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The youth of Prophet Muhammad: an orphan given shelter, named al-Amine, protected from jahiliya, the stones of the Kaaba, the idols he avoided and his standing at Arafat, from Ibn Ishaq, Jabir and Zayd ibn Haritha.
Updated on 07 September 2026 at 11:07 PM
Such is the chapter of his origin (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), of the one who raised him, of the sufficiency Allah granted him and of His protection over his life: he was an orphan and Allah gave him shelter, poor and Allah enriched him. Allah said:
“Did He not find you an orphan and give you shelter? And He found you unaware and guided you? And He found you poor and made you rich?”
Sura ad-Duha, 6-8
Muhammad ibn Ishaq said: thus the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) grew up, Allah raising him, protecting him and guarding him from the abominations of jahiliya, because of the honor He willed to give him and His mission. He became the best of his people in manliness, the finest in character, the noblest in lineage, the best neighbor, the most patient, the most truthful in speech, the greatest in trustworthiness, and the farthest from obscenity and from the traits that defile men, in purity and generosity.
He had but one name among his people: al-Amine, the trustworthy, for what Allah had gathered in him of upright qualities.
The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) used to mention, among what Allah used to protect him in his childhood and in the time of his jahiliya, the following account: “I was among boys of Quraysh who carried stones for their games: each of us had stripped and put his izar around his neck to carry the stones. I would go forward with them like that, then turn back when an unseen force struck me like a violent blow.” It was said to him: “Tighten your izar.” He tightened it, then carried the stones clothed, his izar on him, among his companions.
Ibn Kathir notes that this account resembles the one found in the Sahih, at the building of the Kaaba, when he carried the stones with his uncle al-Abbas. If it is not the same story, it preceded it as a prelude: Allah is most knowing.
Abd ar-Razzak reported, from Ibn Jurayj, from Amr ibn Dinar, that he heard Jabir ibn Abdallah say: when the Kaaba was built, the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) went to carry the stones, and al-Abbas said to him: “Put your izar on your shoulder beneath the stones.” He did so, then collapsed to the ground, his eyes turned to the sky, then stood up and said: “My izar.” He then tightened his izar upon himself.
This account was related in the two Sahihs from Abd ar-Razzak, as well as through the chain of Rawh ibn Ubada, from Zakariyya ibn Abi Ishaq, from Amr ibn Dinar, from Jabir, in a similar manner.
al-Bayhaqi also related the statement of al-Abbas: “I used to carry the stones to the House when Quraysh built it. Quraysh assigned the men two by two to carry the stones, and the women carried the clay. My nephew and I carried on our necks with our izar beneath; when the crowd covered us, we would clothe ourselves. While I was walking and Muhammad walked before me, he collapsed on his face: I ran, threw down my stone, and he was looking at the sky. I asked: what is the matter with you? He stood up, took his izar and said: I have been forbidden to walk naked. And I used to conceal it from the people, fearing they would say: he is possessed.”
Younous ibn Bukayr reported, from Muhammad ibn Ishaq, from al-Hasan ibn Muhammad ibn Ali ibn Abi Talib, from his father, from his grandfather Ali ibn Abi Talib, that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said:
“I never intended what the people of jahiliya intended with women, except for two nights, and Allah protected me from both. One night I said to a boy of Mecca, while we were shepherding the sheep of his people: watch my sheep until I enter Mecca and spend the evening as the young men spend it. He did so. I entered until I came to the first house I met, where I heard flutes and instruments: I asked what it was, and was told that so-and-so was marrying so-and-so. I sat to watch, but Allah struck my ear: by Allah, nothing woke me but the touch of the sun. I returned to my companion, who asked what I had done, and I answered: nothing. On another night I told him likewise: watch my sheep until I spend the evening. I heard what I had heard the first night, I sat to watch, and Allah struck my ear until the touch of the sun. By Allah, I never thought of it again and never returned to it, until Allah honored me with His prophethood.”
Related by Ibn Ishaq in his sira, from Ali ibn Abi Talib
Ibn Kathir notes that this hadith is very rare in its chain: it may come from Ali himself, and its ending may be interpolated. Its chain was mentioned by Ibn Hibban in the Thiqaqat, and some counted him among the reporters of the Sahih, without our sheikh having been able to confirm it in his Tahdhib: Allah is most knowing.
al-Bayhaqi related, from Zayd ibn Haritha: “There was an idol of copper called Isaf or Na’ila which the polytheists would touch while circling. The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) performed the tawaf and I did the same with him. When I passed by it, I touched it, and the Prophet said: do not touch it. We circled again, and I said to myself: I will not stop touching it until I see what comes of it. I touched it, and the Prophet said: had I not forbidden you?”
Others completed his words: “By the One who honored him and sent down upon him the Book, he never touched an idol, until Allah honored him with what He honored him and sent down upon him.” Already mentioned too is the statement of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) to Bahira, when the latter wanted to question him by al-Lat and al-Uzza: “Do not question me by them: by Allah, nothing has ever disgusted me as much as them.”
al-Bayhaqi related, from Jabir ibn Abdallah: the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) used to attend the gatherings of the polytheists. Two angels behind him, one said to his companion: let us go and stand behind the Messenger of Allah. The other replied: how could we stand behind him when his habit is to touch the idols? After that, he no longer attended the gatherings of the polytheists.
Ibn Kathir notes that this hadith was rejected as strange by more than one imam against Uthman ibn Abi Shayba, to the point that Imam Ahmad said of him: his brother would not utter such a thing. al-Bayhaqi related from some its interpretation: he attended the gatherings of those who touched idols, before revelation was sent down to him: Allah is most knowing. And the hadith of Zayd ibn Haritha already established that he withdrew from those gatherings until Allah honored him with His mission.
It is also established that he did not stop at Muzdalifa on the night of Arafat, but stood with the people at Arafat. Younous ibn Bukayr reported, from Muhammad ibn Ishaq, that Jubayr ibn Mut’im said: “I saw the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), upon the religion of his people, standing at Arafat on his camel, in the midst of his people, until Allah granted him success with them.”
al-Bayhaqi explains: the “religion of his people” means what remained of the heritage of Ibrahim and Ismaïl (peace be upon them both), and he never associated anything with Allah. It is also understood from this statement that he stood at Arafat before revelation came to him: that was a success from Allah for him. al-Bayhaqi likewise related it from Imam Ahmad: “I saw the Messenger of Allah before it was sent down upon him, standing on his camel among the people at Arafat.” Ahmad also related, through the chain of Soufyan, from Muhammad ibn Jubayr ibn Mut’im, from his father: “I had lost my camel at Arafat and went looking for it, and there was the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) standing. I said to myself: this man is one of the hums, what is he doing here?” This account was related in the two Sahihs, from Soufyan ibn Uyayna.