The birth of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him)

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Hassan bin Thabit (may Allah be pleased with him) that he stated: "At that time I was a sensible and alert boy of seven or eight years, who heard well and understood whatever I saw, when suddenly a Jew climbed onto one of the high fortresses of Madinah and began calling out at the top of his voice: 'O Jews!' So they all gathered around him and asked: 'What has happened to you, and what is this matter?' He replied: 'Tonight the star of Ahmad (peace and blessings be upon him) has risen, with which he has been born.'" The narrator (Muhammad bin Ishaq) says: I asked Sa'id bin Abd al-Rahman bin Hassan bin Thabit: "How old was Sayyiduna Hassan bin Thabit (may Allah be pleased with him) when the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) came to Madinah?" He replied: "He was sixty years old."
Imam al-Bayhaqi narrated this hadith in Dala'il al-Nubuwwah. This report is an important historical testimony to the cosmic signs that appeared at the time of the blessed birth of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), and its narrator Muhammad bin Ishaq is a great imam in the field of the Sirah and the Maghazi.

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Ja'far (may Allah be pleased with them both) (or from some narrator who narrated from him) that when the blessed birth of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) took place, Sayyidah Halimah bint al-Harith (may Allah be pleased with her) came to Makkah with some women of the tribe of Banu Sa'd bin Bakr in search of infants to nurse. Sayyidah Halimah says: I set out ahead of all my companion women, riding a slow, ash-coloured she-donkey of mine. With me was my husband, al-Harith bin Abd al-Uzza, who belonged to Banu Sa'd bin Bakr and then to Banu Nasirah. Our she-donkey had become exhausted and lagged behind, and we also had an old she-camel with us. By Allah, because of the drought year not a single drop of milk would drip from her udders. People were faint with hunger and in severe hardship. With me was my own nursing child; by Allah, because of hunger he would not let us sleep the whole night, and in my breast there was not even a drop of milk to soothe him. We only had hope in the mercy of Allah and in rain. We also had some goats, on which we pinned great hopes. When we reached Makkah, the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) was offered to every woman among us, but because he was an orphan, all of them were reluctant to take him (peace and blessings be upon him). We would say: "This is an orphan child, and it is the child's father who gives the nurse her reward and treats her well. What could his mother, uncle or grandfather possibly do for us?" So all of my friends took some child, except me; I found no other child. When I found no child other than him (peace and blessings be upon him), I went back and took him (peace and blessings be upon him). By Allah, I took him (peace and blessings be upon him) only because I had not found any other child. I said to my husband: "By Allah, I will take this orphan child of Banu Abd al-Muttalib; perhaps Allah Almighty will benefit us through him. I do not like to return empty-handed from among my friends." He said: "You have decided rightly." Sayyidah Halimah says: I took him (peace and blessings be upon him) and brought him to my tent. By Allah, I had only just reached my lodging with him (peace and blessings be upon him) when both my breasts filled with milk, until I satisfied him (peace and blessings be upon him) and also fed his (peace and blessings be upon him) foster-brother (my son) well. Then his (peace and blessings be upon him) foster-father went to that old she-camel of ours and saw that she was standing full of milk. He milked her, and both he and I drank our fill. My husband began to say: "O Halimah, by Allah, know that you have obtained a most blessed being. Through his blessing Allah Almighty has given us what we could not even have wished for." Sayyidah Halimah says: We spent that night in great goodness and blessing, with full stomachs, whereas before this we could not sleep because of our child's crying. Then in the morning we set out to return to our land, and I seated him (peace and blessings be upon him) with me on that same she-donkey of mine. By the One in whose Hand is the soul of Halimah, this she-donkey of mine left the whole caravan behind, until the women began saying to me: "O Halimah, wait for us a little! Is this the same she-donkey on which you came?" I said: "Yes, by Allah, it is the same." They said: "When coming she was very weak and lagged behind; what has happened to her now?" I said: "By Allah, I have mounted a most blessed child upon her." Sayyidah Halimah says: We reached our home, and Allah Almighty kept increasing our goodness and blessing continually, even though that region was severely stricken by drought. When our shepherds brought the goats back from grazing, the other goats of Banu Sa'd would