Abdullah, the father of our prophet (saws) was the most cherished son of Abdul Muttalib. When he was barely seventeen, he was married to Amina, a high-born lady of Yathrib, a city in the north of Makkah. However, he was not destined to live long and died only seven months after his marriage.

Muhammad (saws), the future Prophet of Allah, was a posthumous child. He was born in the house of his uncle Abu Talib on the 12th of Rabi al-Awal, a date that corresponds to 8 June 570 A.D. His midwife who had the honour and distinction of bringing him into this world was the mother of Abdur Rahman ibn Auf. When Amina, sent the tidings of the auspicious birth to his grandfather Abdul Muttalib, he came, took him in his arms and gave him the name Muhammad (saws)

It was a custom among the Quraysh to send their children deep into the desert to spend their early years in a climate that was more salubrious than that of Mach. Children built up stronger bodies in the wide open spaces and the pure air of the desert than they could in the stifling and noisome air of the City.

Amina placed her child Muhammad (saws) in the hands of Halima for nursing, who was a woman of the tribe of Banu Asad living in the east of Makkah. The infant Muhammad (saws) spent the first four years of his life in the desert with his wet-nurse. Sometime in the fifth year of his life, she is said to have brought him back to his mother in Makkah.

Muhammad (saws) was six years old when his mother died. He was then taken to his grandfather Abdul Mutallib‘s home. But only two years later he too was destined to pass away.

As the moment of his death arrived, Abdul Muttalib called his sons together and told them that he was leaving two "bequests" for them : one was the leadership of the clan of Banu Hashim, and the other was Muhammad ibn Abdullah, their nephew, an orphan of eight. He then asked them who among them wanted his power and authority as the leader of the tribe, and who among them would take charge of the boy who had lost both his parents. Most of his sons showed much eagerness to be named as the leader of the tribe but no one volunteered to take charge of Muhammad (saws).

It plunged the dying man into a sense of misgiving. However, before he shut his eyes, Abu Talib stepped forward and offered to take charge of his nephew in preference to the leadership of the tribe, as he was not interested in wielding authority. So, he decided to make Abu Talib not only the guardian of Muhammad (saws) but also the guardian of the clan of Banu Hashim. Then he admonished his other sons to acknowledge Abu Talib as the new leader of Banu Hashim, with which they complied. Thus did History ratify the judgment of Abdul Muttalib. His son and successor Abu Talib discharged both the duties most honourably.

Endowed with a refined mind and delicate taste, reserved and meditative, he lived much within himself, and the pondering of his heart supplied him with a constructive preoccupation during his leisure hours that were spent by men of a lower stamp in rude sports and profligacy. The decent character and honorable bearings of the unobtrusive youth won the approbation of his fellow-citizens and soon he received the title, by common consent, of Al-Amin, ‘the Faithful.' Thus respected and honoured, he lead a quiet life in the family of Abu Talib.

When he was twenty, a war broke out between his tribe Quraysh and the tribe of Hawazin. Although he was present in the campaigns of this war, he did not take any part in fighting. He did not kill or wound anyone, thus showing at this early period, his hatred of bloodshed.

* * *