One day, while traveling north, one of the
Arab tribes from Mecca met a hermit in the desert. Some of the men
stopped to speak with him. Hermits were known to be wise and the Arabs
often asked their advice.
The hermit asked where they had come from. When they
replied that they were from Mecca, he told them that Allah would soon
send a prophet, who would come from their people. They asked the name of
this prophet and the hermit answered that his name would be Muhammad
and that he would guide them to a new way of life.
Meanwhile in Mecca, Aminah, although saddened by the
loss of her husband, felt especially well and strong as she awaited the
birth of her baby. During this time she dreamt of many things. On one
occasion it was as if a great light were shining out of her, and on
another she heard a voice telling her that she would have a boy and that
his name would be Muhammad. She never forgot that voice but she told no
one about it.
On Monday, the twelfth day of Rabi al-Awwal in the Year
of the Elephant, Aminah gave birth to a son. Allah sends man many signs
when one of His chosen Prophets is born and on that twelfth day of Rabi
al-Awwal in the year 570 A.D, many such signs were seen. Some were seen
by Jewish scholars who had read in their scriptures of a coming
Prophet. One of these learned men in Yathrib, for instance, saw a
brilliant new star he had never seen before as he studied the heavens
that night. He called the people around him and, pointing the star out
to them, told them a Prophet must have been born.
That same night another Jew was passing by the meeting
place of the leaders of Quraysh in Mecca. He asked them if a baby boy
had just been born and told them that if it were true, this would be the
Prophet of the Arab nation.
Aminah sent news of the birth to her father-in-law,
'Abd al-Muttalib, who was sitting near the Ka'bah at the time. He was
very happy and began at once to think of a name for the boy. An ordinary
name would not do. Six days came and went and still he had not decided.
But on the seventh day, as he lay asleep near the Ka’bah, 'Abd
al-Muttalib dreamt that he should give the baby the unusual name of
Muhammad, just as Aminah herself had dreamt. And the child was called
Muhammad (pbuh), which means 'the Praised One'.
When 'Abd al-Muttalib told the leaders of Quraysh what
he had named his grandson, many of them asked, 'Why did you not choose
the sort of name that is used by our people?' At once he replied, 'I
want him to be praised by Allah in the heavens and praised by men on
earth.'
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