After Muhammad (saw) is returned to his mother Aminahs care at the age of 4 , he had a typical experience of a child his age learning to dress & feed himself1. His milkmother Halimah & her family return to Banu Saad The main father-figure of Muhammad was his grandfather Abdul Mutallib After the chest-splitting incident at age 4, the next major event in Muhammads life at age 6 was the death of his mother Aminah Aminah was well known for being very intelligent. She was a woman of high regard & well-respected. The Prophets grandfather, Abdul Mutallib, was a leader of his tribe (Quraysh) Generally, a person of leadership tends to be wealthy, but Abdul Mutallib was broke at times. This was primarily due to the cautiousness of Abdul Mutallib; he never wanted to take advantage of his influence or his connections as a leader, because he used to say that these connections are only to lead the people & to manage the affairs of his people. He didnt want to use his influence for financial gain. His son, Abu Talib (Muhammads uncle), inherited the responsibilities of his father. Abu Talib was also a very poor man. Abu Talibs son, Ali, was raised in the house of the Prophet. Abu Talib was elderly & not well-off financially, so his son was sent to be raised by his nephew Muhammad. When Muhammad was about 6, Aminah decided to travel to Yathrib Varying narrations as to why Aminah decided on this trip Muhammads uncles lived in Quba, a suburb of Yathrib.Quba is where the first masjid of the new religion was built (Masjid al-Quba)Abdul Mutallibs maternal relatives are from Quba. Aminah wanted Muhammad to meet his extended relatives.Muhammads father Abdullah had died in Yathrib, where he was also buried. Aminah wanted to travel 300km from Makkah to Yathrib to visit her late husbands grave Aminah traveled with two others in this journey her son Muhammad & his milkmother Baraqah (aka Ummu Aymen) They stayed for some time in Quba with Abdul Mutallibs family & in Yathrib, where they visited Abdullahs grave. They stayed there for about a month Much later on, during the Medinan period of Prophethood, the Prophet was passing by the houses of Banu Adi (family of tribe of al-Khazraj) while walking around in Medina. He stopped & remarked to the Sahaba around him; he pointed to a house & told his Sahaba, This is the same house where my mother & I stayed when we visited Medina in my childhood. Then Muhammad spotted a pond & pointed to it, saying, This is the same pond in which I learned to swim. Then he pointed to an open field, & said, This is the same field where I ran around & played with other kids during my visit. Ummu Aymen recalls an incident during this visit to Yathrib. She was sitting with Muhammad when two Jewish men approached them. The men asked, Where is the child, Ahmad?Aminah liked calling her son Ahmad Then they looked at the child, turned him on his back to look for the seal/mark of prophethoodOne of them says to the other, This is the Prophet of our times. This city, Yathrib, this is the place he will migrate to. Dar-ul-Hijra.They also said, There will be great battles and many prisoners will be taken that will revolve around this child. When Aminah was informed of this entire conversation, she became frightened for Muhammads safety & immediately packed her bags Once they left Yathrib, they reached a small town named Abua, which is about 23 miles from Johfa Its possible that during her stay in Yathrib, Aminah wasnt feeling very well. During the journey back to Makkah, Aminahs health worsened so they were forced to stop at Abua It was a short time before she passed away Ummu Aymen buried Aminah & took Muhammad in Some narrations say that Ummu Aymen returned to Yathrib for a few days until Abdul Mutallib received a letter about his daughter-in-laws passing & then came to retrieve Muhammad himself Other narrations say that Ummu Aymen herself brought Muhammad back to Makkah In his later years, Muhammad faintly remembered his mother One time, the Prophet & the Sahaba went to a place called Waddan, which wasnt too far from the place Abua. He told his Sahaba to stay where they were, while he went off on his own for a bit. He came back to them. The Sahaba recalled that the Prophet looked sick & heavy-hearted. The Prophet explained to them, I went to the grave of my mother. I asked Allah to give me intercession (make dua) on her behalf, but Allah refused. One of the common practices in legislation during the lifetime of the Prophet was that if people had a hard time abandoning one of their bad habits, then that practice would be made completely forbidden In the old days, the Arabs would take vegetables such as squash or fruits like melon & hollow out the vegetable/fruit.Then theyd rub animal grease inside the hollow area & leave it out in the sun for days until it completely hardened. After the container hardened, the Arabs would put their alcohol in there & plug it; it would keep the alcohol cool & fresh.They also used the containers for water & milkBut it was identified primarily with alcohol When alcohol first was made haraam, the Prophet made the use of those containers haraam, so that it would remain completely distant from the alcohol practice, to not let there be any association with alcoholFind some other container for milk or water.When people got the need to drink alcohol out of their system, Prophet made it okay to use those containers for water & milk To create distance for grave worshipping, Prophet made visiting graves haram When people had become secure in their Tawhid & their imaan, the Prophet allowed graves to be visited This story carries a valuable lesson for us when we become carriers of the deen, its important to keep in touch with your emotions The Prophet, even though hes a prophet, a Messenger of Allah, he was not above being emotional. He cried openly sitting at his mothers grave. After his mothers death, the Prophet went into the care of his grandfather Abdul Mutallib

