3 of 4 · From his youth to 8 AH · Makkah and al-Ji'ranah
Halimah al-Sa'diyyah
A Cloak Spread Out
The Prophet ﷺ never forgot the woman who nursed him. Ibn Sa'd reports that after his marriage to Khadijah, Halimah came to Makkah complaining of drought and the loss of her flocks, and that Khadijah, at his word, gave her forty sheep and a camel.
Abu al-Tufayl recalled that as a boy he saw the Prophet ﷺ distributing meat at al-Ji'ranah, after the Battle of Hunayn, when a woman came up to him. He spread out his cloak for her and she sat on it. Abu al-Tufayl asked who she was, and was told, "This is his mother who nursed him" (Sunan Abi Dawud 5144). Another report says that he spread part of his garment for his foster father, the other part for his foster mother, and stood for his foster brother and seated him before him (Sunan Abi Dawud 5145).
At Hunayn, Banu Sa'd had fought against the Muslims as part of Hawazin, and many of them were taken captive. When the delegation of Hawazin came having accepted Islam, the Prophet ﷺ asked the Muslims to give back the captives, and they did (Sahih al-Bukhari 2307). Ibn Ishaq reports that their spokesman had reminded him that among the captives were the women who had nursed and cared for him.
Decades later, at the height of his victory, the Prophet ﷺ still spread his cloak on the ground for the woman who had nursed him. Loyalty to those who were kind to us does not fade with time or rank.
How do you honour those who cared for you when you were small?
- Ibn Sa'd, al-Tabaqat al-KubraHistorical report
- Sunan Abi Dawud 5144 Graded by Al-Albani: Daif Isnaad · Muhammad Muhyi Al-Din Abdul Hamid: Daif Isnaad · Shuaib Al Arnaut: Daif · Zubair Ali Zai: DaifDa'if
- Sunan Abi Dawud 5145 Graded by Al-Albani: Daif Isnaad · Muhammad Muhyi Al-Din Abdul Hamid: Daif Isnaad · Zubair Ali Zai: DaifDa'if
- Sahih al-Bukhari 2307 Sahih · in the two Sahihs
- Ibn Hisham, al-Sirah al-Nabawiyyah (the delegation of Hawazin)Historical report
What the hadith grades mean
- Sahih (authentic): an unbroken chain of trustworthy, precise narrators, free of hidden flaws or contradiction. It is acted upon.
- Hasan (good): like sahih, but a narrator's precision is slightly lighter. It is also accepted and acted upon. "Hasan sahih" means it reaches sahih by its routes.
- Da'if (weak): a break in the chain or a narrator who is not reliable enough. It is not used to establish beliefs or rulings.
- Very weak (munkar, matruk): a seriously flawed chain or a narrator accused of lying. It is not relied on at all.
- Mawdu' (fabricated): falsely attributed to the Prophet ﷺ. It may not be narrated as his words except to warn against it.
- The two Sahihs: every hadith with a full chain in Sahih al-Bukhari and Sahih Muslim is accepted as sahih by the scholars of hadith.
- Historical report: biographies and histories (Ibn Ishaq, Ibn Sa'd, al-Tabari) record events with chains that are often incomplete. They are used for the story, not for rulings.
- Hadith scholars grade a narration; the four madhhabs do not. Where a hadith carries a ruling, the page shows which schools act on it.
Create a free account to keep your place as you go. Create a free account · Sign in