be hungry, while my goats would return with full stomachs and udders full of milk; we would milk them and drink. The other people, astonished, would say to their shepherds: "What has happened to the goats of al-Harith bin Abd al-Uzza and Halimah that they come back satisfied while your goats remain hungry? Woe to you! Why do you not graze them where their shepherds graze?" So they would send their shepherds too where my shepherds were, yet their goats would still come back hungry, while my goats returned satisfied as before. Sayyidah Halimah says: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) was growing up in a way that ordinary children do not grow; he (peace and blessings be upon him) would grow in one day as much as another child grows in a month, and would develop in one month as much as another child develops in a whole year. When he (peace and blessings be upon him) completed two years, his foster-father and I brought him (peace and blessings be upon him) to Makkah. We had agreed between ourselves that as long as it was in our power we would not part with him (peace and blessings be upon him). When we reached his (peace and blessings be upon him) mother, we said to her: "O respected lady, by Allah, we have never seen a child more blessed than this child. We fear that the epidemics and diseases of Makkah may harm him, so let him stay with us until you are reassured about it (the danger of epidemic)." We kept insisting to her until she gave us permission, so we brought him (peace and blessings be upon him) back. Only three or four months had passed when one day he (peace and blessings be upon him) was playing with his foster-brother among their goats behind the houses, when suddenly his (peace and blessings be upon him) brother came running; his father and I were in the house. He came and told us: "Two men in white clothes came to this Qurashi brother of mine; they seized him, laid him down and split open his stomach." His father and I rushed out running and saw that he (peace and blessings be upon him) was standing and his (peace and blessings be upon him) colour had changed. When he (peace and blessings be upon him) saw us, he rushed towards us and began to cry. Sayyidah Halimah says: His father and I embraced him (peace and blessings be upon him) and asked: "May my mother and father be sacrificed for you, what has happened to you?" He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Two men came to me, laid me down, split open my stomach and did something in it, and then restored it just as it was before." Hearing this, his (peace and blessings be upon him) foster-father said: "O Halimah, by Allah, I think something has affected this child. Take him to his family before something we fear becomes apparent." So we took him (peace and blessings be upon him) to his mother. When she saw us, she expressed surprise at our sudden return and asked: "Why have you brought him back before I asked for him, when you were so eager to keep him with you?" We said: "There is nothing in particular; it is only that Allah Almighty has completed the period of his nursing, and we are pleased with the state in which we saw him, so we thought it best to return what was entrusted to us safely to his family." His (peace and blessings be upon him) mother said: "No! There is certainly something else with you; tell me truthfully what the matter is." She did not leave us alone until we told her the whole matter. She said: "Never! By Allah, Allah Almighty will never treat this child in such an (ill) way. This son of mine has a great standing. Shall I not tell you about him? When I became pregnant with him, by Allah, I never felt the burden and discomfort of pregnancy that women usually feel. Then, while he was in my womb, I saw that a light came out of me by which the necks of the camels of Busra (or she said: the palaces of Busra) were illuminated. Then, when he was born, by Allah, he was not born the way ordinary children are born; rather, he was born supporting himself with his hands on the ground and raising his head towards the sky. Now leave him with me." So she kept him (peace and blessings be upon him) with her, and we returned.
Imam Ishaq said: Wahb bin Jarir bin Hazim narrated to us; his father narrated to us; he said: I heard Muhammad bin Ishaq saying: Jahm bin Abi Jahm narrated to me, from Abdullah bin Ja'far (may Allah be pleased with them both), or from someone who narrated from Abdullah bin Ja'far (may Allah be pleased with them both); he said: When the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) was born (then he mentioned the complete hadith).
Yahya bin Adam, from Ibn Idris, from Muhammad bin Ishaq, from Jahm bin Abi Jahm, from Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Ja'far (may Allah be pleased with them both) (or from some narrator who narrated from him), from Sayyidah Halimah bint al-Harith al-Sa'diyyah (may Allah be pleased with her); she said: I came with some people of Banu Sa'd bin Bakr (and further on he mentioned something with the same meaning as the previous hadith).
