February Assessment
Q1:a) Describe in detail the role of Hazrat Halima and Abu Talib in
the early years of the prophets life. (10)
Ans: Hazrat Halima Saadia was an Arabic Bedouin woman and the Prophet’s wet nurse. It was a
common practice in Makkah that newborn children were sent with beduin women into desert to be
raised.When the group of nurses came they took most of the children, the last nurse came on an old
camel and donkey with her husband.She had decided to take the baby Muhammad (s) when no one else
wanted to, as she did not want to go back to her home in the desert without a baby. Her and her
family’s fortunes changed whilst the Prophet (s) lived with them. Her goats used to come back full over
flowing with milk while the other were empty. She asked to keep the Prophet (s) for longer than the
initial two year period because she felt a close bond to him and the blessings she got from his presence.
She was shaken by the story of the two angels who came to clean the Prophet’s heart, after which she
returned the Prophet (s) to his mother. The Prophet (s) was known to call Halima ‘my mother’. After his
marriage she came to the prophet (s) and got 40 sheep from him. After the firs revelation she cave to
the prophet (s) and accepted islam. During the battle of hunain the Prophet (s) took off his robe and
layed it on the ground for her to sit. She died in 8 A.H and is buried in jannatul Baqi.
Hazrat Abu Talib became the guardian of the Prophet (s) after the death of the Prophet’s grandfather
when he was only 8 years old and he loved the Prophet (s) like his own son, often preferring Muhammad
(s) over his own children. When in financial difficulty, Abu Talib’s son Ali went to live with the Prophet
(s). Abu Talib took the Prophet (s) on trade journeys with him, and on one journey the monk, Bahira,
told Abu Talib that his nephew would be the final prophet. Abu Talib quickly sold his goods and returned
to Makkah. When the Prophet (s) openly announced Islam, Abu Talib is generally thought not to have
become Muslim, but he did promise to protect the Prophet (s) and maintained a positive attitude
towards him. When the prophet started criticizing their idols the chiefs took actions and Abu Talib
protected him and let everyone know that he would fight for him. The Prophet (s) was very sad to lose
his uncle and named the year as “the year of sorrow”. (420 words)
b) What can these relations teach Muslims today about family ties? (4)
Ans: Hazrat Halima Sadia was the foster mother of the Prophet (s) but still he always loved and
respected her and even visited her this shows that blood relations are not the only one that have to be
given love and time and Muslims today should learn from this and respect people even if they don’t
have a blood relation with them. And the Prophet’s relation with his uncle Hazrat Abu Talib shows us
that a Muslim’s relation with his non-muslims relatives should not be separated and should be given and
treated with equal respect as you would for other relatives.
