Date: Sat, 21 Nov 2009 15:18:29 -0500 Return-Path: phpmailer@islamreligion.com To: you@you.com From: "IslamReligion.com Recommend Service" Subject: =?iso-8859-1?Q?Your_friend_read_this_article_recommends_you_:_Muhammad=92?= =?iso-8859-1?Q?s_Biography_(part_2_of_12):_From_Birth_to_Adulthood?= Message-ID: X-Priority: 3 X-Mailer: PHPMailer [version 1.73] X-Original-Sender-IP: 38.107.191.95 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: multipart/alternative; boundary="b1_b02283bc15ceabbab9b76d2d66ef0d10" --b1_b02283bc15ceabbab9b76d2d66ef0d10 Content-Type: text/plain; charset = "iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit Muhammad’s Biography (part 2 of 12): From Birth to Adulthood Description: A glimpse at the life of the Prophet prior to revelation. By IslamReligion.com Published on 13 Feb 2006 - Last modified on 04 Oct 2009 Viewed: 16119 (daily average: 12) - Rating: 4.6out of5 - Rated by: 12Printed: 847 - Emailed: 20 - Commented on: 0 Category: Articles > The Prophet Muhammad > His Biography The Prophet’s Birth It was in the year 570 of the Christian Era that Prophet Muhammad, may the mercy and blessings of God be upon him, was born in Mecca, a city in present day Saudi Arabia.  His father, Abdullah, was a great-great-grandson of Qusayy, the founder of Mecca, and belonged to the Hashimite family of Quraish.  His mother, Ameena, was descended from Qusay’s brother.  Returning with a caravan from Syria and Palestine, Abdullah stopped to visit relatives in an oasis to the north of Mecca, fell ill there and died several months before his son’s birth. It was customary to send the sons of Quraysh into the desert to be suckled by a wet-nurse and spend their early childhood with a Bedouin tribe.  Apart from considerations of health, this represented a return to their roots, an opportunity to experience the freedom that accompanies the vastness of the desert.  Prophet Muhammad was taken by Halima, and spent four or five years with this Bedouin family, tending the sheep as soon as he was old enough to walk, learning the ways of the desert. When he was six, not long after he had rejoined his mother, she took him on a visit to Yathrib, where his father had died, and she herself fell ill with one of the fevers prevalent in the oasis, dying on the journey home.  Muhammad now came under the guardianship of his grandfather, Abdul-Muttalib, chief of the Hashimite clan.  When the boy was eight years old, Abdul-Muttalib died, and thus he entered the care of the new Hashimite chieftain, his uncle Abu Talib.  Prophet Muhammad tended sheep, and when he reached the age of nine, he was taken by his uncle on the caravan journey to Syria so that he could learn the art of trade. He continued working as a merchant, and soon he made a reputation for himself.  Among the substantial fortunes of Mecca was that of the twice widowed Khadeeja.  Impressed by what she heard of Muhammad, who was now commonly known as al-Ameen, ‘the trustworthy’, she employed him to take her merchandise to Syria.  Even more impressed by his competence, when this task was completed, than by his personal charm, she sent a proposal for marriage.  By this time Prophet Muhammad was twenty-five, and Khadeeja was the age of forty.  Khadeeja presented her husband with a young slave, Zayd, who was then freed by Muhammad.  When Zaid’s relatives came to ransom him, his affection ran so deep for his benefactor that he chose to remain with Prophet Muhammad.  Khadeeja bore Muhammad six children, including one boy, Qasim, who died before his second birthday. Prophet Muhammad was by now a man of substance, respected in the community, admired both for his generosity and his good sense.  His future seemed assured.  In due course, having re-established the prosperity of his clan, he would become one of the more influential elders of the city and end his life, perhaps, as his grandfather had done, reclining in the shade of the Kaaba and recollecting long years well spent in worldly terms.  Yet his spirit was uneasy and became increasingly so as he approached middle age. The Hunafa The Meccans claimed descent from Abraham through Ishmael, and their temple, the Kaaba, had been built by Abraham for the worship of the One God.  It was still called the House of God, but the chief objects of worship came to be a number of idols placed inside, sculptural depictions of deities they believed to be the daughters of God which acted as intercessors.  The few who felt disgust at this idolatry which had prevailed for centuries longed for the religion of Abraham.  Such seekers of the truth were known as Hunafaa, a word originally meaning “those who turn away” from idol-worship.  These Hunafaa did not form a community, but rather each sought the truth by the light of their own inner consciousness.  Muhammad son of Abdullah was one of these. Previous: Muhammad’s Biography (part 1 of 12): The Conditions of Arabia Prior to Prophecy Next: Muhammad’s Biography (part 3 of 12): The First Revelations Parts of This Article Muhammad’s Biography (part 1 of 12): The Conditions of Arabia Prior to Prophecy Muhammad’s Biography (part 2 of 12): From Birth to Adulthood Muhammad’s Biography (part 3 of 12): The First Revelations Muhammad’s Biography (part 4 of 12): Persecution in Mecca Muhammad’s Biography (part 5 of 12): Setting the Stage for Migration Muhammad’s Biography (part 6 of 12): The Hijrah of the Prophet Muhammad’s Biography (part 7 of 12): A New Stage in Medina Muhammad’s Biography (part 8 of 12): The Campaign of Badr Muhammad’s Biography (part 9 of 12): The Treason of Former Allies Muhammad’s Biography (part 10 of 12): The Treaty of Hudaibiyyah Muhammad’s Biography (part 11 of 12): The Return to Mecca Muhammad’s Biography (part 12 of 12): Bidding Farewell View all parts together The web address of this article:http://www.islamreligion.com/articles/182/Copyright © 2006-2009 IslamReligion.com. 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Muhammad’s Biography (part 2 of 12): From Birth to Adulthood

