The Prophet (S) in Abdul Muttalib's Care - Our Prophet 2 - Birth To Revelation

So Abd al-Muttalib took excellent care of the Prophet after he lost his mother. You know, he would not eat unless this young boy was with him. He would tend to his needs. He would protect him as much as he could.

Abd al-Muttalib had realized early on, that this boy was special and that he would be a prophet. He would see a number of signs. For example, one hadith states Abd al-Muttalib had a rug on which he would sit on in Masjid al-Haram by the Ka'bah. He would sit there. He was one of the, you know, prominent members of the Quraysh family, of the Bani Hashim family, and his sons, the sons of Abd al-Muttalib would surround him, to protect him from anyone who would come, even from kids who would come they would not allow them access to Abd al-Muttalib.

The hadith states, when the Prophet used to come, imagine a boy of six, seven, eight years old. He is coming. He is running towards Abd al-Muttalib. Some of his uncles, the uncles of the Prophet, they would try to stop him. Do not go to Abd al-Muttalib. He is sitting there, he is praying. Whatever he was doing, do not disturb him. When Abd al-Muttalib would see that scene that some of his sons are trying to take away this boy, the Prophet, he would stop them. He says, no, no, no, please whenever he comes, let him come and sit next to me on this rug.

Remember, in that society, a boy would not be sitting there. This was a very important place in Masjid al-Haram, but he made an exception for Prophet Muhammad. He would sit next to him and Abd al-Muttalib would say, I see the signs of kingdom in him. And when he mean, what he means by kingdom is that Allah will give him prophethood.

So we see that Abd al-Muttalib early on knew that this boy was special, and that God had appointed him for a very important mission. One hadith states one time, Abd al-Muttalib had asked the Prophet he was a boy, maybe about eight years old. He told him, I have a few camels, maybe in a farm in an area. Please go look after them. Some of them are missing. So this young boy, he goes, he is looking after those camels, trying to gather them. But it takes him a while before he comes back.

Abd al-Muttalib starts worrying what happened to him? Why did it take him so long? He starts worrying so much. He goes and he holds on to the Ka'bah and he says, O Allah, did a change in Your plans happen? What happened? How come he has not back? And he anticipated maybe somebody did something to the Prophet, maybe somebody killed the Prophet. So he did that a number of times. When finally the Prophet came back, Abd al-Muttalib hugged him and he told him, I was so worried about you. This is the last time I send you to take care of something. I will never send you again outside the city to do something because I am afraid somebody will kill you.

So we see that he had this special concern for the Prophet. And when he said, while holding the Ka'bah, oh, God, is there a change in Your plans? It means he knew that there was a plan that Allah, Subhana wa Taa'la wanted for this young boy. So Abd al-Muttalib, he saw many signs about this amazing boy, which indicated he would be a Messenger and a Prophet.

Now, history tells us that Abd al-Muttalib, once made a journey to Yemen. There was a famine. There was a problem in Makkah, severe poverty, they did not have crops or food, so they had to go south to Yemen, to ask for assistance from the king. Now, the king at the time was a man by the name of Sayf Ibn Dhi Yazan. Sayf was the king of Yemen at the time. So they went to him. They visited him, and they asked him to give them some food to take back to Makkah.

He took the Prophet with him, this young boy, Muhammad, he took him with him to that trip. That king, Sayf, he saw this young boy, and he was very interested in him. He kept looking at him, examining him very, very precisely, looking at him very carefully. Then he pulls Abd al-Muttalib to the side, and he tells him, look, there is something special about this boy. Apparently, he was Christian, and he had knowledge of the Bible. He told him, I have read in my books, that the last Messenger has a number of signs. I see these signs in this boy. And we are told in our books, that the final Messenger, he will be orphaned at a young age, then his grandfather and uncle will take care of him.

Who is this boy? Is he related to you? He tells him, yes, this is my grandson. Both his parents passed away, so he is an orphan. I am now taking care of him, and I am his grandfather. Sayf tells him: look, I will share this secret with you. Your grandson will be a Messenger. It is mentioned in our books. So take good care of him. Now, I do not want to go public with this, because I am afraid if I say that from now, some will kill him. And according to this, hadith says specifically, some of the Jews, they will try to kill your grandson.

So take extra caution, take precaution in raising your grandson. And I know that I will not make it. He was old at the time. I will not make it by the time this grandson becomes a Messenger. But know, Abd al-Muttalib, that if I were alive when he would announce his mission, I would use my government and my army, and all of my resources to come and help him, because he is the final Messenger. So Abd al-Muttalib would constantly see these signs that there is something special about this baby, this boy, even others, kings from their own books. They have signs about him.

So Abd al-Muttalib had a very special relationship with the Prophet. They go back to Makkah. Now at the age of eight, so two years after the Prophet loses his mother, Abd al-Muttalib was now old at the time, he was over 80 years old. Abd al-Muttalib, at the age of 82, he passes away that year. The Prophet was how old at this time? Eight years old. So when the Prophet was eight years old, he loses his grandfather. And this was a very tragic event for the Prophet.

Imagine he did not have a father. He lost his mother two years ago. Now he loses his guardian, his protector, and the one who takes care of him. Before Abd al-Muttalib passes away, in his will, he makes a request for his son, Abu Talib, to be the caretaker of the Prophet. Now, Abd al-Muttalib had many sons, his oldest son was Harith, his wealthiest son was 'Abbas. But he did not choose any one of them. He chose specifically Abu Talib, the father of Imam 'Ali, to take care of the Prophet and to raise him. Because Abu Talib was known for his faith, for his wisdom and for his high status. So Abd al-Muttalib found him to be the most appropriate son to take care of the Prophet.