Early Life and Upbringing

This in-depth content is currently written in English. A faithful translation is in progress.

أَلَمْ يَجِدْكَ يَتِيمًا فَآوَىٰ

Did He not find you an orphan and give you shelter?

— Quran 93:6

Sent to the Desert

Following a custom among the noble families of Mecca, infant Muhammad was sent away from the city's crowded air to be nursed and raised for a time among the Bedouin, whose pure desert dialect and hardy way of life were thought to build strong bodies and eloquent speech. He was taken in by Halimah bint Abi Dhu'ayb, of the tribe of Banu Sa'd, known as Halimah al-Sa'diyyah. Tradition holds that Halimah's household, previously touched by hardship, found unexpected blessing and abundance from the moment she took the child in, and she grew to love him as her own. He remained with her and her family in the desert for several years, absorbing the clear Arabic tongue and the resilience of Bedouin life that would later serve him well.

The Splitting of the Chest

It was during his time among Banu Sa'd that one of the most remarkable episodes of his early years is recorded. While playing with other children, young Muhammad was approached by two angels who, according to the widely transmitted account, laid him down and opened his chest, removed a dark clot described as the share of Satan's influence, washed his heart with water from a vessel, and then restored him whole. His foster-brother, frightened, ran to tell Halimah that something had happened to Muhammad. Though the boy appeared unharmed, the event unsettled Halimah enough that she eventually returned him to his mother in Mecca, sensing that this was a child marked for something beyond the ordinary.

The Death of Aminah

Back in Mecca, Muhammad lived with his mother, Aminah bint Wahb, who cherished the son who so resembled his late father. When he was about six years old, Aminah took him on a journey to visit relatives in Yathrib and to see his father's grave. On the return journey, she fell ill and died at a place called Abwa, between Mecca and Yathrib, and was buried there. In the span of a few short years, the boy who had lost his father before birth now lost his mother as well, left in the care of Umm Ayman, a devoted servant of the family who continued to look after him with great tenderness throughout his childhood.

In the Care of Abd al-Muttalib

The orphaned boy was taken into the household of his grandfather, Abd al-Muttalib, the elderly and respected chief of Banu Hashim, who showed him particular affection, reportedly allowing him to sit beside him in gatherings where other children were not permitted. This tender guardianship, however, was brief. When Muhammad was about eight years old, Abd al-Muttalib himself died, and on his deathbed entrusted the boy's care to his son Abu Talib, who, though not the wealthiest of his brothers, took up the responsibility with genuine warmth and would remain the Prophet's protector for decades to come.

A Shepherd's Early Years

In the household of his uncle Abu Talib, young Muhammad grew up alongside his cousins, sharing in the modest means of the family. Like many children of Mecca, he took up work tending sheep and goats for his own family and for others in the city, walking the rocky hills around Mecca in the sun. He would later speak of this experience with a kind of quiet appreciation, noting that every prophet before him had also shepherded flocks in his youth. It was humble, patient work, teaching him early the responsibility of caring for creatures weaker than himself, a lesson that would echo through his later role as shepherd of a much larger flock.

Twice orphaned before the age of eight, the boy who would become the Prophet learned early that loss could be carried with patience, and that God's care does not abandon those the world calls parentless.

Sira reports can differ in chronology and detail. Read narrative claims with the cited Quranic passage and the site's editorial methodology in view.