In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
Treasures of the Prophetic Biography (Seerah).
His childhood, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him,
and the incident of the opening of his noble chest.
And so the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, remained among Banu Sa'd
until he reached four or five years of age,
when a remarkable event occurred.
Namely, that while the Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him,
was playing with the other boys, Gabriel came to him.
He took hold of him, laid him down, and split open his chest.
He extracted his heart and removed a blood clot from it,
saying, "This was Satan's share in you."
He then washed it in a golden basin with Zamzam water,
and restored it to its place.
The boys came rushing to his foster mother, crying out,
"Muhammad has been killed!"
For they had seen the angel come to him, split open his chest, and take out his heart.
So Halimah and her husband rushed out to inspect where the Prophet, peace be upon him, had supposedly been slain.
They found him standing upright, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him,
yet pale in complexion,
as this experience was naturally shocking for him, peace be upon him.
And this was one of the signs of Allah, Blessed and Exalted.
And Allah, the Majestic and Exalted, has power over all things.
Thereupon, Halimah feared for the Prophet, peace be upon him,
and returned him to his mother.
Treasures of the Prophetic Biography (Seerah).
The passing of his mother, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him.
When he reached six years of age,
his mother set out with him to visit his father's grave along the road to Medina.
She visited his father's grave,
accompanied on this journey by his grandfather, 'Abd al-Muttalib,
and her maidservant, Umm Ayman.
After she had visited his father's grave,
and while they were on the road back to Mecca,
his mother passed away, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him,
at a place between Mecca and Medina
called al-Abwa'.
Thus, after having been fatherless, the Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him,
became orphaned of both father and mother at the age of six.
May my father and mother be ransomed for him!
Then his grandfather took custody of him and raised him.
But when he reached eight years of age,
his grandfather, 'Abd al-Muttalib, passed away.
So his uncle Abu Talib took him in and nurtured him
until he reached manhood, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him.
Abu Talib fulfilled his duty toward our master Muhammad, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, in the finest manner,
often favoring him even over his own children.
When the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, reached twelve years of age,
he traveled with his uncle Abu Talib to the Levant on a trading expedition.
The caravan passed by a monk named Bahira
in a place called Busra.
When Abu Talib and his companions stopped there,
the monk treated them with lavish hospitality, and then asked,
"Who is with you?"
They said, "Just us."
He asked, "Is there anyone else with you?"
They replied, "We have a young boy guarding our provisions."
He said, "Bring him to me."
When the Prophet, peace be upon him, arrived
and Bahira the monk saw him,
he scrutinized his face.
For he knew that this was the appointed time for a prophet to emerge.
He then searched
and found the Seal of Prophethood:
an elevated mark on the Prophet's upper back, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him,
about the size of a pigeon's egg.
Bahira said to Abu Talib,
"When you approached from the mountain pass,
not a single rock or tree remained except that it fell prostrate,
and they do not prostrate except for a prophet.
I recognize him by the Seal of Prophethood below the cartilage of his shoulder blade, like an apple,
as we find it described in our scriptures.
So take him back,
for I fear for him from the Jews."
So he took him back to Mecca.
Al-Dhahabi, may Allah have mercy on him, said:
"This hadith is extremely munkar (unacceptable).
Where was Abu Bakr at that time?
He would have been ten years old,
since he was two and a half years younger than the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him.
And where was Bilal at that time?
For Abu Bakr only purchased him after the Prophet's mission began;
indeed, he was not even born yet!
Furthermore:
if a cloud was constantly shading him,
how could the tree's shadow be said to lean toward him?
For the shadow of the cloud would cancel out the shadow of the tree under which he sat.
Moreover, we never find the Prophet, peace be upon him, ever reminding Abu Talib of what the monk said,
nor did Quraysh ever discuss it among themselves,
nor did those elder shaykhs recount it,
despite their keen interest and motivation to report such things.
Had it truly occurred,
it would have become exceedingly famous among them,
and there would have remained with him, peace be upon him, an awareness of his impending prophethood;
he would not have been alarmed when the revelation first came to him in the cave of Hira',
nor would he have gone to Khadijah fearing for his sanity,
nor would he have sought mountain peaks in distress, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him.
Furthermore, if such fear had genuinely affected Abu Talib causing him to send him back,
how could he later have willingly permitted him to travel to the Levant trading on behalf of Khadijah?
Moreover, the hadith contains objectionable expressions reminiscent of Sufi lore."
He, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, also attended the Alliance of the Virtuous (Hilf al-Fudul),
and that was when he reached fifteen years of age.
This alliance was convened by Banu Hashim, Banu al-Muttalib,
Banu Asad, Banu Zuhrah, and Banu Taym.
They gathered in the house of 'Abdullah ibn Jud'an al-Taymi,
on account of his seniority and nobility,
and pledged that they would not find an oppressed person in Mecca—
whether one of its residents or an outsider—
without aiding him and securing his rightful dues.
Later, the Prophet, peace be upon him, would say:
"I witnessed an alliance in the house of 'Abdullah ibn Jud'an;
I would not exchange it for the finest red camels,
and were I invited to it in Islam, I would uphold it."
Red camels were the most prized camels,
highly coveted and cherished by the Arabs.
Treasures of the Prophetic Biography (Seerah).
The misconception regarding the Prophet's exposure, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him.
In the Sahihayn, it is narrated on the authority of Jabir ibn 'Abdillah, may Allah be pleased with them both,
who related that the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him,
was carrying stones with them for the reconstruction of the Ka'bah
while wearing his waist-wrapper.
