There are several occasions in history when Shaytan moaned & cried

1.
2.
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4.
5.
6.

When he was cursed by Allah

When he was cast down to the earth
On birth of Prophet (sw)
When Muhammad was given Nabua (Prophethood)
Day Surah Al-Fatiha was revealed
During the conquest of Makkah
Prophet was nursed not only by his mother Aminah, but also 3 other women

Baraqah, aka Ummu Aymen

Thuyaba
Halimah
Islam established boundaries between an infant & his milkmother

Forbidden for males to marry are their mothers, sisters, daughters, aunts
And those mothers who breastfed you & their daughters & sisters
This establishes relations similar to blood relations
Baraqah (blessing) was on the journey with Muhammad & Aminah when
Aminah passed away. Baraqah brought the child back to his grandfather Abdul
Mutallib after returning to Makkah.

Baraqah was a Habeshi woman from East Africa. She was previously a slave,
originally owned by Abdul Mutallib, who had given her to Abdullah. When
Abdullah passed away, she became Aminahs. Later on, Prophet inherited her.
Muhammad freed Baraqah from slavery after he married, and they both retained
a close relationship.
Prophet would call her, Ya Umm. (O Mother). They were very close.
Whenever hed talk about Baraqah with other people, Muhammad would say,
She is all that is left of my family.
He always kept her very close to him.
Baraqah went on to accept Islam & performed the Hijra. Later on, she
accompanied the Prophet & other Muslims in a few battles.
After the Prophet freed her, Baraqah married a man who later accepted Islam.

They had a son named Aymen. He was also a Believer & participated in some
battles & the Hijra.
Baraqahs first husband was martyred.
The Prophet proposed that whoever would like to marry a Jannati woman (a
woman of Paradise), he should propose marriage to Baraqah.
Zayd (adopted son of Muhammad) bin Haritah (ra) was kidnapped & taken into
slavery when he was a young boy.
Khadijah bought him, & gave him to Muhammad as a wedding gift.
Zayds father, Haritha, the leader of tribe, would go outside of his village/town
during time of sunset & recite poetry about how much he missed Zayd. Harita
hears from other people that his son is in Makkah, so he travels there to get his

son back.
When Zayd was reunited with his father, the young boy was happy to see him, but
said that hed prefer to stay with Muhammad, who treated him like a family
member.
Muhammad was touched. To put Haritahs concerns to rest, Muhammad said to
Zayd, Youre free, but from now on I take you as my son.
Adoption is permissible. Referring to Zayd as Zayd bin Muhammad was wrong.
Hes Zayd mowla Rasulillah. one who is affiliated with Muhammad.
Zayd & Baraqah married, & had a son named Usama.
Usama (r.a.) used to be known as Hibbu Rasullilah (the beloved of the Prophet)
One time Zayd & his son Usama were lying down & sleeping at the masjid. The
Prophet walked by them & said, I swear by Allah, I love both of them. Oh Allah, I
want you to look after both of them.
After Muhammad died, Baraqah was deeply saddened. She was found crying
uncontrollably.
She said, I swear by Allah, I knew he was going to pass away. The way he was
speaking to people. I knew him. I raised him. This is not a shock to me. I knew he
was going to die. Rather I cry because it just hit me that divine revelation (Wahid)
will no longer come down from the sky. That era of revelation has come to an
end.
Before he passed away, the Prophet left Baraqah a few camels
One time, Ummu Aymen (Baraqah) was fasting while she was traveling

She migrated for Hijra on foot by herself. She had no provisions.

