Library Islam Islam: Faith, Practice & History Part III: History Lesson 38 1. Birth to Bi‘that
1. Birth to Bi‘that
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1. Birth to Bi‘that
AmÄ«ru ’l-Mu’minÄ«n[40] ‘AlÄ« —upon whom be peace— was born in the holy Ka’bah. ‘AbbÄs bin ‘Abdu ‘l-Muttalib and others were sitting by the Ka’bah when they saw FÄtima bint Asad come to the Ka’bah and prayed to God to make her pregnancy easy for her. No sooner had she finished the prayer when the wall of the Ka‘bah split by a solemn miracle and FÄtima entered inside the Ka‘bah and the split area of the wall returned to its normal position. ‘AbbÄs and others flocked to the door of the Ka‘bah and tried to open it but in vain. They realized that this was an act of miraculous nature and so they left the door alone.
After three days, FÄtima bint Asad emerged from the Ka‘bah carrying the infant ‘AlÄ« in her arms. This was ten years before the commencement of the prophetic mission (bi’that).
For the first six years, ‘AlÄ« was raised by his father Abu TÄlib who also was guardian of the Prophet of Islam. When he was six years old, a famine occurred in and around Mecca. The Prophet and his other uncles decided to help Abu TÄlib by sharing the burden of raising the latter’s sons. ‘AlÄ« was requested by the Prophet to leave his father’s house and come to the house of his cousin. There he was placed directly under the guardianship and custody of the Holy Prophet.
‘AlÄ« describes the time of childhood he spent with the Prophet in the following words: “Certainly, you know my position of close kinship and special relationship with the Prophet of Allah—peace and blessings of Allah be upon him and his descendants. When I was only a child he took charge of me. He used to press me to his chest and lay me beside him in his bed, bring his body close to mine and make me smell his smell. He used to chew [the food] and then feed me with it. He found no lie in my speaking, nor weakness in any act. From the time of his weaning, Allah had put a mighty angel with him to take him along the path of high character and good behaviour through day and night, while I used to follow him like a young camel following in the footprints of its mother.”[41]
