Chapter 2.
Babyhood Days
His mother Amena fed him her milk first. After two, three days Thuwayba, Abu Lahab’s maid, fed him her milk. In those days the rich and the noble used to send
their newborn babies to nearby villages to be raised among the bedouin so that the children could acquire eloquence in the Arabic language and learn the traditional
Arab values from them. A few days after the birth of Prophet Muhammad (pbuh), some women from the Hawazin tribe came to Makkah in search of such babies.
S’adiya Haleema was among them. By chance she couldnot get any such child to rear. The mother of the Prophet (pbuh) wanted her to take the Prophet (pbuh) and raise him under her care in her village. S’adiya Haleema,however, was not much interested at the beginning, as she did not expect any lucrative reward for taking care of an orphan. But at the same time she did not want to return without a child. So, ultimately, she accepted the request of Hazrat Amena and took Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) with her. After two years she brought him back to Makkah to his mother. But as in those days an epidemic had spread in Makkah, Hazrat Amena asked her to keep the baby (pbuh) with her for some more time. Haleema did accordingly.
Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) loved S’adiya Haleema very much. When he was entrusted with prophethood, her husband Harith bin ‘Abdul ‘Uzzah visited him in Makkah and inquired him about his message. The Prophet (pbuh) told him that the day would come soon when he wouldshow him that he told the truth. Harith accepted Islam.
(Muhammad - The Last Prophet, 18-19)
