Aminah bint Wahb
Encyclopedia
Aminah bint Wahb (died 577) was the mother of the Islamic prophet Muhammad
Muhammad
Muhammad |ligature]] at U+FDF4 ;Arabic pronunciation varies regionally; the first vowel ranges from ~~; the second and the last vowel: ~~~. There are dialects which have no stress. In Egypt, it is pronounced not in religious contexts...

.

Biography According to Islamic History

The daughter of Wahb ibn 'Abd Manaf
Wahb ibn 'Abd Manaf
Wahb ibn 'Abd Manaf ibn Zuhrah ibn Kilab ibn Murrah was the chief of Banu Zuhrah, and the father of Aminah bint Wahb, thus the grandfather of Islamic prophet Muhammad.-References:...

 ibn Zuhrah
Zuhrah ibn Kilab
Zuhrah ibn Kilab ibn Murrah was the great-grandfather of Aminah bint Wahb, thus the great-great-grandfather of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, and the progenitor of the Banu Zuhrah clan of the distinguished Quraysh tribe in Mecca....

 ibn Kilab
Kilab ibn Murrah
Kilab ibn Murrah was the paternal great-great-great-great grandfather and maternal great-great-great grandfather of Islamic prophet Muhammad....

 ibn Murrah, Aminah was born in Mecca
Mecca
Mecca is a city in the Hijaz and the capital of Makkah province in Saudi Arabia. The city is located inland from Jeddah in a narrow valley at a height of above sea level...

. She was a member of the Banu Zuhrah
Banu Zuhrah
Banu Zuhrah is a clan of the Quraish tribe.Akhnas ibn Shariq al-Thaqifi and the Banu Zuhrah where with the Meccan as part of the escort that preceded the battle of Badr, but since he believed the caravan to be safe, he did not join Quraish on their way to a festival in badr...

 clan in the tribe of Quraysh who were descendants of Ibrahim (Abraham
Abraham
Abraham , whose birth name was Abram, is the eponym of the Abrahamic religions, among which are Judaism, Christianity and Islam...

) through his son Ismail (Ishmael
Ishmael
Ishmael is a figure in the Hebrew Bible and the Qur'an, and was Abraham's first born child according to Jews, Christians and Muslims. Ishmael was born of Abraham's marriage to Sarah's handmaiden Hagar...

). Her ancestor Zuhrah was the elder brother of Qusayy ibn Kilab
Qusai ibn Kilab
Qusai ibn Kilab ibn Murrah was the great-grandfather of Shaiba ibn Hashim . He was fifth in the line of descent to the Islamic Muhammad, and attained supreme power at Makkah. Qusai is amongst the ancestors of Sahaba and the progenitor of the Quraysh.-Background:He was born into the famous Quraysh...

, who was also an ancestor of 'Abd Allah ibn Abd al Muttalib. Qusayy ibn Kilab became the first Quraysh custodian of the Ka'aba
Kaaba
The Kaaba is a cuboid-shaped building in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, and is the most sacred site in Islam. The Qur'an states that the Kaaba was constructed by Abraham, or Ibraheem, in Arabic, and his son Ishmael, or Ismaeel, as said in Arabic, after he had settled in Arabia. The building has a mosque...

. Abdul Mutallib, father of 'Abd Allah, fixed the marriage of his youngest son 'Abd Allah with Aminah. She was eventually married to 'Abd Allah ibn Abd al-Muttalib. It was said that 'Abd Allah's face shone with a special light and that this light was the promise of a Prophet as offspring.

'Abd Allah's father was the custodian of the Holy Ka'aba in Mecca. Soon after their marriage 'Abd Allah would be called to as-Sham
Greater Syria
Greater Syria , also known simply as Syria, is a term that denotes a region in the Near East bordering the Eastern Mediterranean Sea or the Levant....

 (present day Syria
Syria
Syria , officially the Syrian Arab Republic , is a country in Western Asia, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the West, Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east, Jordan to the south, and Israel to the southwest....

) on a trading caravan trip. When he left, Aminah was pregnant. However, 'Abd Allah would become sick and would die from an illness before returning to Mecca and his pregnant wife; a depression from which Aminah would never recover..

Birth of Muhammad

Two months after 'Abd Allah's death, in 570 AD, Muhammad would be born. As was tradition among all the great families at the time Aminah would send Muhammad into the desert as a baby. The belief was that in the desert one learned self-discipline, nobility, and freedom. This also gave Muhammad the chance to learn Arabic and Arab traditions. During this time Muhammad would be nursed by Halimah bint Abi Dhuayb, a poor Bedouin woman from the tribe of Banu Sa'ad
Banu Sa'ad
The Banu Sa'ad was one of the tribes of Arabia during Muhammad's era. The Banu Sa'ad are a subgroup of the larger Banu Hawazin tribal confederation. They were notable for being allies to the polytheist Meccans and warring with the Muslims during Islams early days. Halima Sadia, Muhammad's wet...

, a branch of the Hawāzin
Hawazin
Ha'wa zin was a sub-division from the Qais Ailan tribe, Hawazin is the mighty Pre-Islamic Arabian tribe concentrated in the area around Ta’if in the Arabian Peninsula. Its descendants are scattered across the Middle-East and North Africa as many of its members were dispatched after the Muslim...

, who would be with him during his time in the desert.

When Muhammad was five years old he was reunited with Aminah. After being reunited with her son Aminah took him to Yathrib (Madinah
Medina
Medina , or ; also transliterated as Madinah, or madinat al-nabi "the city of the prophet") is a city in the Hejaz region of western Saudi Arabia, and serves as the capital of the Al Madinah Province. It is the second holiest city in Islam, and the burial place of the Islamic Prophet Muhammad, and...

) to meet his extended family and introduce him to the city. They would end up spending one month in Yathrib. However, after having traveled only 23 miles from Yathrib towards Mecca, Aminah fell ill and eventually died and was buried in the village of Abwa’. Aminah died in 577 AD.

Inconsistencies in Aminah bint Wahb's Biography

There are a few inconsistencies that appear in the biography of Aminah bint Wahb. In most biographies Aminah lived with her father, however, others say she lived under the guardianship of her uncle Wahib ibn 'Abd Manaf. The age of 'Abd Allah is also contested. In most versions of Aminah's biography he is said to be 17 years old when the couple marries. Other versions claim he was 24 when they were married. The third inconsistency surrounds the time of Abdallah's death. In most cases it is simply said that he died on the return trip from Syria to Mecca. However, according to Muhammad Zafrulla Kahn (author of the online book Muhammad: Seal of the Prophets) 'Abd Allah was left behind in Madinah by the caravan in the care of his father's maternal relatives. When his father found out 'Abd Allah was ill he dispatched Harith, his eldest son, to take care of 'Abd Allah. It was only once Harith arrived in Medinah that he learned 'Abd Allah had died a month after the caravan had left him.

External links and references

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