CHILDREN’S CORNER

best for them. So, they sent them to live with the desert tribal women, who looked after these foster children as their own. Halima Sadia and her family lived in the desert. They were very poor. Their donkey was very old, and their she-camel gave no milk. Halima had a little son, but he was always hungry. She had no milk to give him. Halima came to Makkah with some other desert women. The townspeople gave their children to these women to take to the desert. The Prophet Muhammad’s grandfather, ‘Abdu’l Muttalib, was also looking for a nurse for his grandson. But the desert women did not want to take little Muhammad. They thought: “He is an orphan. His grandfather and his mother have nothing.” It was already evening, and Halima had not found any child to take with her. So, she said to her husband: “Let me take that orphan boy with me. Nobody wants to take him.” Her husband said: “Do it. Maybe Allah will bless us because of him.” Halima then took charge of little Muhammad, and they left Makkah. They only stopped when they reached the desert. Halima’s husband went to milk the she-camel. He cried in surprise: “The she-camel has lots of milk!” All of them drank the milk and then happily went to sleep. In the morning Halima’s husband said: “Halima, you have taken a blessed boy.” Halima’s friends were surprised at how Halima’s camel was now giving lots of milk. And Halima’s old donkey started being able to walk very fast. Halima’s tribe lived in a barren stretch of desert where nothing grew. All of them often went hungry. But when little Muhammad came to live with them, everything changed. Now Halima’s sheep and her camel always had lots of milk. People began to say: “Let’s graze our sheep and our camels where Halima takes her flocks. Her animals are well fed. And they always give lots of milk.” Muhammad grew up and returned to his mother. But his mother died soon afterwards. He then went to live with his grandfather, ‘Abdu’l Muttalib. When he died, the Prophet’s uncle, Abu Talib, became his guardian. o