BIRTH OF PROPHET MUHAMMAD PART1
When Abdullah, the father of the Prophet (peace be upon him) grew up Abdul-Muttalib decided that he should get married. So he then got married to Amina Bint Wahb. She is also from Bani Abdi Manaf and hence from the Quraysh who are from the decendants of Ismaeel. So the Prophet (peace be upon him) is from the most respected and honourable lineage. Aminas’ mother was from Yathrib and Amina lived in Yathrib. Abdul-Mutallib hence took his son and got him married to Amina in Yathrib. They returned thereafter to Makkah. Amina got pregnant and after a few months into her pregnancy Abdullah passed away, the father of the Prophet(peace be upon him). He became an orphan before he was even born.
When the time came close to the birth of the Prophet (peace be upon him), his mother saw a dream that she gave birth to a boy and with this boy a magnificient emergence of light spread out and enveloped the earth until it reached Busra in al-Sham. She also saw herself in the dream saying ‘u’iithuhu bilahil-wahid min shari kuli hasid’ which means ‘I seek for him, refuge in Allah the One from the evil of every envier’.
On a Monday, the 12th of Rabee’ al-Awwal (based on the strongest opinion) during the year that became known as the ‘Year of the Elephant’, 50 days after the incident of the Elephant, the Prophet (peace be upon him) was born. And with his birth, a number of interesting and extraordinary incidents occurred. We recall them, keeping in mind that the greatness of the Prophet (peace be upon him) is not in these incidents, but simply that it is from the signs and glad tidings of his arrival. His greatness is not in his birth, but rather it is within the message and teachings that he brought to mankind.
Hassan Ibn Thabit, (the poet of the Prophet peace be upon him) who was in Madina when he was seven years old, says about the birth of the Prophet (peace be upon him) that, ‘One day when I was seven years old, I was with or at the place of the Jews in their suburb, and there was a rabbi from the Jews who was sitting high on top of a house and was calling out ‘O Jewish people, today the star of Ahmad has emerged or appeared, and it does not appear except with his arrival’.
From amongst the signs also was that his mother while she carried him during her pregnancy, it was a pregnancy with no hardships or discomfort. Even though the norm is that pregnancy brings with it hardship. Allah says about the pregnant woman, ‘She carried him with hardship and she bore him (gave birth to him) with hardship’.
Furthermore, from the extraordinary incidents reported, was that when he was born, he came out supporting himself with his hands, and he raised his head to the sky. He was born Makhtun (circumcised) and Masrur (his umbilical cord was cut off). His birth was made easy.
When his mother gave birth to him, the good news reached Abdul-Mutallib, who was overjoyed by the news. And when he heard about the way he was born, circumcised, umbilical cord cut off, and supporting his body with his hands, his joy and happiness increased, and he said, ‘By Allah, verily for this son of mine there is an important matter’. He took Muhammed (peace be upon him) before he was even named, into the Ka’bah and raised him and thanked Allah for his birth.
As for naming him Muhammed, there is a story behind it. Abdul-Mutallib was on a journey in al-Sham with three of his companions. Along the way they met with a group of rabbi Jews. The Jews asked, ‘From where did you come?’ They replied ‘We are from Makkah’. So one of the rabbis said to them ‘That from your country a Prophet will emerge’. They asked, ‘What is the name of this Prophet?’ He replied ‘His name will be Muhammed’. Until then, the name Muhammed was not used by the Arabs. These four companions, when they returned, each one of them decided to name any of their new offspring Muhammed. Abdul-Mutallib could not have anymore children, so he wanted to name the first child that would be born to any of his children Muhammed. And so it happened to be the Prophet (peace be upon him) and so he named him Muhammed.
Another sign that happened when the Prophet (peace be upon him) was born, was that Qisras’ palace shook and fourteen of its shurta (pillars) collapsed. Also, the fire of the Majoos (which they worship) got extinguished. Furthermore, with the earthquake that hit the palace of Qisra, they had a boat which was holy to them called ‘buhayrat sa’waa’, the earth opened up under the boat and enveloped it, so the boat of sa’waa disappeared. This caused great fear to overcome Qisra, so he gathered the kuhan (sorcerers) and munajimeen (astrologists) and some of them had contact with the jinn. Allah informs us that the jinn used to eavesdrop on the talk in the heavens, “And verily we used to sit there in stations, to (steal) a hearing, but any who listens now will find a flaming fire watching him in ambush” (S 72: V 9). The Jinn would then report what they heard to the Kuhan. Qisra questioned the kuhan, some of them replied that these incidents are due to the birth of a Prophet. Furthermore, they were asked about the fourteen pillars that had collapsed. They said, ‘There remains from the rulers of Faris fourteen kings then the reign of Faris will come to an end.’ Qisra said, ‘Fourteen kings, that is still along time away’. After his death, the leaders of Faris fought each other for his rule, so in four years ten people ruled over Faris. These were all indications to the disintegration of Faris. These were all signs bearing glad tidings for the arrival of the Prophet Muhammed (peace be upon him).
It was from the customs of Quraysh, that if an infant was born they would not raise him up in Makkah for a number of reasons. One of those reasons is that Makkah has a high influx of people coming for Hajj, and some of them would stay in Makkah for a long time thereafter, so they mix with the people. And the children that would be raised up in Makkah, there Arabic Fus’ha (classical Arabic) would not be 100% (as eloquent) because they would get influenced by these people remaining after hajj. So the people of Quraysh used to prefer that there kids were raised outside of Quraysh, until they get used to the Arabic fus’ha, then they would return with a solid foundation in their language. A further reason, is that they wanted their kids to be raised in the desert so that they get used to living a rough life. Kids raised in the city become lenient, and soft. The third reason was because it is a city and there is a continual influx of people, diseases would be brought in, compared to the desert which is clean and free of diseases. It is rare to hear of diseased Arabs living in the desert. So for these reasons they would prefer that there kids were raised outside of Makkah.
Credits : Islamway.net
BIRTH OF PROPHET MUHAMMAD (PBUH) PART 2
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