In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Dispenser of Grace.
Alhamdulillah, the last few weeks I have been enrolled in a Seerah course and this week, the lesson was on the birth and early life of the Prophet s.a.w. Therefore in this third part of this project, I'd like to share a bit of what I've learnt through the lesson as well as through various other sources. Besides the lesson, I found this lecture by Prof Abdal Hakim Murad on this part of the Prophet's s.a.w. life that I'd like to share.
The Orphan - Sermons: Abdal Hakim Murad - Muhammad (pbuh) - Prophet of Islam
Particularly, the particular lesson point that I would like to discuss in this part is about the Prophet's orphanhood and what it means for us. Masya Allah, just I am about to embark on writing this, I met a few sisters who were discussing about orphans and one sister, Sis. Eldina Omanovic, shared several verses and hadiths with me. Let me therefore start with one such Surah:
Surah Ad-Dhuha
In the name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful
By the morning hours (1) And by the night when it is stillest, (2) Thy Lord hath not forsaken thee nor doth He hate thee, (3) And verily the latter portion will be better for thee than the former, (4) And verily thy Lord will give unto thee so that thou wilt be content. (5) Did He not find thee an orphan and protect (thee)? (6) Did He not find thee wandering and direct (thee)? (7) Did He not find thee destitute and enrich (thee)? (8) Therefore the orphan oppress not, (9) Therefore the beggar drive not away, (10) Therefore of the bounty of thy Lord be thy discourse. (11)
In the above verses, especially verses 5-7, Allah alludes to the Prophet's state of orphanhood. As we know the Prophet s.a.w. was born an orphan for his father died when he was still within his mother's womb. Then he was orphaned a second time when he was 6 years old because of his mother's death. He was "orphaned" third time when the only father he knew - his grandfather - died two years later. Even before his father's death, his clan's - the Banu Hashim - wealth has been depleting and other clans were gaining in importance. Therefore, the Prophet Muhammad s.a.w. was not only an orphan but was also a poor one.
In fact, this was the reason that no wet nurse from the Banu Sa'ad wanted him. Not only was his father dead and therefore could not grant them favours as culturally an accepted reward for nursing the Quraishy babies, his clan's declining fortune also would mean that his relatives would likely not be able to stand in the stead of his father. Halimah As-Saadiah r.a. was the only one who did because there was no other baby to be had for her.
"Did He not find thee an orphan and protect (thee)?" This verse showed that Allah s.w.t. is the One who nurtured, guided and protected the Prophet s.a.w. in his young life even as he lost his father, mother and then grandfather. And is there any better protector and nurturer than Allah s.w.t.? This orphan grew up to be a man that Allah describes as a "Mercy to Mankind". All through the tarbiyah (education & upbringing) that Allah put him through such that the Prophet Muhammad s.a.w. had the best manners and characters.
An example of such a tarbiyah was his manners of eating and drinking even if he didn't really have much close supervision - given the number of children his uncle and aunt (who were now his main caregivers) had. Unlike the other children, he would only eat what is placed in front of him without reaching. Umm Ayyman r.a., who was his nanny, once said that she had never heard him complain about being hungry or thirsty even in childhood. Another was his empathy of his uncle's, Abu Talib, situation. His uncle was poor and had a lot of children. So even though he was young (about 12), he realised the need to help his uncle and therefore took on employment as a shepherd.
This tarbiyah is forgotten more often than not in the current state of the world. We send our children to expensive schools, classes and lessons and yet we forget this very concept of inculcating in them the values that the Prophet s.a.w. possessed. The same tarbiyah that the Prophet went through can be replicated because the Prophet Muhammad himself taught it to his companions r.a. who passed it on to the tabi'in who passed it on etc. Only then can the future generation of our Ummah be people par excellence and people of mercy.
