Hazrate Halima (R.A)

Hazrate Halima (R.A) was amongst the Bedouin women who lived in the villages of Arabia, on the outskirts of Makkah Shareef. She (R.A) used to raise children, with her husband, Hazrat Harith (R.A) as a source of income.

It was the custom of Arab nobles to send their children for fosterage into the nearby villages, as this contributed to the development of their child’s growth. Another benefit was that they could learn the pure Arabic spoken by them, since the Arabic of the cities was a combination of both eloquent and non-eloquent dialects.

Hazrate Bibi Halima (R.A) states, “ I went with the other women of Bani Saad to Makkah in search of children to foster. The Arabian Peninsula was affected by a severe drought that year. I had a child to take care of in this time, but because of poverty, my breast milk was insufficient for him. He would stay awake and cry the entire night because of hunger and we could do nothing but try to comfort him. The camel that we possessed had no milk and the donkey upon which I travelled to Makkah was so weak that it barely managed to keep up with the caravan’s speed. My fellow travellers were bothered by this but, ultimately we reached the city.

When the women heard that Hazrate Amina (R.A)’s child was an orphan, they chose not to take him, as orphan children were not a means of attaining precious gifts.”

Hazrate Bibi Halima (R.A) did not receive any children, as it was known that she (R.A) did not have sufficient milk to feed, yet this proved to be a turn of fate for her. She (R.A) said to her husband, “We should take this orphan child with us, its not good to go back empty handed.” He agreed and thus, she (R.A) took this treasure back with her; a treasure who came to not only brighten the homes of Hazrate Halima (R.A) and Hazrate Amina (R.A), but every corner of the world. This was a blessing from Allah (S.W.T) to exalt her fate. Hazrate Halima (R.A) had the honour of being the foster mother of the Best of Creation, Hazrat Muhammad (S.A.W).

After entering her (R.A)’s tent to feed Rasoolullah (S.A.W), she (R.A) was amazed to find milk in abundance, He (S.A.W) and his foster brother drank to their content and slept. Through the blessings of the Prophet (S.A.W) the camel of Hazrate Halima (R.A) now also had an excess of milk which was more than enough for everyone; the donkey gained health and blessings continued to wrap the household in abundance.