Life and Teachings of the Prophet Muhammad
2. The Life of the Prophet Muhammad
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the infant Muhammad. These observations are recorded in detail
by some biographers such as Al-Walid, Ibn Ishaq and Ibn Hisham.
Two years later, after the child had been weaned, Kalimah
brought him back to his mother. But Makkah at that time was
stricken with an epidemic, so Amine asked her to take him back to
live in the pure air of the desert.
Thus Muhammad remained in the charge of Kalimah until the
age of five. He learned Arabic in its purest form from this tribe.
Muhammad used to tell his companions, “I am the most Arab
among you, for I am of the tribe of Quraysh and I have been
brought up among the tribe of Banu Sad bin Bakr.
Muhammad returned to his mother after five years of desert
life. Then Amine took him to Madinah to meet her uncles, the
Banu al-Ajar. She was accompanied by Umm Layman, her servant,
on that trip. After a stay of a month in Bathrobe, Amine was on her
way back to Makkah, when passing through a village called Abash,
she fell ill and died there. She was buried in Abash. It fell to Umm
Layman to bring Muhammad back to Makkah.
Therefore, the orphan Muhammad was taken care of by his
grandfather Abdul Mutely, chief of the clan of Banu Hashim. He
looked after him with great affection. As leader of the Quraysh, he
used to sit on a cushion in Kabah, whenever Muhammad joined
him, he was allowed to sit on that cushion. If anyone tried to stop
him, his grandfather would say, “Leave him alone. By God, he is
very important.” (Ibn Hisham) Abdul Mutely died when
Muhammad was eight years old.
