Sirah

The Encampment of Halima

The desert fostering among Banu Sa'd, c. 571-575 CE

c. 571-575 CE

Imagined 360° reconstruction of The Encampment of Halima

Educational historical reconstruction

Where

The pasture country of Banu Sa'd ibn Bakr, in the uplands between Makkah and Ta'if

21.3000, 40.4000 · View on OpenStreetMap

Background

It was the custom of the people of Makkah to give their infants out to wet-nurses of the surrounding desert clans, that the children might be raised away from the diseases of the town, in the open air and the pure Arabic of the badiya. By this custom the infant Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him), born at Makkah in the Year of the Elephant (c. 570 CE) and orphaned of his father before his birth, was given into the care of Halima bint Abi Dhu'ayb (radiyallahu 'anha), a wet-nurse of Banu Sa'd ibn Bakr, a clan whose grazing country lay in the uplands of the Hijaz toward Ta'if. The Sira of Ibn Ishaq, the Tabaqat of Ibn Sa'd, and al-Bayhaqi's Dala'il al-Nubuwwa relate that Halima and her household had come to Makkah in a year of hardship, that none of the other nurses had wished to take a fatherless child, and that when she took him a manifest blessing came upon her people: her milk and her breast filled, the she-camel and the flock gave abundantly, and the grazing around her camp prospered, so that her family marked the years of his nursing as years of plenty. The child remained with Banu Sa'd for some years before being returned to his mother Aminah (radiyallahu 'anha) at Makkah. This scene depicts the foster country and household only: the black goat-hair tents of the clan, the flock and the milk-camel, the waterhole, an empty cradle by the tent, and the green of a good season on the grazing. In keeping with the strictest visual ethics no person is shown, neither the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) as an infant nor Halima (RA) nor any of her people; the blessing is conveyed through the place and the prospering of the household.

What you see

A pastoral encampment in the open desert uplands of the Hijaz, away from any town, the dry grazing country of a bedouin clan in the hills between the valley sanctuary and the highland of Ta'if.

Low black goat-hair tents (buyut al-sha'r) pitched on the open ground, a flock of sheep and goats and a milk-camel nearby, a waterhole at the camp's edge; the ordinary furniture of a desert fostering household.

This is the foster country of Banu Sa'd ibn Bakr, where, by the custom of Quraysh, an infant of Makkah was given out to a wet-nurse of the desert to be raised in the clean air and pure speech of the badiya.

An empty wooden cradle stands by the tent, the infant himself not shown. By the Sira the household of his foster-mother Halima al-Sa'diyya (radiyallahu 'anha) was blessed after she took him: her milk and her flock increased and her barren beast grew strong, a sign upon the child she nursed.

Waterskins, a hand-mill and a milking vessel by the tents; the green of an unusually good season on the grazing around the camp, in keeping with the blessing the tradition records upon Halima's people in those years.

The fostering of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) among Banu Sa'd is recorded by Ibn Ishaq, Ibn Sa'd and al-Bayhaqi (Dala'il al-Nubuwwa). The scene shows the place and household only; in the Sirah tier no person is depicted.

Primary sources

Ibn Ishaq via Ibn Hisham, al-Sira al-Nabawiyya: The principal narrative of the fostering among Banu Sa'd, the taking of the fatherless child, and the blessing upon Halima's household.

Ibn Sa'd, al-Tabaqat al-Kubra (9th c.): The biographical record of Halima al-Sa'diyya (RA), the years of nursing, and the return of the child to Aminah (RA).

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