The Prophet’s Children

The biography of the Prophet ﷺ is all light and guidance; in calling to Islam and teaching, in ease and in adversity, in worship and morals. If you draw from it, you will be guided and wherever you turn, you will be fulfilled.

This is a glimpse from the biography of the last Prophet ﷺ with his daughters, sons and grandchildren. His humanity, fatherhood, compassion and tenderness are clearly manifested. Just as a father who lost his sons finds solace in it knowing that one ﷺ more virtuous was tested in that matter, everyone finds in it rulings, benefits and ordainments.

The biography of the Messenger ﷺ is a pleasant companion, and narratives that adorn gatherings. And there is no one who does not like to hear his biography, and enjoy his news.

The Messenger of Allah ﷺ was from Quraish, and was known for his honesty and integrity, and he was honorably called “Al-Ameen”, the trustworthy.” His narrative was exalted among them, high like the sun and the moon. Kadijah bint Khuwaylid (may Allah be pleased with her) choose him to run her trade in the Levant.

And Khadijah (may Allah be pleased with her) was impressed with him. So he ﷺmarried her when he was 25 years old and she was older than him. And he established his first household. A household bounding with happiness and filled with Iman (faith).

He ﷺ loved Khadijah immensely to the point that his wives after her were jealous of her. He used to say: I have been blessed with her love. He lived with her for twenty-five years, and he did not marry another woman until after she passed.

He ﷺ had six children from her: two sons Al-Qasim and Abdullah, and four daughters Zainab, Ruqayyah, Umm Kulthum and Fatimah.

As for al-Qasim, he was the first of his ﷺ children, and by him he was nicknamed, so he was called: “Abu al-Qasim”, the Father of al-Qasim. Al-Qasim died young before the mission of the Prophet ﷺ.

Then after al-Qasim: a daughter was born to the Prophet ﷺ and he named her Zainab, and from her news (may Allah be pleased with her) is that the Prophet ﷺ married her to Abu al-Aas ibn al-Rabi’. She reverted to Islam before him and emigrated. And he did not embrace Islam until before the triumph of Makkah. Then the Prophet ﷺ returned her to him.

During Badr, Abu al-Aas ibn al-Rabee was captured among those who were captured. And the people of Mecca sent ransom for their captives. So Zainab sent money and a necklace to ransom her husband. This necklace was Khadijah’s gift to Zainab on the day of her marriage, and when the Messenger of Allah saw it, he was greatly touched and said: If you consider freeing her prisoner and returning what belongs to her, then do so. Then they said: yes, oh Messenger of Allah.

Zainab gave birth to Umamah, and it was from his ﷺ compassion and his humility that he prayed while holding Umamah bint Zainab. When he stood he carried her, and when he prostrated he put her down. So the scholars deduced from this the permissibility of movement in prayer if it is for a need.

Umamah was married by Ali bin Abi Talib (may Allah be pleased with him) after the death of Fatimah. And her mother Zainab died in the eighth year of the Hijrah, and the women washed her, and she was shrouded with the izar (lower garment) of the Prophet ﷺ.

Then after Zainab: The Prophet ﷺ was blessed with a daughter, and he called her Ruqayyah, and he married her to Othman bin Affan (may Allah be pleased with him). On the day of Badr, she fell seriously ill, and Uthman did not participate in the Campaign of Badr. He stood by his wife through her illness, then she passed (may Allah be pleased with her). So the Messenger of Allah ﷺ granted Uthman a share just as if he had participated.

And when Ruqayyah (may Allah be pleased with her) passed, the Prophet ﷺmarried Uthman to his daughter Umm Kulthum in the third year after hijrah, then she passed in the ninth year after hijrah. So because he married two of the Prophet’s ﷺ daughters, Uthman was nicknamed “The Possessor of the Two Lights”.

And the youngest of the Prophet’s ﷺ daughters was Fatimah. The Prophet ﷺmarried her to her cousin Ali bin Abi Talib (may Allah be pleased with him), in the second year after the Hijrah. She gave birth to al-Hassan and al-Hussain, the leaders of the youth of Paradise. The Prophet ﷺ loved them very much and said:
They are my two sweet fragrances this worldly life.

The Messenger of Allah ﷺ delivered a sermon one day, and al-Hassan and al-Hussain (may Allah be pleased with them both) came wearing red shirts, falling down and standing up. So he descended and took them both and then ascended the pulpit with them and said:
Allah has spoken the truth.

At Taghabun (64) 15: Your wealth and your children are but a trial, and Allah has with Him a great reward.

I saw these two and I could not bear.

