Read: Biography of Muhammad by Ibn Ishaq

In the eight century the Muslim scholar Muhammad Ibn Ishaq collected many traditions about the life of Muhammad and wrote the first biography, The Life of God's Messenger. The original version has been lost, but much of it was preserved by another scholar, Ibn Hisham (died 827). The following are some excerpts from this work:

 

It is recorded that when the mother of the apostle of Allah became pregnant with him she had a vision, and a voice spoke to her, saying, “Thou art pregnant with the prince of this nation. When he is born on this earth, thou must say, “I place him under the protection of the only One, from the wickedness of every envious person.” And thou must name him Muhammad.”  While she was carrying the child in her womb, she saw a light issue from her which illuminated even the castles of Busra in Syria. And Abdullah b. Abdul Muttalib, the father of the apostle, died while the child was yet unborn. The apostle of Allah was born on a Monday, on the thirteenth (lay of the month of Rabi in the year of the Elephant [c 570]* 

At the time of the apostle's birth a Jew standing on the flat roof of a house in Medina called forth the Jewish people and when they assembled around him, saying, “Woe to you. What is the matter?” he told them “This night the star has risen, under which the apostle is born.” 
 [*The year of an invasion by the Abyssinians, whose army was made memorable in Arabia by having an elephant in its train.] 

When his mother was delivered of the apostle of Allah she sent the following message to his grandfather: “An infant is born to you; come and see him.” He came and she informed him of what she had seen and heard during her pregnancy and the name she had been ordered to give the child. It is said that his grandfather took the boy into the Kaba [place of worship] and prayed to Allah and thanked Him for His gift; then he brought him again to his mother. 

Soon he hired for the boy a nurse, whose name was Halima. Halima was the daughter of Abu Dhuayb of the Banu Sad tribe. The tradition concerning her is that she went forth with her husband and a little son whom she was suckling, with others of the women of the Banu Sad who were in search of children to nurse. She relates: “In a year of dearth, when nothing was left us, I went forth on a piebald she-ass and we had with us a she-camel which gave us not one drop of milk.  We could not sleep the whole night, because the infant we had with us cried for hunger, there being nothing in my breasts to satisfy him nor anything in our camel to nourish him. We were, however, hoping for aid and deliverance; accordingly I continued the journey, riding on my she-ass which was so weak that it lagged behind and the people complained. At last, we arrived in Mecca to look for sucklings, and there was not a woman among us to whom the apostle of Allah was not offered. They all refused to take charge of him as soon as they were told that he was an orphan, because we expected benefits from the father of an infant but did not like orphans, thinking that a mother or a grandfather would do us but little good. Not a woman, however, remained who had not obtained a suckling except myself. When we assembled to depart, I said to my husband, “I am unwilling to return with my companions and not take a suckling. I shall go to that orphan and take it.” He replied, “Do so! Perhaps Allah will make it a blessing to us.” Then I went and took him just because I could find no other child. “After that, I took him to my arms and offered him my breast he drank as much as he liked till he was satisfied, and his brother did the same till he had enough. After that both slept, whereas before we could not sleep for our child wailing. Then my husband approached our she-camel, and lo! It was full. Accordingly I milked it, and we both drank until we were satisfied and filled, so that we had a good night. In the morning, my husband said, “By Allah, Halima, you have brought a blessed soul.” I replied “This is just what I hope for.” After that we departed. I mounted my she-ass with the infant, but the animal ran so fast that the other donkeys were not able to keep up with it, and my companions asked, “0h daughter of Abu Dhuayb, is not this the same donkey on which you came?” I replied, “Yes. It is the very same”, and they exclaimed, “There is something the matter with it!”…

Later, the apostle of Allah himself described what had happened. “Whilst I and my milk brother were pasturing some animals in the rear of our house, two men came to us dressed in white garments and bearing a golden platter full of snow. They took hold of me, opened my belly, extracted my heart, split it open and took out of it a black lump of blood which they threw away. Then they washed my heart and belly with snow, until they had purified them. Then one of them said to his companion, “Weigh him against one hundred of his people,” and he weighed me with them, but I proved heavier than they. Then he said, “Weigh him with one thousand of his people.” This he also did, and I was again found more heavy. After that he said, “Leave him; for if you were to weigh him against his whole nation, he would outweigh it…”

The apostle of Allah and his mother and his grandfather were under the protection and keeping of Allah, and the boy grew a prosperous plant on account of the grace for which He had predestined him. When the apostle had attained his sixth year his mother Amina died in the place called Abwa, between Mecca and Medina, when she was returning to Mecca with him from a visit to his uncles. The apostle of Allah remained with his grandfather, Abdul Muttalib. It was usual to place a bed for Abdul Muttalib in the shade of the Kaba, around which his sons sat until he arrived; none of his sons ventured to sit on the bed, from respect towards him. Once the apostle of Allah, who was a plump boy, came and sat on it, and they pushed him away. 