Description: A glimpse at the life of the Prophet prior to revelation.
By IslamReligion.com
 Published on 13 Feb 2006 - Last modified on 04 Oct 2009
Viewed: 16119 (daily average: 12) - Rating: 4.6 out of 5 - Rated by: 12
Printed: 847 - Emailed: 20 - Commented on: 0
Category: Articles > The Prophet Muhammad > His Biography

The Prophet’s Birth

It was in the year 570 of the Christian Era that Prophet Muhammad, may the mercy and blessings of God be upon him, was born in Mecca, a city in present day Saudi Arabia.  His father, Abdullah, was a great-great-grandson of Qusayy, the founder of Mecca, and belonged to the Hashimite family of Quraish.  His mother, Ameena, was descended from Qusay’s brother.  Returning with a caravan from Syria and Palestine, Abdullah stopped to visit relatives in an oasis to the north of Mecca, fell ill there and died several months before his son’s birth.

It was customary to send the sons of Quraysh into the desert to be suckled by a wet-nurse and spend their early childhood with a Bedouin tribe.  Apart from considerations of health, this represented a return to their roots, an opportunity to experience the freedom that accompanies the vastness of the desert.  Prophet Muhammad was taken by Halima, and spent four or five years with this Bedouin family, tending the sheep as soon as he was old enough to walk, learning the ways of the desert.

When he was six, not long after he had rejoined his mother, she took him on a visit to Yathrib, where his father had died, and she herself fell ill with one of the fevers prevalent in the oasis, dying on the journey home.  Muhammad now came under the guardianship of his grandfather, Abdul-Muttalib, chief of the Hashimite clan.  When the boy was eight years old, Abdul-Muttalib died, and thus he entered the care of the new Hashimite chieftain, his uncle Abu Talib.  Prophet Muhammad tended sheep, and when he reached the age of nine, he was taken by his uncle on the caravan journey to Syria so that he could learn the art of trade.

He continued working as a merchant, and soon he made a reputation for himself.  Among the substantial fortunes of Mecca was that of the twice widowed Khadeeja.  Impressed by what she heard of Muhammad, who was now commonly known as al-Ameen, ‘the trustworthy’, she employed him to take her merchandise to Syria.  Even more impressed by his competence, when this task was completed, than by his personal charm, she sent a proposal for marriage.  By this time Prophet Muhammad was twenty-five, and Khadeeja was the age of forty.  Khadeeja presented her husband with a young slave, Zayd, who was then freed by Muhammad.  When Zaid’s relatives came to ransom him, his affection ran so deep for his benefactor that he chose to remain with Prophet Muhammad.  Khadeeja bore Muhammad six children, including one boy, Qasim, who died before his second birthday.

Prophet Muhammad was by now a man of substance, respected in the community, admired both for his generosity and his good sense.  His future seemed assured.  In due course, having re-established the prosperity of his clan, he would become one of the more influential elders of the city and end his life, perhaps, as his grandfather had done, reclining in the shade of the Kaaba and recollecting long years well spent in worldly terms.  Yet his spirit was uneasy and became increasingly so as he approached middle age.

The Hunafa

The Meccans claimed descent from Abraham through Ishmael, and their temple, the Kaaba, had been built by Abraham for the worship of the One God.  It was still called the House of God, but the chief objects of worship came to be a number of idols placed inside, sculptural depictions of deities they believed to be the daughters of God which acted as intercessors.  The few who felt disgust at this idolatry which had prevailed for centuries longed for the religion of Abraham.  Such seekers of the truth were known as Hunafaa, a word originally meaning “those who turn away” from idol-worship.  These Hunafaa did not form a community, but rather each sought the truth by the light of their own inner consciousness.  Muhammad son of Abdullah was one of these.
Previous: Muhammad’s Biography (part 1 of 12): The Conditions of Arabia Prior to Prophecy   Next: Muhammad’s Biography (part 3 of 12): The First Revelations
Parts of This Article
Muhammad’s Biography (part 1 of 12): The Conditions of Arabia Prior to Prophecy
Muhammad’s Biography (part 2 of 12): From Birth to Adulthood
Muhammad’s Biography (part 3 of 12): The First Revelations
Muhammad’s Biography (part 4 of 12): Persecution in Mecca
Muhammad’s Biography (part 5 of 12): Setting the Stage for Migration
Muhammad’s Biography (part 6 of 12): The Hijrah of the Prophet
Muhammad’s Biography (part 7 of 12): A New Stage in Medina
Muhammad’s Biography (part 8 of 12): The Campaign of Badr
Muhammad’s Biography (part 9 of 12): The Treason of Former Allies
Muhammad’s Biography (part 10 of 12): The Treaty of Hudaibiyyah
Muhammad’s Biography (part 11 of 12): The Return to Mecca
Muhammad’s Biography (part 12 of 12): Bidding Farewell
View all parts together
The web address of this article:
http://www.islamreligion.com/articles/182/
Copyright © 2006-2009 IslamReligion.com. All rights reserved.
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