Details of the Birth of Holy Prophet - Our Prophet 2 - Birth To Revelation

Now, who are the ancestors of the Prophet? So his name is Muhammad salla Allahu 'alayhi wa alih. He is the son of 'Abd Allah, that is his father, the son of 'Abd al-Muttalib, that is his grandfather, the son of Hashim. So when you hear Hashim, Hashimi, the Hashimite clan, they come from this grandfather of the Prophet. They were an honourable family who come from the line of Hashim.

Then from Hashim, you keep going up, up until you reach Adnan. And then before that, Ibrahim 'alayhi as-salam. Up until Adnan, we do have the names, but then after Adnan to Ibrahim, we do not have the names of the grandfathers of the Prophet. So these were the grandfathers of the Holy Prophet salla Allahu 'alayhi wa alih.

Who was his mother? His mother was Amina 'alayha as-salam, the daughter of Wahab, the son of Abd Munaf. So Amina bint Wahab bint Abd Munaf. This was the mother of the Holy Prophet, salla Allahu alayhi wa alih. So the Prophet was born in the 'Year of the Elephant', as we described in the previous course, that incident of the elephant. What year was that? In the Gregorian calendar It is 570, 80 or in the common era, 570. He was born in that year. On which day was he born?

There is a disagreement between Shi'ahs and Sunnis. Most Sunnis say he was born on the 12th day of Rabi' Al-Awwal. Rabi' al-Awwal is the first month in the Islamic calendar. He was born on the 12th day of that month, on a Monday. Who says this? The majority of Sunni scholars. The majority of Shi'ah scholars say he was born on the 17th of Rabi' al-Awwal, so five days later than what the Sunnis say on a Friday. So there is some disagreements when it comes to these sects.

Now, you could ask, okay, this is a very important event. How come there is some discrepancy here between the dates? Remember, the Arabs would not keep track of the dates. They would not even write them. You did not have a registry, records, hospitals. So most of those people born in those eras, you did not really know the day on which they were born.

Now, the Prophet salla Allahu 'alayhi wa alih, who later become a very important figure, yes, we do know the month, but there is some discrepancy. Sometimes, even when those early writers would write, because the Arabic script was not standardized, sometimes you would write something, and it could be confusing. Is this one, two, three? Is it seven, is it nine? So you get that confusion sometimes.

But the Imams of Ahl ul-Bayt peace be upon them, have clarified to the Shi'ah that the Prophet was born on the 17th of Rabi' al-Awwal, whether it is the 12th or the 17th, he was born in the month of Rabi' al-Awwal, the year 570.

In which house was he born? The Prophet was born in Makkah in the Sh'ab of Bani Hashim. There was a neighborhood in Makkah called the Sh'ab of Bani Hashim, also known as the Sh'ab of Abu Talib. When those Muslims were persecuted and boycotted for three years, as we will see later inshaAllah, they sought refuge in that neighborhood, in that part of Makkah. So the Prophet was born in that neighborhood, in one of the houses there.

Now, Muhammad, this brother of Al-Hajjaj ibn Yusuf al-Thaqafi, have you heard about the Hajjaj, the governor of Iraq, who was a big tyrant who would mercilessly kill people, his brother Muhammad, purchased that house in which the Prophet was born for 1000 golden coins - dinars. Who did he purchase it from? From the descendants of 'Aqil. 'Aqil - the brother of Imam 'Ali Ibn Abi Talib 'alayhi as-salam. He and his descendants owned that house. So he purchased it from the inheritors of 'Aqil for this big price.

Then at the time of Harun al-'Abbasi, he had a mother by the name of Al-Khayzaran. Al-Khayzaran was the mother of Harun. Harun was the 'Abbasid ruler at the time of Al-Imam al-Kadhim 'alayhi as-salam. So we are talking about nearly two centuries after the Prophet. She turned this house into a mosque, where many people would come, they would visit the house, seek the blessings from this house. They would pray there. It was a mosque. And it continued that way throughout history until what? Until the Wahhabis came. They demolished the house and they destroyed the house.

So today, when you go to Makkah, you will no longer see that house. It is razed down. Yes. Recently, they have destroyed the house, the very house that the Messenger of God is born. Imagine if Jesus 'alayhi as-salam, we knew exactly where his house was. You think the Christians would have demolished his house? Or they would do pilgrimage to his house? This is the Messenger of God but look at these Wahhabis. They razed down his house.

Yes [Is that house right next to the Ka'bah?] It is not right next to the Ka'bah, there is distance between it and the Ka'bah. No, there is some distance. It is in Makkah. It is not too far from the Ka'bah. But it is not right by the Ka'bah. There is some distance.

So they razed down the house, unfortunately. And we no longer have the honour to go and visit the house of the Prophet salla Allahu 'alayhi wa alih. Yes. They have this complex and it is close to the bathrooms. They have no respect for the Prophet of Islam.

So the Prophet is born, according to our sources, on the 17th of Rabi' al-Awwal on a Friday. The 7th day approached. On the 7th day, 'Abd al-Muttalib, who was the grandfather of the Prophet, he slaughters a sheep, and he gives a feast, and he invites people, the poor, his relatives, they come and he feeds them in honour of this baby. And that is why, in the religion of Islam, it is mustahab[recommended] on the 7th day, to sacrifice a sheep when you have a newborn. And then from that sheep make a delicious meal and invite your friends and family, and some poor people to come and eat. [Is that the haqiqah?] That is the 'aqiqah. Yes. We call that 'aqiqah. So 'Abd al-Muttalib did that for the Prophet.

And then at that ceremony, at that feast, 'Abd al-Muttalib gave the Prophet his name. He named him Muhammad. On the 7th day he gave him this wonderful name. What does this name mean in Arabic? It comes from the word root word- 'hamd'- 'praise'. The one and he said 'the most praised'. 'Abd al-Muttalib when he gave him that name, he says he is 'the most praised in the heavens end on the Earth.' He gave him that beautiful name.

His mother Amina, she named him Ahmad. That is why you have two names for the Prophet. One is Muhammad, one is Ahmad. It comes from the same root word, pretty much the same meaning. So his mother Amina gave him the name Ahmad. She would call him Ahmad. You know, some mothers sometimes they have their own special name that they give to their children. And 'Abd al-Muttalib named him Muhammad. His official name was Muhammad, but his mother sometimes would call him Ahmad.

Now this name of Muhammad, it was a very rare name among the Arabs. Some historians say only 16 people before the Prophet were given this name. So this name did exist, but it was very rare. It was a rare name. 'Abd al-Muttalib was inspired by Allah Subhana wa Ta'ala to give him that name.