And the Prophet ﷺ prayed one day with his companions and prostrated for a long time. So the companions asked him after that. He said:
My son was riding on my back and I did not like to disturb him until he had enough.

The Prophet ﷺ kissed his grandson Al-Hassan bin Ali (may Allah be pleased with them) in the presence of Al-Aqra’ bin Habis. Thereupon he remarked: I have ten children and I have never kissed any one of them. The Messenger of Allah ﷺ looked at him and said:
He who does not show mercy to others will not be shown mercy.

This is the heart of the Prophet ﷺ and this is his mercy towards children. Allah said:
Al Ahzab (33) 21: There has certainly been for you in the Messenger of Allah an excellent pattern.

And Fatimah is a prophetic element. The Prophet ﷺ said:
Fatimah is but a part of me, I am harmed by what harms her and I am uncomfortable by what makes her uncomfortable.

Fatimah (may Allah be pleased with her) went to the Prophet ﷺ to complain about marks left on her hands from making dough and asked him for a servant. But she did not find him so she mentioned that to Aishah. So when the prophet came, Aishah informed him. Ali said: Then he came to us when we had gone to bed. I went to get up, but he said:
`Stay where you are.” He came and sat down, and I could feel the coolness of his feet on my chest. And he said:
Shall I not tell you of something that is better for you than a servant? When you go to your bed, say Subhan Allah thirty three times, Alhamdulillah thirty three times and Allahu Akbar thirty four times. For this is better for you than a servant.

Ibn Hajar said: And in this hadith is that the one who adheres to the remembrance of Allah is given a more power than the power that a servant provides for him. Fatimah (may Allah be pleased with her) passed six months after the Prophet ﷺ.

The youngest of the Prophet’s ﷺ children from Khadija was AbdAllah, and he was called al-Tayyib or al-Tahir. He was born after the mission of the Prophet ﷺ and he died young.

These are the children of the Prophet ﷺ from Khadija – may Allah be pleased with her: Al-Qasim, Abdullah, Zainab, Ruqayyah, Umm Kulthum, and Fatimah – may Allah be pleased with them all.

Oh Muslims:The Prophet ﷺ prayed fajr one morning, then turned to his companions and said:
Last night a child was born to me, I named him Ibrahim after his forefather (the Prophet Ibrahim, peace be upon him).

So the scholars deduced from this the naming of the newborn on the first day. Al-Bayhaqi, may Allah have mercy on him, said: naming the newborn when it is born is more authentic than the hadiths of naming on the seventh day.

Ibrahim’s mother was Mariah the Copt, who was an Egyptian sent to the Prophet ﷺ by Al Muqawqis, a Christian governor of Alexandria. She reverted to Islam and bore for the Prophet ﷺ Ibrahim.

Anas bin Malik (may Allah be pleased with him) said:
I have never seen anyone more compassionate to their family than Allah’s Messenger ﷺ. Ibrahim was sent to the outskirts of Medina for nursing. He (the Prophet) used to go there and we accompanied him. He entered the house, and it was filled with smoke as the father of the nursing mother was a blacksmith. He took him (his son Ibrahim) and kissed him and then returned.

Ibrahim passed in the tenth year after Hijrah and his age was 18 months. Abdulrahman bin Auf (may Allah be pleased with him) said:
The Prophet took me by the hand and I went with him to his son Ibrahim, and he was taking his last breaths. So he ﷺ took him and put him on his lap until his soul exited and cried. So I said: You cry oh Messenger of Allah and you prohibit (your followers) from crying? He said: No. But I prohibited two obscene foolish sounds: An utterance upon a blessing, vain talk, play and the melodies of the shaytan. And an utterance during a calamity while clawing at one’s face and tearing one’s clothes. And this is a mercy and the one who is not merciful is not shown mercy. And had it not been a true promise and a true statement that the first of us shall join the last of us, we would have grieved over you much more than this, and we grieve over you, O Ibrahim. The eyes weep, the heart grieves, and we do not say what angers the Lord.

And the Prophet ﷺ said:
Indeed, Ibrahim is my son and he died as a nursing baby. He has now two nursing-mothers that complete his nursing in Paradise.

And coincidentally, the sun was eclipsed on the day Ibrahim passed, so some people thought that it was eclipsed because of his death. This was one of their beliefs in the pre-Islamic era. So the Messenger of Allah clarified their misconception saying:
The sun and the moon are not eclipsed on account of anyone’s death or on account of anyone’s birth. Rather they are two signs from the signs of Allah, so if you see them, then offer prayer.

Oh Allah grant us his ﷺ intercession, resurrect us in his company, and grant us success in following his Sunnah. Indeed Allah is All Hearing, Answering.

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