The Prophet (saw) was 6 years old when his mother Aminah passed away. His father Abdullah died before he was born.2. Ummu Aymen brought the 6-year-old Muhammad back to Makkah to his grandfather Abdul Mutallib Everyone who was an influence on Muhammad were always people of high character his mother, his milkmother Halimah, his grandfather Abdul Mutallib was a very remarkable man. He was very devout, moral, ethical, & noble He was a leader of all of Quraysh tribe. Hes not just the head of Banu Hashem, but all the other families of the QurayshMany people referred to him as the most powerful man of Arabia Abdul Mutallib was a very busy man. He had many affairs of others to take care of, but he also had time to take care of his grandson Muhammad. He didnt just hire a maid to take care of Muhammad. He didnt put a slave to take care of Muhammad or tell one of his children to take care of the orphan After Aminah passed away, Abdul Mutallib took guardianship of Muhammad. He was more kind & affectionate with Muhammad than he was with his own children. Abdul Mutallib would always draw Muhammad near him. He always checked on his grandson There was a cushion that was placed next to the Kabah, where the shade would fall. Abdul Mutallib would sit there & greet & meet visitors/residents of Makkah That special seat was like his throne; it was reserved just for Abdul Mutallib. No one would dare sit there, not even his own children. His sons would sit around Abdul Mutallib The child Muhammad, a chubby little kid, would run right up to his grandfathers cushion & sit right in the middle of the seat His uncles would grab him & move him out of the seat, No, no, dont sit there. When Abdul Mutallib would see this, hed say, No, no, leave my boy alone. Let Muhammad sit there. He looks like a king. I swear by Allah, theres something special about this boy. Then Abdul Mutallib would sit the boy on his lap Abdul Mutallib would rub the boys back & look at Muhammad with adoration. Abdul Mutallib would often just watch Muhammad do whatever he did like he was the most precious thing in the world One time a man from Banu Mudlej came to Makkah & visited Abdul Mutallib While the man is meeting with Abdul Mutallib, hes staring at Muhammad (who was on Abdul Mutallibs lap) the whole time He says to Abdul Mutallib, Take care of this child. The way he carries himself, the way he talks, you can tell hes going to be someone great, someone special. Hes meant for greatness, so be careful with this child. When Abdul Mutallib hears this, he calls for his most trusted & responsible sons, Abu Talib Listen to what this man has to say about your nephew. Abdul Mutallib had the man to repeat what he said about Muhammad Then Abdul Mutallib tells Abu Talib, From now on, I want Muhammad under your care. Im not going to be around for long. Some history books say that Abdul Mutallib lived to be 153 years old Abu Talib goes to Baraqah (Ummu Aymen), one of Muhammads milkmothers Ya Baraqah. This son of mine, dont ever be neglectful of him. Make sure you always take care of him. Ive been keeping an eye on him. My father specially put me in charge of him, so Ive been watching him. Ive seen him play with other boys. They were playing on the outskirts of Makkah & I went out there to check on them. While they were playing, I saw some of the Ahlul Kitab (Christians & Jews) pass by. They were encamped there. They were also watching the boys very closely, especially Muhammad. And I heard them talking, & they think that this nephew of mine is the Nabi (Prophet) of this ummah. Regardless of this is true or not, a lot of people will have their attention on him. Some might mean him good, & some might mean him harm. This is why we must be diligent of him at all times. Whenever Abdul Mutallib would sit down to eat, hed always say, Wheres Muhammad? If Muhammad wasnt there, Abdul Mutallib wouldnt eat I need to know if Muhammad ate first. Abdul Mutallib literally wouldnt take a bite of food unless he knew for a fact that Muhammad had eaten This is significant given that he had such an influential & respected leadership in Makkah he was The Man Even if others told Abdul Mutallib that Muhammad had eaten, Abdul Mutallib would say, I still need to see him. So the others would have to bring the child to his grandfather. Son, did you eat? Are you okay? Only then would Abdul Mutallib would eat. When Muhammad was 8, his grandfather passed away Before passing away, Abdul Mutallib called all of his children for a gathering Abdul Mutallib emphasized the importance of taking care of Muhammad. He singled out his son Abu Talib My last