When Abdul Muttalib saw this, he said, “Let my son alone! By Allah, he will become something great.” Then he made the boy sit down by his side on the bed, and allowed him to stroke his back with his hands, and whatever he did pleased Abdul Muttalib. But when the apostle of Allah had attained his eighth year his grandfather died. AbduI Muttalib had been the acknowledged leader of the Quraysh tribe, guardians of the holy city of Mecca. When he died none of his many sons was influential enough to succeed him and leadership and influence began to pass to the descendants of his cousin, Umayya, who had long been envious of the power wielded by Abdul Muttalib. 

After the death of his grandfather, the apostle of Allah lived with his uncle Abu Talib, to whose care Abdul Muttalib is believed to have entrusted him because Abu Talib and the father of the apostle were brothers by the same father and mother. A soothsayer came once to Mecca to prophesy to the Quraysh and they brought their sons to him to hear his prophecies. Abu Talib visited this man, who looked at the apostle of Allah, but was then diverted from him. When the soothsayer was again at leisure, he asked for the boy and wanted to see him; but when Abu Talib perceived the man's anxiety he took his nephew away. The soothsayer exclaimed, “Woe to you! Bring back the boy whom I have just seen; for, by Allah, he will have high dignity.” But Abu Talib would not return. 

On another occasion Abu Talib went with a caravan on a trading journey to Syria. When he was about to depart the apostle of Allah clung to him, and it is believed that Abu Talib was so touched by this that he exclaimed, “By Allah! I shall take him with me, and we shall never be separated from each other.” Accordingly he took the boy with him. Now, at Busra, in Syria, there was a monk named Bahira who was of the Christian faith. He had always lived in the same hermitage, which possessed a book for the instruction of the monks which was passed down and was always kept by the oldest among them. When the caravan encamped in the vicinity of Bahira’s hermitage and they had previously often passed by without his speaking or presenting himself to them he prepared a great deal of food for them, reputedly because of something he had seen whilst in his cell. It was said that, from his hermitage, he had seen the apostle of Allah in the caravan, and that as the caravan approached a cloud hung over the apostle of Allah. When the caravan arrived the people halted under a tree near the cell of the hermit, and he saw the cloud overshadow the tree, and the branches bent themselves over the apostle of Allah so protect him. 

When Bahira saw this he came down from his cell and ordered food to be prepared. When it was ready he sent the following message to the people of the caravan, “I have made a dinner for you, o ye Quraysh people. I should like you all to come, the small and the big, the bondmen and the free! One man among them replied, “By Allah, Bahira! There is something the matter with you today, because you have not acted thus with us before, though we passed often near you! What is the matter with you now?” Bahira replied, “You have spoken the truth. But you are guests and I should like to honor you, and give a dinner to all of you.” Accordingly they all assembled, but the apostle of Allah remained under the tree, because of his extreme youth, with the baggage of the people.

When Bahira looked around and missed him, he said, “O, ye Quraysh people! Leave no one of you behind, deprived of my food.” They replied, “No one who ought to come has remained behind, except a boy, and he is the youngest of the people and therefore has been left with our baggage.” Bahira said, “Do not treat him in this way, but call him to dine with you,” and one of the Quraysh exclaimed, “I swear by al-Lat and by al Uzza (tribal goddesses, daughters of Allah in pre-Islamic tradition) that we are at fault for excluding the son of Abdullah from partaking with us of this dinner!” Then he went to him, brought him in his arms, and seated him among the people. When Bahira saw him he scrutinized him closely and examined him to find the signs lie sought. When the people had finished eating and dispersed Bahira addressed the apostle of Allah as follows, “I adjure you by al Lat at Uzza; answer the questions I shall ask.” (Bahira used these words because he had heard the Quraysh swearing by these two idols.) It is said that the apostle of Allah replied, “Do not ask me by al-Lat and by al Uzza; for, by Allah, I have never hated anything more intensely than these two.” Bahira continued, I adjure you by Allah to answer what I shall ask” and the apostle of Allah said, “ask me what thou wilt.” 

Accordingly, he put to him various questions about his state during sleep, and his condition and circumstances, to which the apostle of Allah gave replies which agreed with what Bahira expected of him. Then Bahira looked on his back and discovered the seal of prophecy between his shoulders. After he had examined the boy, Bahira went to Abu Talib and asked, “What is this boy to you?” He replied, “My son!” Bahira rejoined, “He is not your son, nor is there any need for this boy to have a father living.” Abu Talib said, “He is the son of my brother,” and Bahira asked, “what has become of his father?” When Abu Talib replied, “He died whilst the boy's mother was pregnant with him,” Bahira said, “you have spoken the truth. Return with your nephew to his country, and guard him from the Jews; for, by Allah, if they see him and know about him what I know, they will try to injure him, because something very great will happen to this nephew of yours. Therefore make haste to return with him to his country...” 