His uncle al-'Abbas said to him,
"O my nephew!
If only you would loosen your waist-wrapper and place it over your shoulder under the stones."
He said: So he loosened it
and placed it upon his shoulder,
whereupon he fell unconscious.
He said:
And never after that day was he seen unclothed.
Now, innovators have raised objections, claiming:
"How could the Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, be uncovered?"
alleging that this narration is a fabrication against the Prophet, peace be upon him.
The response to them is threefold:
First:
This hadith has an authentic chain of transmission without any defect;
Imam al-Bukhari recorded it in his Sahih,
in the Book of Prayer,
under the chapter: "The Dislike of Uncovering Oneself in Prayer and Otherwise."
Furthermore, this incident took place before the Prophet's commission, peace be upon him.
Al-Zuhri, may Allah have mercy on him, said:
"When Quraysh rebuilt the Ka'bah,
the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, had not yet reached puberty."
Second:
Uncovering is permissible according to scholars
when justified by an overriding legal interest,
such as the permissibility of being uncovered during medical treatment.
Thus, the uncovering of the Prophet, peace be upon him,
occurred, first of all, before his commission,
and secondly, it was done for a practical purpose:
to place his garment upon his shoulder
to cushion it while carrying heavy stones,
and for an act of worship dedicated to Allah, the Majestic and Exalted,
namely, the reconstruction of the Ka'bah.
A similar situation occurred with the Prophet of Allah, Moses, peace be upon him,
when his people slandered his physical wholeness,
“O ye who believe! Be not as those who slandered Moses, but Allah proved his innocence of that which they alleged, and he was well esteemed in Allah's sight.” (33:69)
as recorded by the two Shaykhs (al-Bukhari and Muslim)
from the hadith of Abu Hurayrah, may Allah be pleased with him,
from the Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, who said:
"The Children of Israel used to bathe unclothed,
looking at one another,
whereas Moses, peace be upon him,
used to bathe alone.
They said,
'By Allah, nothing prevents Moses
from bathing with us
except that he has a scrotal hernia.'
Once, he went to bathe
and laid his garment upon a stone,
whereupon the stone rolled away with his clothes.
Moses ran after it, calling out,
'My clothes, O stone! My clothes, O stone!'
until the Children of Israel looked at Moses
and said,
'By Allah, there is no defect in Moses!'
He then took his garment
and began striking the stone."
Abu Hurayrah said,
"By Allah, the stone bore six or seven marks from the blows."
Third:
The hadith does not state that he was uncovered in the sight of people, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him.
Fourth:
Even when he briefly loosened it before his uncle alone,
it was not allowed to persist; he immediately collapsed unconscious,
and he was never seen unclothed thereafter.
Treasures of the Prophetic Biography (Seerah).
Before the Prophetic Mission:
The Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, used to tend sheep during that period
for modest wages from the people of Mecca.
It is narrated on the authority of Jabir who said:
We were with the Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, at Marr al-Zahran,
gathering the fruit of the arak tree (al-kabath),
which is the berry of the arak tree—
the tooth-stick tree.
The Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, said,
"Pick the black ones, for they are the best."
He said:
We asked, "O Messenger of Allah!
Did you use to tend sheep?"
He said, "Yes."
And he, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, said:
"Allah never sent a prophet but that he shepherded sheep."
His Companions asked,
"Even you?"
He said, "Yes,
I used to shepherd them for modest wages for the people of Mecca."
The scholars observed:
Perhaps the wisdom behind inspiring the prophets to tend sheep prior to prophethood
was to train them through pasturing them
for the future burden of guiding and managing their Ummah.
For in tending sheep,
they cultivated forbearance and deep compassion;
since patiently shepherding them, rounding them up when scattered across pastures,
and defending them from predators
accustomed them to being patient with the Ummah.
Sheep in particular were chosen for this
because they are gentler and weaker than other livestock,
and they scatter far more easily than camels or cattle.
Following his time as a shepherd,
the Prophet, peace be upon him, engaged in trade.
Treasures of the Prophetic Biography (Seerah):
His Marriage, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him.
News reached Khadijah bint Khuwaylid describing the Prophet, peace be upon him,
and praising his noble character and trustworthiness.
She therefore sent for him
and offered him the opportunity to travel to the Levant trading with her merchandise.
Khadijah was among the noblest of her people from Banu Asad—
and she sent with him her servant named Maysarah.
The Prophet, peace be upon him, departed with her wealth and traded on her behalf.
Upon his return to Mecca,
Maysarah informed her of what he had observed in the Prophet, peace be upon him:
his exceptional character, honorable conduct,
and the extraordinary blessings that accompanied him.
All of this filled her with deep admiration for him,
and she shared her high regard for him with her close friends.
Among them was a dear friend named Nafisah.
Thereupon, Nafisah approached the Prophet, peace be upon him,
and suggested that he marry Khadijah.
He accepted, peace be upon him,
and went accompanied by his uncles to Khadijah's uncle,
and the marriage was concluded.
According to the most well-known view, she was forty years old,
though it is also said she was twenty-eight,
while the Prophet, peace be upon him, was twenty-five.
The Prophet, peace be upon him, loved her with an immense love,
and he never took another wife during her lifetime.
His Children with Khadijah, peace be upon him:
Allah, Blessed and Exalted, blessed him with children through Khadijah;
she bore him 'Abdullah, al-Qasim, Fatimah, Zaynab,
Ruqayyah, and Umm Kulthum, may Allah be pleased with them.
Treasures of the Prophetic Biography (Seerah).