request to Abu Talib is to take care of Muhammad, my grandson. Abdul Mutallib was buried in graveyard of Hajun Because Abu Talib got such a huge & important responsibility of the care of Muhammad, Abdul Mutallib passed on the responsibility of the well of Zamzam & the custodianship of the Haram to one of his youngest sons, al Abbas Muhammad shared a deeper connection with Abu Talib because Abu Talibs mom was also the blood grandmother (Fatimah) of Muhammad. Abdul Mutallib had more than one wife, so Muhammad had grandmothers (only related by marriage) Abu Talib was the full brother of Abdullah, Muhammads father Abu Talib was a very simple man (a zahid) Zohood someone who has no connection or desire to worldly/materialistic things He had no money, no wealth Abu Talib loved his nephew Muhammad immensely, more so than his own children. Muhammad was 8-years-old when he was taken in by his uncle He wouldnt go to sleep until he checked that Muhammad was safe He would not eat until Muhammad had eaten When hed go out, hed make sure that his nephew was with him When hed sit down to eat, hed make sure that Muhammad had the first bite There was very little food in Abu Talibs household because he wasnt very wealthy. However, when the family of Abu Talib would eat individually, or together, if Muhammad was sitting there with them, there would miraculously be enough food for everyone The same amount of food would be made the same small amount of food But when Muhammad would sit and eat with them, the food was enough for all of them and there would even be leftovers, even though there should have been little food in the first place Abu Talib would sometimes come home after managing his affairs. Hed come home for lunch. His family would be sitting waiting for the head of the household to come home. If Muhammad wasnt at the table, Abu Talib would say, Stay as you are, until my son gets here. Nobody eats until Muhammad gets here. The family would give preference to Muhammad. If there was a nice cut of meat or something similar, Muhammad would be given that piece Abu Talib would often sit there looking at his nephew with adoration & say, My son, there is something special about you. When people wake up in the morning, they have a bit of gunk in their eyes. Their hair would be messy & may have drool in their faces. When kids wake up in the morning, theyd look like a mess. But when Muhammad would wake up in the morning, his hair was perfect. His eyes were bright, clean, & clear no gunk or redness in his eyes Muhammad, from a young age, had always had a dignified manner of behaving In the morning, the children would rush to the table & grab all of the food that their mother had put out. Theyd be behaving like animals, fighting over the best pieces Muhammad would stand aside, waiting for his turn Abu Talib observed his nephews behavior. Abu Talib would get to the table early & take a portion of the food & keep it aside When the kids woke up & rushed to breakfast, Abu Talib would give his nephew the food from earlier, which Muhammad would eat with adaab (manners) A Bedouin man (a soothsayer/fortune teller) came from an outside tribe/village to Makkah Fortune telling was a big part of Arab culture This soothsayer was very famousHis specialty was hed look at peoples children & ask them a few questions. Hed do some mumbo jumbo & then tell the parents what lies in the future of their kidsIt was like taking your kids to see Santa at the mall Abu Talib took his kids to this soothsayerThe Bedouin fortuneteller looked at the young Muhammad for a while. After a while, Abu Talib figured their time was over, so he grabs Muhammads hand & start to leaveIn the midst of the long line of other parents waiting to have their kids fortune determined, the soothsayer lost sight of Muhammad for a secondHe got really nervous, & started yelling Wheres the boy I was just looking at?! Wheres that boy?! Abu Talib hears that man, who was panicking. The soothsayer seems a little too interested in Muhammad.Abu Talib is already very overprotective of Muhammad, so hes nervous about how all of a sudden this stranger seems to take a keen & creepy interest in his nephewAbu Talib takes his kids & nephew & gets out of their quickly The soothsayer was very upset. He didnt want to see any more of the other kids standing in line & tells them to get lost. He yells, Bring me back that boy! Theres something special about him! Thats not an ordinary child. I need to see him! A lot of times, these soothsayers are influenced by shayatin. The shayatin bring bits & pieces of broken information from the malaika (angels)Theres a Hadith about Saf Ibn Sayyad, a child whom the Sahaba feared was the Dajjal (AntiChrist). The Prophet quelled the Sahabas fears, that Ibn Sayyad is not the Dajjal, but that hes influenced by Shayatin. The Prophet tested Ibn Sayyad, by telling him, Im thinking of something (an ayah of the Quran). What am I thinking of? The child Ibn Sayyad sat there for a while & said, Dukh, dukh. The Prophet turned to his Sahaba & said that this child is influenced by shayatinIts possible that the soothsayer was influenced by shayatin at the time, when he met with Muhammad. Thats why he freaked out when he lost sight of Muhammad, but Muhammad was already long gone with his uncle