While she was migrating, she became so thristy that she thought she was going to
die from thirst.
She was lying underneath a tree to rest, & out of nowhere, a bucket of water came
down from above her. She drank the water.
For the rest of her life, Baraqah never felt thirsty again & only drank water just
because she felt like it.
Ummu Aymen passed away about 20 days after the death of Umar bin al-Khattab
Thuwayba was another woman who nursed Muhammad when he was an
infant
She was a slave girl who was owned by Abu Lahab
When Muhammad was born, Thuwayba came running to Abu Lahab to tell him
that his nephew was born
This was a momentous occasion because just months before his brother Abdullah
died. Everyone was anticipating the birth of his child.
When he heard the news of the birth of his dead brothers son, Abu Lahab was so
overjoyed that he freed Thuwayba on the spot
In one narration, Abu Lahab was seen by his brother Abbas (ra) in a dream many
years later.
Abbas: After death, what became of you?
Abu Lahab: I have not experienced anything good since I left the world. A lot of

punishment has been inflicted on me because of what I did. I opposed the

Prophet. I opposed his teachings. Theres only one thing. Ive been punished
nonstop, except that every Monday, Im given a break from punishment. Because
on Monday, when Prophet was born, & Thuwayba brought me the news of his
birth, I did the good deed of freeing Thuwayba, & I showed some respect to the
Prophet when he was born. Because of that, I am not punished on Mondays.
Because she was in the family & remained close to them, Thuwayba had also
nursed Hamza, an uncle of Prophet. Thus, Hamza was not only Muhammads
uncle, but also his milkbrother
Thuwayba was the first woman to nurse Prophet after Aminah. She nursed him
for about 4 months
She herself had a son named Masroo
She also nursed Abu Salima
Thuwayba later on ended up accepting Islam
Throughout the rest of his life, Prophet would send his gifts to her & would visit
her. Sometimes hed take his kids to visit her
She was treated as a mother of Prophet
Khadijah would also visit Thuwayba & give her gifts
Thuwayba passed away after during the 7th year of Hijra, after the Battle of
Khaybar
Her son passed away before she did
The daughter of Abu Sufyan, Ummu Habiba, was one of the wives of Prophet
She once offered the Prophet her sister for marriage
Ummu Habiba: I benefit from the blessing of being your wife. I want my sister to
share that blessing too.
Prophet said this is impermissible
Ummu Habiba says that she meant no offense. She & her sister had been talking,
& they thought that the Prophet was going to marry the daughter of Abu Salima &
Ummu Salima.
Ummu Salima was also one of the other wives of Prophet
Abu & Ummu Salima accepted Islam, but they were separated from each other
later on by their families. Theyd write poetry & send letters to each other; they
were deeply in love.
Abu Salima passed away. After some time, Prophet married Ummu Salima & took
care of her children
Prophet: You mean the daughter of my wife, Ummu Salima? Thats impossible. I
could never marry Salima.
I cant marry her because shes the child of one of my wives!
Shes also my niece through milk. Her father Abu Salima & I were nursed by
Thuwayba.
From now on, dont bring me any more proposals from your daughters & sister.
Out of Muhammads (saw) 3 milkmothers (not including his mother Aminah),
2 of them were black Baraqah (aka Ummu Aymen) & Thuwayba

7.

Baraqah was so dear to Prophet that hed call her Ya Um or introduce her as his

8.

Halimah was married to Al Hadith bin Abdul Uzza from Banu Saad. Their
children:
Son named Abdullah
Daughter named Unaisa
Daughter named Khudafa (whose actual name was probably Judama)
1 Nickname was Shaima
It was year of drought in Banu Saad area

Because the drought was so severe (plants & animals dying), many of the women
of Banu Saad decide to go to Makkah to help out their families
About 10 women ride out on a long journey Makkah
They traveled on mules or donkeys camels are actually uncomfortable to ride
on
Halimah, her husband al-Hadith & their infant son, Abdullah, traveled on this
journey together, while their two daughters were left behind
Halimahs family was one of the poorest families in the area
The mule Halimah was riding was very weak & moving slowly. The camel that alHadith was riding was a she-camel. They brought her for the camels milk for the
journey, but due to the drought & lack of grazing area, the animals couldnt
produce any milk.
Due to lack of food, Halimah couldnt produce milk to feed Abdullah.

