Seerah | Lecture 3 | The Childhood of the Noble Prophet ﷺ

The Prophet Muhammad ﷺ was born with the combined spiritual attributes of all previous prophets and messengers, a status that establishes his superiority over all who preceded him ▸1:24. His arrival into the world was marked by the lamentation of Shaitan, who recognized that the light of the Prophet would eradicate the evil he had spread throughout history ▸4:24. During his childhood in the care of Sayyida Halima, the Prophet engaged in the sunnah of grazing sheep, a practice that served as a divine preparation for his future role as a leader of the ummah ▸7:43. The sheep under his care were observed to follow him with military-like discipline, recognizing his unique status ▸9:9.

A pivotal event in his early life was the irhasat (miraculous sign) involving the cleansing of his heart by Jibril. During this event, his chest was opened, his heart removed, and a clot of blood—identified as the potential site for Shaitan’s manipulation—was extracted and washed with Zamzam water in a golden tray before the heart was returned to his chest ▸11:51. Later, while traveling toward Makkah, the Prophet was briefly lost, an incident some scholars link to the verse in Surah Duha, wa wajadaka dallan fahada ▸24:36. He was eventually returned to his grandfather, Sayyiduna Abdul Muttalib, either through the intervention of a local man or by divine guidance leading to his location in the hills of Tihama ▸25:16.

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Key topics & takeaways

The Prophet’s status and birth

• Inheritance of prophetic attributes — the angels were ordered to bestow the attributes of all previous prophets upon the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ at his birth, without removing them from the previous prophets ▸1:24.
• Superiority over all prophets — the Prophet is the most superior of all previous messengers, a status affirmed by the fact that his birth involved the manifestation of divine power surpassing that of Sayyiduna Isa ▸3:3.
• The reaction of Shaitan — upon the Prophet’s birth, Shaitan cried out in distress, knowing that the light of the Prophet would destroy the evil he had cultivated in the world ▸4:24.

Childhood and the miracle of the heart

• Grazing sheep — the Prophet engaged in the sunnah of grazing sheep at the age of three, which served as a divine training method to prepare him for the responsibility of leading his people ▸7:43.
• Discipline of the flock — the sheep under the Prophet’s care would form lines and follow him in a disciplined manner, refusing to walk in front of him ▸9:9.
• The opening of the chest — Jibril performed a physical cleansing of the Prophet’s heart while he was in the fields with other children ▸11:51.
• Removal of the clot — a clot of blood was removed from the heart, which Jibril identified as the specific area where Shaitan could potentially exert influence or wasawis ▸12:43.
• Washing with Zamzam — the heart was washed in a golden tray brought from Jannah using the water of Zamzam before being returned to the chest ▸13:46.

Challenges and protection

• The fortune teller’s threat — after the heart-cleansing incident, locals suggested taking the Prophet to a fortune teller, who recognized the signs of his future leadership and attempted to incite others to kill him ▸16:19.
• The idol Hubal — when Sayyida Halima searched for the missing Prophet, an old man suggested seeking help from the idol Hubal, but the idol fell over immediately upon hearing the name "Muhammad" ▸20:37.
• The return to Makkah — the Prophet was returned to his grandfather, Sayyiduna Abdul Muttalib, either through the actions of Abu Jahl or through divine guidance that led Abdul Muttalib to the hills of Tihama ▸25:16.

Life in Madina and the passing of Sayyida Amina

• The visit to Madina — at age six, the Prophet traveled to Madina with his mother, Sayyida Amina, where local Jews recognized the signs of his prophethood on his back and in his eyes ▸28:14.
• The passing of Sayyida Amina — on the return journey to Makkah, Sayyida Amina fell ill at Abwa and passed away while the Prophet was six years old ▸30:6.
• Belief of the Prophet’s parents — the work holds that the parents of the Prophet were muwahhidin (monotheists) who believed in one Allah and are among the successful ▸32:8.
• Life after death — the Prophet was granted the miracle of bringing his parents back to life after they had passed, at which point they accepted Islam and testified to his prophethood before returning to their graves ▸33:2.
• Miracles of the Awliya — the work cites the example of Sheikh Abdul Qadir Jilani bringing a man back to life from a 500-year-old grave to demonstrate that if the awliya possess such power, the Prophet ﷺ certainly possessed the power to revive his parents ▸36:14.