Ibrāhīm ibn Muḥammad (Template:Lang-ar), was the son of the Islamic prophet Muhammad and Maria al-Qibtiyya.[1][2] He died at the age of 2.
Birth, illness and death
Muhammad's wife, and the mother of believers, Ibrahim's mother was an Egyptian woman who came from Byzantine official to Muhammad in 628. According to Ibn Kathir, quoting Ibn Sa'd, he was born in the last month of the year 8 AH, equivalent of 630 CE.[3] Muslim scholars such as Muslim ibn al-Hajjaj and Al-Nasa'i mention that Al-Waqidi is not reliable and is not trustworthy to be quoted. The child was named after Abraham (or Ibrahim in Arabic) the Biblical prophet revered in Jewish, Christian and Muslim traditions. Ibrahim was placed in the care of a nurse called Umm Sayf, wife of Abu Sayf, the blacksmith, in the tradition of the Arabs of the time, to whom Muhammad gave some goats to complement her milk supply.[4] When he fell ill he was moved to a date orchard near the residence of his mother, under the care of her and her sister Sirin. When it was clear that he would not likely survive, Muhammad was informed.[4] His reaction to the news is reported as: Template:Cquote
Eclipse occurrence
In his book Al-Bidaya wa-l-Nihaya, ibn Kathir mentions that Ibrahim died on Thursday 10 Rabi' al-Awwal 10 AH, and on the same day right after his death, an eclipse of the sun occurred, so people at the moment started talking that God was showing his condolences to his prophet by eclipsing the Sun. Muhammad, not wanting his companions to fall into fitna by ascribing divinity to him or his son, stood at the mosque and said, "The sun and the moon do not eclipse because of the death or life (i.e. birth) of someone. When you see the eclipse pray and invoke God."[5]
Burial
Muhammad is also reported as having informed Maria and Sirin that Ibrahim would have his own nurse in Paradise. Different accounts relate that the ghusl for Ibrahim was performed by either Umm Burdah, or al-Fadl ibn ʿAbbas, in preparation for burial. Thereafter, he was carried to the cemetery upon a little bier by Muhammad, his uncle al-ʿAbbas, and others. Here, after a funeral prayer led by Muhammad, he was interred. Muhammad then filled the grave with sand, sprinkled some water upon it, and placed a landmark on it, saying that "Tombstones do neither good nor ill, but they help appease the living. Anything that man does, God wishes him to do well."[4]
Claims of illegitimacy
Since none of Mohammed's other partners save Khadija bore him a boy and few a child, a rumor spread that it was actually Maria's male cousin Mabur, who had also been given to him as a slave that had in fact impregnated Maria. When Mohammed heard those rumors, he ordered the killing of Mabur without any court trial, which would have been required by Shari'ah (Islamic Law) in a similar case with any other person. Also, since this was fornication between two unmarried slaves the penalty should have been 50 lashes, not death.
Siblings
- Qasim ibn Muhammad
- Abd Allah ibn Muhammad
- Zainab bint Muhammad
- Ruqayya bint Muhammad
- Umm Kulthum bint Muhammad
- Fatima
See also
References
- ↑ Tafsir (Exegesis) of Quran by Ibn Kathir for Chapter 66 of Quran verses 1-5.
- ↑ Zaad al-Ma’aad, 1/103.
- ↑ Ibn Kathir, quoting Ibn Saad
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Muhammad Husayn Haykal, Translated by Isma'il Razi A. al-Faruqi, The Life of Muhammad, American Trust Publications, 1976, Template:ISBN [1]
- ↑ Hadith - Book of Eclipses - Sahih al-Bukhari - Sayings and Teachings of Prophet Muhammad (صلى الله عليه و سلم). Sunnah. Retrieved 28 November 2019.