Makkah at the time had high infant mortality due to a disease spreading
Thus, kids would be sent away with wet nurses to the countryside grow away
from the pollution & other what-have-yous of city life
In order to earn some money, women from the boonies would come to Makkah &
would go to families with young children & ask to raise them
1 Makkah was a trade center. People came from far & wide to do
business. The mixing of different cultures affected the purity of the
language of the Quraysh
2 Qurayshi families didnt want their children to grow up with their
version of Spanglish, so they were willing to send their kids away to
learn the pure form of Arabic from these women
These women would keep the kids for a minimum of 2 years
1 During that time, these women would bring the kids back to visit
them, or the families themselves would go to the countryside to visit
their kids
Halima al-Sadiya bint Abu Dhuayb (actual name Abdullah bin Hadith), of the
tribe of Banu Saad, was another milkmother of the Prophet

mother
The Quraysh had such a superiority complex that theyd look down on other
Arabs & people. Allah divinely arranged for two African women to be
milkmothers of the Prophet, to serve as a model for the ummah
Tradition of the time for the high class families of Quraysh in Makkah was that
young kids would be sent away to live outside city life away from the pollution
& danger of the city

The other families that had been traveling with them had gone on. Halimahs
family had been left behind.
They continued to push forward though.
On the night before they reached Makkah, their situation had been so severe
that the baby couldnt stop crying due to hunger. They all stayed up all night long.
Still, they arrive in Makkah in their condition.

They arrive in Makkah to find that all of the women have received babies &
payment from the wealthy families in Makkah.
Halimah is the only one who was left without a baby to take in.
Halimah made rounds to look for any babies & got rejected in every home, but
every single family tell her that theres one baby that no ones picked up yet the
grandson of Abdul Mutallib, little Muhammad
Halimah says, When every single home would tell me about this baby, Id think
to myself, I dont want this baby.
All the women of Banu Saad who arrived before told Halimah that even they
wouldnt take this baby because the baby is an orphan.
Sure, the baby comes from a good family, but Abdul Mutallib has to take care of
Makkah & his whole extended family. So its unsure as to how dependable
Aminah can be for money.
No one was motivated enough to take in Muhammad
After she made all the rounds, Halimah realized theres only one yatin baby
left.

She goes to her husband & says theres nothing to take.

1 Halimah said, Even if we dont get any money out of this, well at
least save some face. At least I wouldnt come home unemployed,
empty-handed since all the other women had gotten a baby.
2 Al Hadith replied, You never know. God can provide some blessing
in that child for us. So go pick up that child if you want to.
When the wet nurse would come to pick up the baby, the family would ask her
to nurse the baby in front of them (as a form of interview) so they were assured
that the child was comfortable with the woman

Remember that for two days, Halimah hadnt been able to feed her son properly.
She was so hungry herself that she couldnt produce any milk for her baby.
But as soon as Halimah picked up baby Muhammad & started nursing, she was
able to feed him. She fed him to his fill.
She was very surprised by this because her own baby Abdullah had been crying
all night from lack of milk. She set down Muhammad after he finished, and then
fed Abdullah to his fill
She knew that Muhammad was something special. Halimah eagerly asked for the
child now.
Aminah agrees
Halimah & her husband pack up & set up to leave. Before getting Muhammad,
Halimah pleads to the women that came with her to wait for her family. She gets
Muhammad & the family sets on the journey back.

Now the mule that they rode on is perfectly fine, shes walking fast now
At night, when camping, al-Hadith asks his wife if shes hungry. She says, Yes,
but why bother? The camel wont milk; weve tried for several days.
But al-Hadith goes to try anyway, & he milks the she-camel. Bowl is completely
filled
Both wife & husband drank to their fill
Halimah was able to nurse both babies. They were all able to sleep very well
Halimah recalls that was the most peaceful sleep shes ever had
They arrive home
The entire area of Banu Saad was stricken with drought, but the land that Al
Hadith owned was the worst.

