

“Then they asked:

“‘Is this child an orphan?’

“I had heard what they intended to do, so I quickly pointed toward my husband and said:

“‘No, this man is the father of the child.’

“They then said:

“‘If this child were an orphan, we would certainly kill him.’

“They said this because they had read in the old books that a final Prophet was going to come, whose religion would spread throughout the world, whose fame and authority would prevail everywhere.

“His birth and childhood would have such-and-such signs, and he would be an orphan.

“Since I had told them that this child was not an orphan, they thought that this was not the child they were looking for.

“Thus they abandoned their intention of killing him.”

A similar incident happened when she took him to the market of Ukaz.

During the age of ignorance, this was a very famous market.

It was held between Ta’if and Nakhlah.

When the Arabs came for pilgrimage, they spent the month of Shawwal in this market.

They played, enjoyed themselves, and boasted about their achievements.

Halimah was walking through the market with the Prophet when a diviner saw him.

He recognized all the signs of prophethood in him.

He shouted:

“People, kill this child!”

Halimah heard the diviner and became frightened and quickly moved away.

Thus Allah protected the Prophet.

The people in the market heard the diviner’s cry and looked around to see which child he meant, but they saw no such child.

They asked:

“What is the matter? Whom are you telling us to kill?”

He replied:

“I have just seen a boy.

“By the gods, he will kill those who follow your religion.

“He will break your idols.

“He will prevail over all of you.”

The people searched everywhere for the child but were unsuccessful.

Halimah was returning with the Prophet when they passed through Dhi al-Hijaz.

There was also a market there.

A fortune-teller was present in that market.

People brought their children to him and he would look at them and make predictions about their future.

When Halimah passed near him, the fortune-teller’s eyes fell upon the Prophet.

He saw the Seal of Prophethood and also noticed the special redness in his eyes.

He cried out:

“O Arabs!

“Kill this boy.

“He will certainly kill the followers of your religion.

“He will break your idols.

“He will prevail over you.”

As he said this, he rushed toward the Prophet.

At that very moment the man became insane, and he died in that condition.

Another incident is mentioned in Sirat Ibn Hisham.

A group of Christians from Abyssinia passed by the Prophet.

At that time he was with Halimah, who was taking him to his mother.

These Christians saw the Seal of Prophethood between his shoulders and also saw the redness in his eyes.

They asked Halimah:

“Is there something wrong with this child’s eyes?”

She replied:

“No, there is nothing wrong. This redness is naturally present in his eyes.”

The Christians said:

“Then hand this child over to us.

“We will take him to our country.

“This child is a Prophet and a person of great rank.

“We know everything about him.”

As soon as Halimah heard this, she hurried away and continued until she delivered the Prophet to his mother.

Among these incidents, the most important was the opening of the blessed chest.

The narrations establish that marks resembling stitches remained on the Prophet’s chest, just as stitches remain after a modern surgical operation.

After this event, Halimah and her husband decided that they should no longer keep the child with them.

When Halimah handed him over to Aminah, he was four years old.

According to one narration he was five.

A third narration says he had reached six.

A few days after Halimah handed him over to Aminah, Aminah died.

Thus the shelter of his mother was also removed.

Aminah died at a place called Abwa between Makkah and Madinah.

She was buried there.

The Prophet’s mother had taken him to visit her maternal relatives in Madinah.

Umm Ayman was also with them.

Umm Ayman said:

“One day two Jews of Madinah came to me and said:

“‘Bring Muhammad before us. We want to see him.’

“I brought him before them.

“They looked at him carefully.

“Then one of them said to the other:

“‘This is the Prophet of this community, and this city will be the place of his migration.

“A great war will take place here and prisoners will be captured.’”

When the Prophet’s mother learned of what the Jews had said, she became frightened and set out toward Makkah with him.

But on the journey, at Abwa, she died.