Bani Saad, Saudi Arabia
Coordinates: 20.950266, 40.811951
These are said to be the ruins of Banu Sa’d Village where the house of Bibi Halimah رضي الله عنها was located. Hz. Prophet Muhammad ﷺ spent some years of his childhood here.
The Banu Sa’d was one of the leading royal tribes of Arabia during the Hz. Prophet Muhammad’s ﷺ era.
They were great warriors and fought many battles with Prophet Muhammad ﷺ against enemies of Islam.
Bibi Halima Sadia رضي الله عنها, Hz. Prophet Muhammad’s ﷺ wet nurse, belonged to this tribe. They migrated on the order of Prophet Muhammad ﷺ to Subcontinent, Africa and Europe to fight against Polytheism.
Story of Bibi Halimah رضي الله عنها
Bibi Aminah bint Wahb رضي الله عنها, the mother of Hz. Prophet Muhammad ﷺ, was waiting for the arrival of the Banu Sa’d; the women within the tribe of the Banu Sa’d were foster mothers.
They would take the children of Mecca Sharif to the desert and teach them classical Arabic and other skills; in return, they would receive a salary from the family of the child in Mecca Sharif sharif.
Bibi Halimah’s رضي الله عنها husband was al-Harith bin Abdul Uzza. Her son was named Abdullah, while the daughters were named Unaysa and Hudhafa.
While traveling to Mecca Sharif, she was unable to feed her child because her she-camel stopped lactating. In Mecca Sharif sharif, all those looking for foster children rejected taking care of the orphan Prophet Muhammad ﷺ because they feared not getting paid on account of his father being passed away.
Bibi Halimah رضي الله عنها felt sad that every woman in her tribe had received a child except her. So she told her husband al-Harith: “By Allah, I do not like the idea of returning with without a child; I will go and take that Muhammad ﷺ.”
Her husband agreed. Immediately after accepting him, blessing came to her and her family. Her husband’s flock during a time of great famine was healthy and producing milk while the rest of the people’s flocks were dying.
When he ﷺ was two years old, Bibi Halimah رضي الله عنها took him to Bibi Aminah رضي الله عنها and insisted that she let him remain with her, to which she relented. A strange and mysterious event happened a few months later.
Hz. Prophet Muhammad’s ﷺ foster brother was playing with him, then suddenly Bibi Halimah رضي الله عنها and her husband saw their son (Hz. Muhammad’s ﷺ foster brother) who came running back and shouted: “two men dressed in white grabbed my brother and cut his chest.” So then Bibi Halimah رضي الله عنها ran to Prophet Muhammad ﷺ and found him pale-faced. When they asked him what happened, he said: “Two men came and opened my chest and took a portion of it”. After this event, she gave up fostering him and informed his mother about what had happened.