Halimah & al-Hadiths livestock was dying due to lack of grazing areas.
It was difficult to negotiate with other landowners to allow Halimah & al-Hadiths
herd to graze on the neighbors because theyd want the animals for themselves.
Slowly, Halimahs livestock herd was thinning in number & size.
But when they got back, before you know it, their land is the greenest in the
region. Their goats, sheep, & cows ate to their fill & gave an abundance of milk.
Soon enough, they were able to start a milk business
Their neighbors lands were still barren. Theyd look over to Al Hadiths land &
wonder how he could be so successful during this drought.
Some of the wealthier tribe leaders would hire shepherds to take care of their
livestock. They would scold the shepherds, Why is my flock dying? Why arent
they giving milk? Look at al-Hadiths animals. Why are they able to give so much
milk? You must be doing something wrong.
The aggression wasnt subtle. The other women who brought kids from
Makkah used to look at Halimah with pity before because she used to be the
miskeena of the group (broke husband, dried-up land, dying animals). Now the
women tell Halimah, Youve acquired a huge blessing.

Halimah & al-Hadiths land was flourishing. Their livestock gave plenty of food,
thus the family was able to do very well themselves.
Halimah & al-Hadith are able to determine that Muhammad is the reason that
they now have so many blessings in their life

Theyve also noticed that Muhammad had a noor in his face. He just had this
appealing look in his face. He had a magnetic quality about him; people would
come over & just sit & hold him.
As he grew to a toddler, Muhammad didnt look like an average 2 year old. He
seemed taller, stronger, & more intelligent than average 2 year old.
He was also very calm & serene. He didnt throw hissy fits
Because Halimah knew that Muhammad was a very special child & that he was
the source of all their new blessings, Halimah instructed her eldest daughter
Shaima, Listen, your brothers, Abdullah & Muhammad, are little kids who run
around & do crazy things, but I want you to always keep an eye on Muhammad.
Hes your responsibility. Be a good older sister to him.

 One day, Halimah sees no children in the house

The sun was at its peak. During this time of day, the animals would all find &
huddle up underneath the shade under the wall of the house or under the trees.
They would rest until it cooled down before going out in the open.
Halimah looks out, & sees her daughter Shaima sitting with Muhammad outside
in the middle of the grass, out in the open in the glaring heat.
Muhammad is just lying on the grass & Shaimas sitting. Theyre both just chillin.
Halimah is angry. She put her daughter in charge of Muhammad but theyre both
out in the open, not even in the shade.
Halimah rushes out there, furious, yelling, its so hot, dont sit under the sun!
Get back inside!
She scolds Shaima, You should know better! What are you doing?! Youre going
to get sick! Hes just a little boy! You should know better!
Shaima says, No, Mom, everythings okay. Ive been watching little brother. One
thing I noticed about him was that he walks around in the noontime without a
bother. I wondered how he can walk around during this heat without any
discomfort. I looked up & see that theres always a cloud over him casting a shade
on him. As he moves, the cloud & the shade also move. Its always there. So he
just comes out here & just chills. So I sit next to him & get some of the shade too.
When Muhammad reaches 2, Halimah brings Muhammad back to Makkah.
Thats typically the age when the women bring the children back to their families.
Halimah recalls that she did not want to give up the child, not just because of all
the blessings (since they were living it up), but she had formed an attachment
with the child
Aminahs very happy to be reunited with her son
Halimah asks, Did you consider sending him away for more time?
Aminah says, No, absolutely not. Were good.
Halimahs anxious. But it just so happens, there have been a lot of recent cases of
little babies getting sick from disease & dying. Halimah remembers this, so she
tells Aminah about all these kids dying in Makkah
Halimah says, I wouldnt want anything to happen to Muhammad. Hes my son
too. Let me take him back for a bit longer, where its clean & safe & away from all
this mess.
Shes able to convince Aminah & bring Muhammad back to Banu Saad, for about
a year & a half
During that year & a half, a big incident occurred
Angel Jibril (as) comes & splits Muhammads chest & cleanses his heart
Little Muhammad lived with his milkmother Halimah & her family for about
the first 3-5 years of his life way out in the boondocks
Muhammads age is estimated to be between 2 and 4 at the time when his
chest was split open

9.