…When the apostle of Allah was twenty-five years old he married Khadija, a rich and noble merchant woman who engaged men to sell her merchandise and allowed them part of the profits; the Quraysh was a trading tribe. She had heard of the veracity, honesty, and excellence of the apostle of Allah, and sent for him to propose that he take some of her goods to Syria as a trader. She promised to allow him a larger profit than other merchants, to send with him her male slave, Maysara. 

…Khadija who was an intelligent, noble and good woman, predestined to great favor by Allah sent for the apostle of Allah and spoke the following words: 

“O son of my uncle! I have taken a liking to you on account of our relationship, your respectability among the people, your honesty, character and veracity.” Then she offered herself to him for a wife. She was at that time the most honored woman among the Quraysh because of her lineage, the highest in nobility, and the richest in property; for this everybody envied her. 

When she had made this proposal to the apostle of Allah he mentioned it to his uncles, and his uncle, Hamza, went with him to her father, whom he asked for her; and he married her. The apostle of Allah gave her twenty young camels for a dowry. She was the first wife he married, and he never married another until she died. Khadija bore to the apostle of Allah all his children except Ibrahim. She gave birth to al Qasim, and to al Tayyib, to al-Tahir, to Ruqayya, to Zaynab, to Umm Kulthum and to Fatima. Al Qasim, al Tayyib and al Tahir died during 'ignorance' [before the promulgation of Islam], but all the daughters of the apostle of Allah lived to see the establishment of Islam, made profession of it, and emigrated with him to Medina. 

As the time approached for the revelation of the apostle, Jewish priests and Christian monks discussed prophecies concerning the event contained in their sacred books and inherited from their own prophets. One day, according to an Arab tribesman, “I was lying in the courtyard of our family house and a Jew who conducted business with us told us of the day of judgement, the resurrection, the reckoning, of paradise and of hell. We who were idolaters had no knowledge of the resurrection, and said, "Woe be unto you! Do you think it possible that men will be raised up after death in a place where there is a paradise and a hell, and in which they will be requited according to their acts?" And he assured us, by Him who is sworn by, that he would prefer to be cast into the greatest oven in this world, scorching though it might be and sealed tight, rather than face the torments of hell in the next. My kinsmen said, "What will be the sign?" and he replied, “A prophet will arise in the direction of this country,” and pointed towards Mecca and Yemen. They asked, "When will this happen?" and, looking at me, the youngest of the people, he said, "When this boy's life attains maturity he will see him." And by Allah, not a day nor a night passed after that until the time when sent his apostle to live among us during which we did not expect his arrival.” But when it came, that refractory and envious Jew refused to become a believer, even after the apostle had promulgated Islam, and we said, “Woe be to you! Did you not yourself inform us about the prophet?” And he replied, “Indeed, but not about this one!” 

When Allah had determined on the coming of the apostle of Allah, Muhammad went out on some business at such a distance that he left human habitation behind and came to deep valleys. He did not pass by a stone or a tree but it said “Salutation to thee, o apostle of Allah!” 

The apostle turned to his right, to his left, and looked behind, but saw nothing except trees and stones. Thus he remained for some time looking and listening, until Gabriel came to him with that revelation which the grace of Allah was to bestow upon him when he was at Hira during the month of Ramadan. Every year the apostle of Allah spent a month praying at Hira and fed the poor who came to him; and when he returned to Mecca he walked round the Kaba seven or more times, as it pleased Allah, before entering his own house. In the month of Ramadan, in the year when Allah designed to bestow grace upon him, the apostle of Allah went to Hira as usual, and his family accompanied him. In the night the angel Gabriel came with the command of Allah. The apostle of Allah later said, “He came while I was asleep, with a cloth of brocade whereon there was writing, and he said, "Read." I replied, "I cannot read it." Then he pressed the cloth on me till I thought I was dying; he released his hold and said, "Read." I replied, "I cannot read it." And he pressed me again with it, till I thought I was dying. Then he loosed his hold of me and said, "Read." I replied, "I cannot read it." Once more he pressed me and said, "Read." Then I asked, "What shall I read?" And I said this because I feared he would press me again. Then he said, "Read in the name of the Lord thy creator, who created man from a drop of blood. Read, thy Lord is the most bountiful, who taught by means of the pen, taught man what he knew not." Accordingly, I read these words, and he had finished his task and departed from me. I awoke from my sleep and felt as if words had been graven on my heart.  Afterwards I went out, and when I was on the center of the mountain, I heard a voice from heaven, saying, "O Muhammad! Thou art the prophet of Allah, and I am Gabriel." I raised my head to look at the sky, and lo! I beheld Gabriel in the shape of a man with extended wings, standing in the firmament, with his feet touching the ground. 

And he said again, "O Muhammad! Thou art the apostle of Allah, and I am Gabriel." I continued to gaze at him, neither advancing nor retreating. Then I turned my face away from him to other parts of the sky, but in whatever direction I looked I saw him in the same form. I remained thus neither advancing nor retreating, and Khadija sent messengers to search for me. They went as far as the highest part of Mecca and again returned to her, while I remained standing on the same spot, until the angel departed from me and I returned to my family…