Childhood of Hazrat Muhammad Saw

The Life & Character of the

Seal of Prophets

(May Peace and Blessings of Allāh be upon him)

(Extracts taken from the book ‘ The Life & Character of the Seal of Prophets(saw), “Sīrat Khātamun-Nabiyyīn” by Hadhrat Mirza Bashir Ahmad(ra)M.A, translated by Ayyaz Mahmood Khan)

Travel to Syria and the Incident of Bahīrā the Monk When Muḥammadsa was twelve years of age, Abū Ṭālib was required to travel to Syria with a mercantile caravan. Since the travel was long and difficult, Abū Ṭālib decided to leave Muḥammadsa behind in Makkah. However, for young Muḥammadsa the thought of separation from Abū Ṭālib was far too difficult to bear. Therefore, at the time of departure, due to his emotions of love, the child clung to Abū Ṭālib and began to weep. When Abū Ṭālib witnessed this he was moved and decided to take the young Muḥammadsa along.

To the south of Syria there is a very well known place called Buṣrā, where a very strange incident took place. There resided a Christian Monk by the name of Baḥīrā.

When the caravan of the Quraish passed by this monk’s holy abode, he witnessed all the rocks and plants have fallen into prostration simultaneously. In the light and spirit of divine scriptures, he was aware that a prophet was to be raised and due to his deep insight, he concluded that this very prophet was present in the caravan.

Hence, he was able to recognize Muḥammadsa. The Monk informed Abū Ṭālib of this fact and advised him to protect the young Muḥammadsa from the evil designs of the AhleKitāb. In the spirit of ‘IlmeRiwāyat, this particular narration is rather weak. However, if such an instance did in fact occur it should not be the cause of bewilderment. If this occurrence did in fact occur, the prostration of trees would be considered a divinely inspired sight of the monk, which is not unusual in relation to the stature of the Holy Prophetsa. ( p.138,139)

Maryam

April - June 2012

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Pasturing of Goats by Muhammad

sa

After he returned from his journey to Syria, Muḥammadsa continued to reside with Abū Ṭālib. It was a custom among the Arabs, that children were given the responsibility of tending the cattle. Hence the young Muḥammadsa also undertook the task of pasturing goats and performed this task on various occasions. In the time of his prophet hood, the Holy Prophetsa would say that: “The pasturing of goats is the tradition of the prophets and I too have pastured goats.” On one occasion, while travelling, the companions of the Holy Prophetsa were gathering some fruit upon which the Prophetsa said, “Search for this particular fruit in darker colour, for when I used to tend to the goats, I have found through experience, that the darker its shade of black, the finer it proves to be.”

God’s Protection from Evil There is an instance that on one night during the childhood of Muḥammadsa, he requested his companion, who was also a partner in grazing goats saying, “Tend to my flock so that I may go to the city in order to view the nightly gathering of the people”.

In those days, it was a custom of the Arabs to gather at a single location whereafter they would relate stories and share various forms of poetry. On various occasions, the whole night would be devoured by these gatherings. In his childhood curiosity, Muḥammadsa also ventured out to observe one of these spectacles. However, God the Almighty disliked the idea that His Khātamunabiyyīn,1 partake of such nonsense. Therefore, on one occasion, Muḥammadsa departed for such a gathering but fell asleep enroute and remained in a state of sleep until dawn. The young Muḥammadsa intended to witness a similar gathering a second time; however, the unseen hand prohibited him this time also. During the time of his prophethood, the Holy Prophetsa said, “I intended only twice, in the entirety of my life, to observe such a gathering, but I was restrained both times.”

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Maryam

April - June 2012