Postby HELWAA » Thu Sep 27, 2007 2:12 pm
The kindness our holy prophet
Kindness was part of the nature of the Prophet (peace be upon him). He was never unkind to anyone. Even with his opponents who tried to suppress his message and defeat his purpose, he showed kindness and magnanimity. But perhaps his kindness manifested itself most clearly in his treatment of young children. The Prophet’s companions realized that God gave him a blessed hand so as to bless whatever he touched. Hence, they were always keen that he should partake of their food and handle their things. There was no miraculous aspect to this, except what blessings God wishes to grant at any particular occasion. Since people naturally love their children, they are keen to do whatever they can to make their children’s life easy, happy and blessed. This is true of all people, and it was certainly true of the Prophet’s companions. Therefore, young mothers were always keen that the Prophet should pray for their children and to rub their heads or do whatever he wished to bless them. There are many Hadiths that speak of this, and they clearly reflect the Prophet’s tenderness to children.
Aishah, the Prophet’s wife, reports that “young children were often brought to the Prophet and he would bless them and rub their jaws with his finger.” (Related by Al-Bukhari, Muslim, Al-Nassaie and Ibn Majah). Blessing them means that the Prophet would pray to God to give the child His blessings. He might also pray for the future of that child. By putting his finger in the child’s mouth and rubbing its jaws, the Prophet would comfort the child to make it feel happy and secure.
A more detailed report of what the Prophet did with young children is given by Asma’ bint Abu Bakr who was married to Al-Zubayr ibn Al-Awwam, one of the earliest people to embrace Islam. Al-Zubayr’s mother was Safiyyah bint Abd Al-Muttalib, the Prophet’s paternal aunt. Asma’ reports that she was pregnant with her son Abdullah in Makkah. “I left for Madinah when my pregnancy was almost full term. When I arrived at Quba, (a few miles outside Madinah), I stopped to rest, but I gave birth there. I took my child to God’s Messenger (peace be upon him) and placed him in his lap. He asked for a date and he munched it a bit, then he put a little of his saliva in the child’s mouth, thus the Prophet’s saliva was the first thing that Abdullah swallowed. He then rubbed his jaws with a date, prayed for him and blessed him.” The Hadith reporter mentions that Abdullah was the first child born in Islam. (Related by Al-Bukhari and Ahmad).
This Hadith tells us of the joy that accompanied the birth of Abdullah ibn Al-Zubayr. His mother was keen that nothing should be put into the child’s mouth before the Prophet had seen him and blessed him. The Prophet might have sensed that the child was hungry, and gave him of his own saliva, knowing that God would bless the child for that. He then let him taste the date as he rubbed his jaws with it. That a mother like Asma’ should take her child first of all to the Prophet is only natural, because she was keen that the child’s life should start with a prayer and a blessing by the Prophet.
In one report we are told that the joy at Abdullah’s birth was felt by the entire Muslim community. It says: “They were extremely happy at his birth, because they were told earlier that the Jews had placed a magic spell on their community so as to prevent the birth of any children.” Thus Abdullah’s birth was a confirmation that the whole report about the magic spell was false. The Jews might have tried that but it would not have worked, because God would not allow such a curse to work.
We need to correct the last point about Abdullah being the first child to be born in Islam, qualifying it as the first child to be born in Madinah under Islam. There were many Muslims in Makkah and many of them were married. Some certainly had children, but it is very difficult to determine who was the first to be born to a Muslim family in Makkah.
Certainly Abdullah ibn Abbas was born in Makkah before the Prophet’s immigration to Madinah, and as such his birth predates that of Abdullah ibn Al-Zubayr. It may be said that his father, Al-Abbas, the Prophet’s uncle, was not yet a Muslim at the time, but his mother certainly was. Nevertheless, Al-Abbas gave the child to the Prophet to bless. The Prophet took the young child to the Kaaba and prayed for him there. One of his prayers for Abdullah ibn Abbas was that God may “give him profound knowledge of the divine religion and a sound understanding of the Qur’an.” This was certainly true of Abdullah ibn Abbas as he grew up to be one of the best authorities on the Qur’an among the Prophet’s companions.
Yet young children might cause certain accidents which may upset those who are holding them, because Islam places very strong emphasis on purification. A highly authentic Hadith quotes Umm Qays ibn Mihsan who states that she “brought her young boy who had not yet eaten any food (other than breast milk) to the Prophet. The Prophet sat the child on his lap, but the boy urinated and his urine wet the Prophet’s clothes. The Prophet called for some water to be brought in. He sprayed the water over the place but did not wash his robe.” (Related by all six as well as Malik, Ahmad, Al-Darimi and others).
This Hadith shows that the Prophet dealt with the matter of the child’s urine in a very relaxed way, teaching his followers that it is nothing to be upset or angry about. He showed us how to deal with the impurity making clear that it is of the light type, and that it is sufficient to spray some water over it to purify the clothes. This is true for young boys who have not eaten normal food. While the Hadith mentions only the fact that the child urinated, it is understood that the Prophet had already blessed the child and prayed for him, because he was already sitting on his lap. It is very likely that the child was already with the Prophet for a few minutes before this accident took place. During this time the Prophet would have already blessed the child and prayed for him as his mother took her child to him for that very purpose.
