Haleemah As-Sa’diyyah Radi Allahu anha
The WET NURSE of Prophet Mohammad (Peace and blessings be upon him) and how she got to be his foster mother.
It’s a comparatively longer artcile but its definitely worth a read. DONT MISS THIS
‘Abdullah ibn Ja’far said, “When the Messenger of Allah
was born, Haleemah Radi Allahu anha bint Al-Haarith came among a group of
women from (the tribe of) Banu Sa’d ibn Bakr, all of whom were
looking for infants in Makkah.”
It was common during those times for women who lived in the city to give up their infants for a
while to women who lived in the desert. Those women were
wetnurses; they would rear and breastfeed the infants for a
number of months or years, depending on the child.
Haleemah Radi Allahu anha herself related the rest of the narration:
“I left among the first group of women, riding a female donkey –
which was Qamraa (a colour that is close to either green or white
and that contains some mixture of brownness or dullness in it) –
that belonged to me. With me was my husband, Al-Haarith ibn
‘ Abdul-‘Uzzah, one of the children of Sa’d ibn Bakr, who became
a part of the Banu Naadirah clan.
Our female donkey had become
afflicted with bloody wounds (because of the length of the
journey). I also brought along an old camel, but by Allah, it would
not give forth even a drop of milk. It was a year of drought:
people went hungry, to the point that they became very weak and
emaciated. Also with me was my son, who, by Allah, did not
sleep at night (due to hunger). And I did not even have anything
in my hand with which I could distract him. Yet I hoped for rain
(and relief). We had sheep, and so we wanted rain.
After we arrived in Makkah, the Messenger of Allah was presented to
each one of us, and each one of us disliked (taking) him. We said,
‘He is an orphan, and it is the father who is kind and generous to
the wet nurse. (In the case of this orphan) what can we expect his
mother, uncle, or grandfather to do for us?’ Each one of my female
companions took an infant (except for me). When I found no other
child, I returned to him (the Prophet Peace and blessings be upon him) and took him.
By Allah, the only reason I took him was that I could find no other infant. I
said to my companion (husband), ‘By Allah, I will indeed take this
orphan who is from the children of ‘Abdul-Muttalib; perhaps
Allah will benefit us through him, and I will not return with my
female companions without having taken anything’ He said,
‘You are correct (in your decision)
And so I took him, and returned with him to the place where we
had made camp. By Allah, during the very same evening that I
brought him with me to the campsite, my breasts gave forth milk,
so that I was able to quench his thirst, as well as the thirst of his
brother (i.e., her son, and his brother from breast-feeding).
His father (again, his father from breast-feeding, and not his blood
father) stood up beside the old camel we came with, and he
touched it. It was full with milk! And so he milked it. He gave me
milk, (and I drank) until my thirst became quenched, and then he
drank until his thirst became quenched. He then said, ‘O
Haleemah, you do realize, by Allah, that we have taken a
blessed soul. Allah has given us through that soul what we could
not have hoped for. All of us being full, we spent a good and
blessed night. Previously, we could not sleep at night with our
own child.
Then my companions and I set out for the return journey to our
lands. I mounted my Al-Qamraa female donkey, and I carried him
(the Prophet Peace and blessings be upon him) with me. By the One Who has the soul of
Haleemah in His Hand, I raced past the rest of the caravan; the
women exclaimed, ‘Hold on for us! Is this the female donkey that
you set out with (at the beginning of our journey)? I said, ‘Yes’
They said, ‘But it had bloody wounds (on its legs) when we
arrived, so what happened to it (to cause this change)?’ I said, ‘By
Allah, I am carrying upon it a blessed boy.’
So we continued our journey, and with the passing of every day
Allah increased us in goodness. When we arrived (home), the
lands were afflicted with drought. Our flocks would go out for
grazing, and would then return. The sheep of (the) Banu Sa’d
(tribe) returned hungry; meanwhile, my sheep returned with their
stomachs full and with plenty of milk in them. We would milk
(our sheep) and (then) drink.
They (the rest of the tribe) would
say, ‘What is it with the sheep of Al-Haarith ibn ‘Abdul-‘Uzzah,
and the sheep of Haleemah: they come back full and with plenty
of milk in them. Woe upon you (they would say to one another)!
Go out to pasture where the sheep of their flock go out to pasture
They would do so, but as would happen before, their flocks
would return hungry; meanwhile, my flock would also return as
before (full and with plentiful milk).
Lessons and Benefits from This Story
1) The student of Seerah sees signs and manifestations of the
Prophet’s blessedness throughout his life; during the
Prophet’s infancy, Haleemah Radi Allahu anha greatly benefited from his
blessedness. Once she took the Prophet (Peace and blessings be upon him) into her life, she
began to produce a great deal of milk, though previously her
breasts did not have enough milk in them for even a single
child – her son.
Haleemah Radi Allahu anha’ s child would cry a lot, thus
preventing his mother from sleeping at night, a situation that
changed after Haleeman Radi Allahu anha took custody of the Prophet (Peace and blessings be upon him)
Having plentiful milk to drink, both son and mother began to
spend comfortable and relaxed nights.
The Prophet’s blessedness also became manifested in the sheep that
belonged to Haleemah Radi Allahu anha, for they began to
flow with plentiful milk, though previously their udders
would remain dry and empty.
2) What Allah chooses for his obedient slaves is best for them.
Allah chose an orphan for Haleemah Radi Allahu anha, though she did not
want to take the infant, and did so in the end only because she
could find no other. And, of course, Allah’s choice was
supremely best for her. On the very day she took the Prophet (Peace and blessings be upon him)
with her, she experienced the positive results of that choice.
In this there is a lesson for every Muslim:
Not knowing what is in one’s best interest in the long run, one should be content in
his heart with what Allah decrees for him; and one should
not regret what passes one by in this world; or in other words,
one should not regret missing out on what Allah did not
decree for one to have.