Since he remembers this incident so clearly, scholars say he was close to 4 or 4

years.
4-year-old Abdullah, Halimahs biological son, comes running to Halimah &
her husband al-Hadith, yelling & panting, Over there! Over there! Akhi alQurayshi! My brother! My brother!

The parents rush toward the direction Abdullah was pointing

Muhammad & Abdullah were running around & playing where the goats & sheep
were grazing behind the tents area of their farm. They were playing when
Abdullah went running to his parents, very terrified.
In one narration, while theyre running, Abdullah tells his parents what scared
him

Two men came down. They were wearing white clothes. They laid Muhammad
down and started cutting him open.
In 2nd narration, Muhammad himself gave his nursing parents a full account of
what happened
3rd narration says Muhammad tells his Sahaba years later this story. He pulled
his shirt off to show the cut from the hollow of the neck to his navel.
Halimah, al-Hadith, & Abdullah reach over to Muhammad

They find Muhammad standing there, looking very pale

Al-Hadith asks Muhammad, My dear son, what happened to you?
Muhammad says, Two men came to me. They were wearing white clothes. They
laid me down on my back and then they split me open. They took something out
from me and threw it away. Then they put everything back.
As Muhammad recalls this memory years later, he said:

The two men came down from the sky, as if they were flying down. They took my
heart out & split it. They took some sort of black blood clot. They pulled it out
from my heart & threw it away.
One of the 2 men said, Wheres the dish? The dish was made of gold.
There was ice in the Zamzam water in the dish.
They took my heart out, took out some black element (represents evil/sin), &
then washed my heart. They also washed my inside & put the heart back in.
After the men perform the procedures, they have a conversation:
Angel: Weigh him against 10 people of his ummah.
Muhammad, recalling years later, said, I outweighed them.
Angel: Then weigh him against 100 people.
Muhammad: I outweighed them.
Angel: Then weigh him against 1000 people.
Muhammad: I outweighed them.
Angel: Then leave him.
The angels were weighing Muhammads Imaan, endurance, his emotional
fortitude all of it outweighed everyone elses.
On his deathbed, Muhammad was experiencing the pains of death, since the
soul is getting ready to transition from the dunya to al-Akhira. He asks Jibril,

whos there to comfort Muhammad, Is this pain something everyone goes

through?

Halimah & Al Hadith are very worried & talk about what to do. Theyre worried
about the aftereffects. They already know that somethings special about
Muhammad.
Al-Hadith says, We have no choice but to take Muhammad back to Makkah. We
need to give him back to his mother before anything else happens to him. Maybe
someones after him, maybe its some supernatural force. Whatevers happening,
its beyond our control. But we shouldnt tell his mother what happened. Whats
already happened, happened. Shes a single mother, & probably worried about
raising a child on her own theres no benefit in worrying her further. Lets just
take him home, give him to his mother, & come back home.
Halimah & al-Hadith rush back to Aminah with Muhammad

Aminah asks, Why are you back so early?

They reply, Weve already fulfilled our contract of 2 years, so here you are.
Aminah says, No, no. Somethings happened. You look frightened. The way you
negotiated last time to take him away again, I thought Id never see my son again.
I thought I would have to come get him. Now youre in a hurry to rid of him. Tell
me what happened. This is my child. I want to know exactly what happened.
Aminah wouldnt let them leave until they told her the details
Halimah & al-Hadith recount the experience

After hearing it all, Aminah asks, Are you worried that Shaytan or some other
evil force (spirits/demons) has done something to him? Do you want me to tell
you something about Muhammad? You dont need to worry. Whatevers
happened, its nothing bad. Shaytan cant do anything to him. This son of mine
hes going to be someone very, very special. Theres something momentous in his
future. You want me to really tell you about him?
Halimah says, Of course.
Aminah says, When I was pregnant with him, I could never feel anything. I felt
no extra weight, I felt no burden, no difficulty. When I was pregnant with him, Id
see dreams that light was coming out of my womb & it was illuminating the
palaces of As-Sham (Syria). When I gave birth to him, he came out unlike any
other child. He didnt cry. The entire house became filled with noor. The women
who were assisting with the delivery were momentarily blinded.
Aminah goes to tell Halimah & al-Hadith about the miracles surrounding

Jibril replied, Yes, this is something everyone experiences. Its not a

punishment. Its the soul preparing to depart this world.
Muhammad makes a dua, Oh Allah, I will take all of this pain & suffering from
my ummah. Please do not put anybody from my ummah through this pain.
So we see from these types of narrations that the Prophet could put up with more
than the average human
Halimah & her husband al-Hadith carry Muhammad home. They lay him
down to rest.

