Halime Hatun’s Losing of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) in Mecca

She said to herself: “I almost ruined my trust!”¹⁵¹ The Opening and Weighing of the Chest of the Messenger of God (peace and blessings be upon him) by Angels His wet nurse, Ḥalīma Hātūn, swore and said: “…[Muḥammad, peace and blessings be upon him], while he and his milk-brother [ʿAbdullāh] were behind our houses with our little lambs, his milk-brother came running to us in a panic and excitement. He said to me and his father: ‘Two men dressed in white garments seized that Qurayshī brother of mine, laid him on the ground, and split open his belly! Now, they are stirring inside him.’ His father and I immediately rushed to him. We found him standing, his face pale.

I immediately grabbed him and pressed him to my chest. His father also embraced him. We asked, ‘What happened to you, my child?’ He said, ‘Two men dressed in white garments came, laid me down, and split open my belly. They searched for something in my belly that I did not know.’ Together, we returned to our tent. His milk-father Ḥāris said: ‘O Ḥalīma! I fear that some calamity may befall this child! Before anything happens to him, take him immediately to his family and return him!’”¹⁵² According to some sources, this incident occurred when the Messenger of God (peace and blessings be upon him) was about four or five years old.¹⁵³ The Messenger of God (peace and blessings be upon him) also explained this matter as follows: “I was nursed and raised among the Banū Saʿd b.

Bakr. At that time, together with my milk-brother, we were grazing our little lambs behind our houses. Two men dressed in white garments came to me with a golden basin filled with snow. They seized me and split open my belly. They took out my heart. They also split it open. From my heart, they removed a black, clotted piece of blood and threw it away. Then, they thoroughly washed and cleansed my heart and belly with that snow. Then, one of them said to the other: ‘Weigh him against ten men from his community!’ He weighed me against them. I outweighed them. ‘Weigh him against a hundred men from his community!’ he said. He weighed me against them. I still outweighed them.

‘Weigh him against a thousand men from his community!’ he said. He weighed me against them. I outweighed them as well. Upon this, he said: ‘Now stop weighing him! By Allah, if you were to weigh him against his entire community, he would still outweigh them.’”¹⁵⁴ Ḥalīma Hātūn’s Losing of the Messenger of God (peace and blessings be upon him) in Mecca His wet nurse, Ḥalīma Hātūn, when she brought the Messenger of God (peace and blessings be upon him)¹⁵⁵ to Mecca to return him to his mother at the age of five¹⁵⁶, lost him among the crowd in the upper part of Mecca¹⁵⁷.¹⁵⁸ Ḥalīma Hātūn relates this as follows: “I mounted my animal. I took my milk-son in front of me. I reached from the gates of Mecca to the great gate. There was a gathering of people there.

To relieve myself and to tidy my clothes, I left my milk-son there and stepped away. When I heard a loud noise and turned back, I could not see him there. I asked, ‘O people! Where is the child?’ They said, ‘Which child?’ I said, ‘Muḥammad b. ʿAbdullāh b. ʿAbd al-Muṭṭalib!’ I said, ‘Just when Allah was about to make me rejoice by raising him, enrich my household, relieve my hunger, and when I was about to deliver him to his mother and be free of my trust, they snatched him from before me and ran away! By Lāt and ʿUzzā, if I do not see him, I will throw myself from the top of this mountain and be shattered!’

They said, ‘We did not see anything.’ When they made me despair, I put my hand on my head and began to cry, saying, ‘Oh my little Muḥammad! Oh my dear son!’ I made the women and men cry with my lament. The people present there also cried out and lamented with me, burning with grief.¹⁶⁰ I feared that the news of his disappearance would reach ʿAbd al-Muṭṭalib before me. I immediately went to ʿAbd al-Muṭṭalib. When he looked at me, he asked, ‘Have you come with good news or bad news?’ I said, ‘Perhaps the greatest misfortune!’ He immediately understood my purpose. ‘Perhaps my son has disappeared from your side,’ he said. ‘Yes!¹⁶¹ Tonight, I had brought Muḥammad.

While I was in the upper part of Mecca, I lost him. By Allah, I do not know where he is now.¹⁶² Perhaps the Quraysh have acted treacherously and killed him,’ I said. ʿAbd al-Muṭṭalib became angry and immediately drew his sword. When he was angry, no one could restrain his anger.¹⁶³ He said to me: ‘O Ḥalīma! Sit down!’ Then he went up the hill of Ṣafā.¹⁶⁴ He called out, ‘O family of Ghālib!’¹⁶⁵¹⁶⁶ All the Quraysh gathered and came: ‘O father of Ḥāris! What news is there?¹⁶⁷ Speak, and we will respond to you,’ they said.¹⁶⁸ ʿAbd al-Muṭṭalib said: ‘My son Muḥammad is lost!’ The Quraysh said: ‘Mount your animal!

