The Blessings That Followed

Ḥalīmah says: as soon as I picked up Muhammad (peace be upon him) and took him back to my camp, my breast immediately welcomed him and provided him with all the milk that he needed until he was satisfied, and the milk was enough for my own son too. And that was the first night that we were able to get a full night of sleep, because my son hadn't been able to sleep for quite a few nights. So immediately the barakah of Muhammad (peace be upon him) was apparent. She said: then my husband went out to milk the camel, and it was providing so much milk that my husband came back and said, "O Ḥalīmah, you have brought us a blessed soul. There's something going on — all of this blessing is showering us since you brought this young child into our house."

Now they were still camping in Makkah, and they were ready to go back to the desert. Ḥalīmah said that when they were coming to Makkah, she was riding a donkey that was so old and weak it was slowing down the whole group, and it was annoying everyone. This donkey was old and weak — sometimes rather than going straight, it would go sideways, very tired and disoriented. She said: when we were going back, my donkey was the fastest among the group. My friends were asking me, "Is this the same animal you brought with you when we came to Makkah?" I said, "Yes." They said, "By Allah, something is going on."

Now they went back to their land. Ḥalīmah said: my husband and I would send out our goats to graze. They would come back full, and we would milk them whenever we wanted, while everybody else in our tribe — their animals would be hungry, without any milk. Now people started complaining to the shepherds, telling them, "Why don't you go and graze the animals in the same place where Ḥalīmah is grazing hers?" So they would take their animals after us, following us to the same place, yet ours would come back full and theirs would come back empty. And she said the child was growing up, and we were seeing the blessings of Allah on all of us because of him. She says: and Allah went on blessing us this way, and we recognised it.

Then he reached two years of age, already growing up a very fine boy, not like the other children — I swear that by the age of two he was a sturdy boy — so we took him to his mother when he was two years old. Now it was time for them to return the child. And subḥānallāh, it seems that the Arabs of Makkah learned that the city isn't a very healthy environment, especially Makkah, because it receives a lot of visitors from all over Arabia — they could bring with them different diseases and germs into town. But the desert is very pure. The desert is hot and dry, and that makes it an unsuitable environment for the growth of bacteria, and it would be a very healthy place to be.

So now, at the age of two, it was time for them to return Muhammad (peace be upon him) to his mother. They went to Makkah. They told Āminah, "We want to keep Muhammad with us — it's not good for him to be in Makkah, it might be dangerous." They were bringing up all of these excuses. They wanted to keep Muhammad (peace be upon him). They loved him so much. They knew that he is blessed. They wanted to keep him, and they kept on trying and trying and trying, until Āminah agreed. Subḥānallāh, that was the blessing of Allah following Muhammad (peace be upon him). She eventually agreed, so they took him back with them.