Upbringing of Nabi ﷺ (peace and blessings be upon him)

Nabi ﷺ (peace and blessings be upon him) was first breastfed by his mother and then by Thuwaibah, the freed slave of his uncle, Abu Lahab. On receiving the news of his nephew’s birth from Thuwaibah, he freed her out of joy.

Thereafter, Nabi ﷺ (peace and blessings be upon him) was breastfed by Haleemah Sa’diyah رضي الله عنها (may Allah be pleased with her). After two years, Haleemah رضي الله عنها (may Allah be pleased with her) returned Nabi ﷺ (peace and blessings be upon him) to his mother in Makkah but insisted that she wanted to take him back to her home.

Nabi ﷺ (peace and blessings be upon him) would accompany Haleemah’s رضي الله عنها (may Allah be pleased with her) sons when they took the goats out to graze. It was during one of these outings that the famous incident of the splitting of Nabi’s ﷺ (peace and blessings be upon him) chest by the angel Jibraeel عليه السلام (peace be upon him) occurred. Due to this unusual incident, Haleemah رضي الله عنها (may Allah be pleased with her) became very worried and brought Nabi ﷺ (peace and blessings be upon him) back to Makkah.

Nabi’s ﷺ (peace and blessings be upon him) mother passed away when he was only six years old. His grandfather, Abdul Muttalib, then took care of him. After two years, his grandfather also passed away. Thereafter, his uncle Abu Taalib undertook the responsibility of caring for him. Although he lovingly carried out this task till his death, he unfortunately did not accept Islaam.