We will mount ours with you.¹⁶⁹ Lead us! If you plunge into the sea, we will plunge with you,’ they said.¹⁷⁰ ʿAbd al-Muṭṭalib immediately mounted his animal. The other Quraysh mounted theirs. They went to the upper part of Mecca. From there, they descended to the lower part of Mecca. When they saw nothing, ʿAbd al-Muṭṭalib left the people to themselves and went to the Sacred House. He entered iḥrām and circumambulated the Kaʿba seven times.¹⁷¹ He supplicated to Allah, saying, ‘O Lord! Though all my people have gathered, Muḥammad has not been found!’¹⁷² We heard a voice from the air calling out: ‘O people! Do not cry out! Surely, Muḥammad has a Lord.

He will not leave him without help nor let him go to waste!’ We heard this call. ʿAbd al-Muṭṭalib said: ‘O caller! Tell us where he is as well!’ He replied, ‘He is in the valley of Tihāma, by the tree on the right.’ ʿAbd al-Muṭṭalib immediately went in that direction.”¹⁷³ On part of the road, he encountered Waraqa b. Nawfal. They continued on their way together.¹⁷⁴ 1/149.

Sources

1. Ibn Saʿd, 1/112, Ḥalabī, 1/155-156. Ibn Saʿd, 1/113.
2. 152. Ibn Isḥāq, Ibn Hishām, 1/173-174, Ṭabarī, Tārīkh, 2/127, Bayhaqī, Dalāʾil, 1/135, Ibn Jawzī, 1/109-112, Ibn al-Athīr, Kāmil, 1/461-462, Ibn Sayyid, 1/34, Dhahabī, Tārīkh, p. 47, Ibn Kathīr, Bidāya, 2/274-275. Ibn Saʿd, 1/112, Masʿūdī, Murūj, 2/281, Abū Nuʿaym, Dalāʾil, 1/161, Ibn Jawzī, 1/110, Ibn al-Athīr, Kāmil, 1/462, Ibn Sayyid, 1/36, Dhahabī, Tārīkh, p. 47.
3. 154. Ibn Isḥāq, Ibn Hishām, 1/175-176, Ṭabarī, Tārīkh, 2/130, Bayhaqī, Dalāʾil, 1/135, 145-146, Ibn Jawzī, 1/111-112, Qāḍī ʿIyāḍ, 1/132-133, Ibn Sayyid, 1/35, Ibn Kathīr, Bidāya, 2/275.
4. 155. Ibn Isḥāq, Ibn Hishām, 1/176, Ibn Saʿd, 1/112, Balādhurī, Ansāb, 1/94. Ibn Saʿd, 1/112, Balādhurī, Ansāb, 1/94, Ibn ʿAbd al-Barr, 1/29, Suhaylī, 2/179, Ibn al-Athīr, Kāmil, 1/462.
5. 157. Ibn Isḥāq, Ibn Hishām, 1/176, Ibn Saʿd, 1/112, Balādhurī, Ansāb, 1/95.
6. 158. Ibn Isḥāq, Ibn Hishām, 1/176, Balādhurī, Ansāb, 1/95, Ḥalabī, 1/154.
7. 159. Ibn Isḥāq, Ibn Hishām, 1/176, Ibn Saʿd, 1/112. Bayhaqī, Dalāʾil, 1/142-143, Ibn Jawzī, 1/115-116, Ibn ʿAsākir, 1/377-378. Bayhaqī, Dalāʾil, 1/144.
8. 162. Ibn Isḥāq, Ibn Hishām, 1/176, Ḥalabī, 1/154. Bayhaqī, Dalāʾil, 1/144. Diyarbekrī, 1/227. In the Age of Ignorance, this was the call to assembly. (Ibn Jawzī, 1/116). Ibn Jawzī, 1/116, Diyarbekrī, 1/227. Bayhaqī, Dalāʾil, 1/144, Diyarbekrī, 1/227. Diyarbekrī, 1/227. Bayhaqī, Dalāʾil, 1/144, Ibn Jawzī, 1/116, Ibn ʿAsākir, 1/378-379, Diyarbekrī, 1/227. Bayhaqī, Dalāʾil, 1/144, Ibn Jawzī, 1/166, Bayhaqī, Dalāʾil, 1/144, Ibn Jawzī, 1/116, Ibn ʿAsākir, 1/379, Diyarbekrī, 1/228. Bayhaqī, Dalāʾil, 1/144, Ibn ʿAsākir, 1/379. Bayhaqī, Dalāʾil, 1/144, Ibn Jawzī, 1/116, Qurtubī, 20/98, Diyarbekrī, 1/228, Ḥalabī, 1/154, Zurqānī, Bayhaqī, Dalāʾil, 1/144, Diyarbekrī, 1/228, Zurqānī, 1/149.