Imam Abu Ya'la said: Masruq bin al-Marzuban and al-Hasan bin Hammad narrated to us, and I copied it from the hadith of Masruq; from Yahya bin Zakariyya bin Abi Za'idah, from Muhammad bin Ishaq, from Jahm bin Abi Jahm, from Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Ja'far (may Allah be pleased with them both), from Sayyidah Halimah bint al-Harith (may Allah be pleased with her), that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) (then he mentioned this hadith in detail).

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Shaddad bin Aws (may Allah be pleased with him) that we were present in the gathering of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) when a man of Banu Amir came to him (peace and blessings be upon him). He was the chief of his people, their elder and their spokesman and orator, and he was leaning on a staff. He stood before the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) and addressed him (peace and blessings be upon him), attributing him to his grandfather: "O son of Abd al-Muttalib, I have been informed that you are the Messenger of Allah to all people, and that Allah has sent you with the same message with which He sent Ibrahim, Musa and Isa (peace be upon them) and other prophets. Listen! You have said something enormous. Prophethood and kingship have remained in particular households of the Children of Israel, one a household of prophethood and the other of kingship, while you are neither from these nor from those. You belong to those Arabs who worship stones and idols, so what have you to do with prophethood? Since every claim has a reality, tell me the reality of your words and the beginning of your affair." The narrator says: The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) liked his question. Then he (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "The matter you are asking about has a particular account and a particular sitting, so sit down." So the man folded his legs and knelt down like a camel kneels. Then the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said to him: "O brother of Banu Amir, the reality of my words and the beginning of my affair is the supplication of my father Ibrahim (peace be upon him) and the glad tidings of my brother Isa bin Maryam (peace be upon him). I was my mother's first child. She carried me in pregnancy with such heaviness as women feel in the heaviest of their pregnancies, until she began to complain to her friends of that burden. My mother saw in a dream that the child in her womb was a great light. She related: 'I began to follow that light with my eyes, and the light went even beyond the reach of my sight, until it lit up for me the east and the west of the earth.' Then I was born. When I reached the age of awareness, hatred of idols and of poetry was placed in my heart. Then I was sent to Banu Jusham bin Bakr to be nursed. One day I was in a valley with boys of my own age when suddenly three persons came to me, carrying a golden basin full of light and snow. They seized me from among my companions. My companions ran away in fear, and on reaching the edge of the valley they began saying to those people: 'What have you to do with this boy? This boy is not one of us; rather, he is the son of the chief of Quraysh, and he is an orphan child being nursed among us. What will you gain by killing him? If you must do something, choose whichever of us you wish and accept us in his place, but leave this boy.' But those people gave no reply. When the boys saw that they were silent, they ran towards the settlement to call the people for help. One of them came towards me and laid me down on the ground very gently. Then he split me open from my chest to the lower part of my abdomen while I was watching all this, yet I felt no pain. Then he took out the inner organs of my abdomen, washed them with that snow, cleaned them very thoroughly and put them back in their place. Then the second one stood up and said to his companion: 'Move aside.' Then he put his hand into my abdomen and took out my heart while I was watching. He split it open, took out of it a black clot of blood and threw it away. Then he stretched his hand to the right as if he were taking hold of something, and then a seal of the light of prophethood and wisdom appeared in his hand, dazzling the eyes of the onlookers. He stamped my heart with the seal and it was filled with light; then he put it back in its place. I felt the coolness of that seal in my heart for a long time. Then the third one came forward, moved his companion aside and passed his hand over the area between my chest and my navel, and by the command of Allah Almighty that split closed up completely. Then he took me by the hand and raised me up very kindly. Then the first one said: 'Weigh him against ten people of his Ummah.' They weighed me and my side was heavier. Then he told them to weigh me against a hundred and then a thousand people, and each