Muhammads birth of the angels that would come to talk to her, & the name her
baby should be given.
Aminah says, Dont worry about anything. Nothing bad has happened to him, &
nothing bad can happen to this child.
With that, Halimah & al-Hadith leave Muhammad to the care of his mother
Aminah and go back home.
A Sahaba named Abu Dhar asked Muhammad, When did you first realize that
you were unique, & there was something different about you? When did you
realize you were a prophet?

Muhammad replied, I knew there was something special about me when two
angels came to me. When I was in the nearby valleys of Makkah, one of them
came & landed on the ground next to me. The other one was still in the sky. The
one who landed asked the one still in the sky, Are you sure its him? The other
one said, Yes, thats the one weve been looking for. Then the angels weighed me
against a person.
1 Then he talks about his chest being split & then sewed back up
Muhammad also mentions that the angels observed the birthmark on his back (a
cluster of moles), which had begun to get more prominent at that time
1 Khatimun Nabua a sign that he was the Seal of Prophethood
The Prophets heart has been washed by Zamzam at least twice as a child &
when he went on the Night Journey (Al-Isra wa Al-Miraj)
He was about 50-years-old. He went to the Baytullah (Kabah) & prayed 2 rakaat
in the hateem. He was leaned against the Kabah, where the angels performed the
same procedure on his heart
Majority of narrations say this incident happened twice, but a weaker narration
also mentions a 3rd incident in which his chest was split open
It happened to him at the age of 12 or 13, when he was about to enter puberty
There are questions regarding the validity of this incident, by Orientalists, who
dismiss such events in the life of the Prophet as preposterous

These events come to us from authentic sources

Believing something out of the ordinary in regards to the Prophets life is a test of
our imaan
However, thats not to say that youre going to start performing open heart
surgeries to remove the black entity that represents evil
One time, Aisha (ra) was acting out, so the Prophet asked if she was feeling
jealous

Aisha: Yes, of course, Im jealous.

Prophet: Your Shaytan had gotten hold of you. Your shaytan got the best of you.
Thats why you felt jealous.
Aisha: Does everyone have a shaytan?
Prophet: Yes, everyone has a shaytan thats attached to them, who tries to take

them into the wrong path.

Aisha: Even you, o Rasullallah?
Prophet: Yes, even a shaytan attached himself to me, but he became a Muslim.
But my shaytan has no control over me, I control him. He doesnt get the best of
me.
This chest-splitting served as a cleansing of the heart for the Prophet, freeing
him from the influences of the nafs, carnal, & other evil influences.
That washing of the Prophets heart in Zamzam water by the angels was
strengthening the heart of Prophet to be able to receive divine revelation & to be
able to carry the Quran
Allah told the Prophet that the Quran is very heavy
1 Aisha recalls a time when Prophet was resting his head on her leg,
when he began to receive divine revelation. His head became so
heavy that Aisha was afraid that his head would crush his leg
2 Sometimes, when the Prophet would be riding an animal & get
divine revelation, the camel/donkey would sit down & moan from
the heavy discomfort
This heart-cleansing was to prepare the Prophet to receive the Quran
Why would there be a physical procedure like this? Why not make it a
metaphorical heart-cleansing?

This was to make it a publically known thing so that the child himself would
realize & the people immediate to the child would realize that hes on his way to
achieve great things
After being returned to Aminah, Muhammad stayed with his mother for 2-3
more years until her death

Muhammad lost both of his parents by the age of 6 (his father died before his
birth)
Everything that happened to the Prophet was by divine decree