When Muhammed was eight years of age, ‘Abdul Muttalib also passed away. Muhammed
(r) was now left behind, alone and abandoned. He had never seen his father, and would
have had no recollection of him, but the death of the adoring grandfather must have been
too depressing and inconsolable to bear.
ABU TALIB BECOMES THE GUARDIAN
Following the death of ‘Abdul Muttalib, Abu Talib took the Prophet (r) under his care for
he and ‘Abdullah, the Prophet’s father, were brothers by the same mother. Abdul Muttalib
had also been insisting upon Abu Talib to take care of Muhammed (r) himself. Accordingly,
Abu Talib took Muhammed (r) under his protection and even treated him with more care
and affection than his own two sons, ‘Ali J’afar and ‘Aqil. (Ibn Hisham, Vol. I, p. 179).
Once, when Muhammed (r) was nine years old, Abu Talib planned to go on a merchant
caravan to Syria. Knowing this, Muhammed (r) approached his uncle, and nestling close to
him, insisted on accompanying him in the journey. Abu Talib was moved and agreed to take
Muhammed with him to Syria. When the caravan reached Busra in Syria, it broke the jour-
ney for a short stay and while there, they met a monk by the name of Buhaira who lived in
his cell. He came out against his practice, to welcome the merchants and made a great feast
for them. The caravan found favor with Buhaira, so they say, because of something that he
had seen while he was in his cell. When Buhaira saw Muhammed, he observed in him the
signs of the Prophethood that he had known and advised Abu Talib: “Return to your home
with this youth and guard him from the Jews; for great dignity awaits your nephew”. Abu
Talib immediately took Muhammed (r) back to Makkah by virtue of Buhaira’s advice.
DIVINE TUTELAGE
God had made special arrangements for broadening the mind of Muhammed (r) and had
taken particular care to shut off the faults and failures of the pagan past from him. Since
early youth, the reserved and unassuming young man was known for his gentle disposition
and grave purity of life as well as for his candidness, honesty and integrity and his stern
sense of duty. His was the straight and narrow path and none could find the slightest fault
with him. The fair character and honorable bearing of Muhammed (r) won for him, in the
pinnacle of his youth, the title of Al-Amin, meaning the Trustworthy, from his fellow popu-
lace. (Ibn Hisham, Vol. I, p. 183)
Evil were the ways of young men in Makkah, and no misconduct brought anybody into
jeopardy or accountability. But God helped Muhammed (r) abandon the pleasures of life
familiar to everybody in there. Such that on the contrary, he was rather kind to his kinsmen,
alleviated the sufferings of others and spared or minimized expenses to meet their needs.
Moreover, he entertained guests, was ever willing to join hands with anybody who had a