time I outweighed them. Then he said: 'Leave him; even if you weighed him against his entire Ummah, he would still be heavier.' Then they all came towards me, held me to their chests, kissed my head and forehead and began saying: 'O beloved, do not be alarmed. If you knew what good Allah has decreed for you, your eyes would be cooled.'" He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Meanwhile the whole settlement arrived there. My nurse (my foster-mother) was ahead of them all, calling out at the top of her voice: «Ya da'ifah» 'Alas, my weak child!' They bent over me, began kissing me and saying: 'How dear and beloved you are!' Then she called out: «Wa wahidah» 'Alas, my lonely child!' They said: 'You are not alone; Allah is with you, and His angels and all the believers of the earth are with you.' Then she said: «Ya yatimah» 'Alas, my orphan child! You were considered weak among your companions and killed.' They bent over me again, held me to their chests, kissed my head and began saying: 'What a great orphan you are! How lofty is your rank with Allah!'" He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Then they reached the edge of the valley, and when my nurse saw me she said: 'O my son, do I see you still alive?' Then she came running and held me to her chest. By the One in whose Hand is my soul, I was in her lap, and my hand was still in the hand of one of them (the angels). I thought that the people could see them, but they could not see them. Some people of the settlement said: 'This boy has been struck by madness or by the touch of the jinn; take him to the soothsayer so that he may look at him and treat him.' I said to him: 'O man, there is nothing wrong with me of what you are mentioning. I find myself completely sound, my heart is healthy and I have no ailment.' My father (who was the husband of my nurse) said: 'Do you not see that my son's speech is perfectly sound? I hope there is nothing wrong with my son.' But the people agreed to take me to the soothsayer, so they carried me to him and related my story to him. He said: 'Be quiet, so that I may hear it from the boy himself, for he knows his own matter best.' So I related my whole account to him from beginning to end. When he heard what I said, he held me to his chest and cried out: 'O people of Arabia, kill this boy, and kill me along with him! By al-Lat and al-Uzza, if you leave him, he will change your religion, declare your minds and the minds of your forefathers foolish, oppose your ways, and bring you a religion the like of which you have never heard.' My nurse snatched me from his hands and said: 'You are more insane and more mad than he is; had I known that you would say this, I would not have brought him to you.' Then they carried me back to my family. In the morning I had been consoled about what had been done to me, and the mark of the split from my chest to the lower part of my abdomen remained like a sandal strap. So this was the reality of my claim and the beginning of my affair."
Then that man of Banu Amir said: "I bear witness that there is no god but Allah, and that your affair is true." Then he sought permission to ask some questions. He (peace and blessings be upon him) said to him: "Ask about yourself." The narrator says: Before this he (peace and blessings be upon him) used to say to those who asked: "Ask whatever comes to your mind," but that day he spoke to the man of Banu Amir in the dialect of his tribe. The man of Banu Amir asked: "O son of Abd al-Muttalib, what increases evil?" He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Persisting in sin." He asked: "Does righteousness benefit after sin?" He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Yes! Repentance washes away sin; indeed, good deeds remove evil deeds {Indeed, good deeds do away with evil deeds} [Surah Hud: 114]. And when a servant remembers Allah in times of ease, Allah helps him in times of hardship." He asked: "How is that?" He said: "Because Allah Almighty says: I do not combine two securities for My servant, nor do I combine two fears for him (that is, whoever fears Allah in this world will be secure in the Hereafter)." He asked: "To what do you call?" He said: "I call to this: that Allah alone be worshipped, that partners be abandoned, that al-Lat and al-Uzza be rejected, that the Book of Allah and His Messenger be affirmed, that the five daily prayers be performed with all their conditions, that the fast of one month in the year be kept, that zakah be paid, by which Allah will purify you and make your wealth blessed, and that the resurrection after death, Paradise and Hell be affirmed." He asked: "If I do all this, what will I get?" He said: "Gardens of perpetual residence beneath which rivers flow." He asked: "Will there be some share of this world along with it? For we like prosperity." He said: "Yes! The help of Allah and authority and dominance in the land." Then that man of Banu Amir accepted Islam.