Page 19 - Issue 23

The Islamic Bulletin Volume X No. 23 Page 19
STORIES OF THE SAHABA
We do not know precisely how the young Abyssinian girl ended
up for sale in Makkah. Nor do we know her ‘roots’— who was
her mother, her father or her ancestors. There were many like
her, boys and girls, Arabs and non-Arabs, who were captured
and brought to the slave market of the city to be sold.
A terrible fate awaited some who ended up in the hands of
cruel masters or mistresses. Many exploited their labor and
treated them with the utmost harshness.
A few in that inhumane environment were rather more
fortunate. They were taken into the homes of more gentle and
caring people. Barakah, the young Abyssinian girl, was one of
the more fortunate ones. She was saved by the generous and
kind Abdullah, the son of Abd al-Muttalib. In fact, she became
the only servant in his household and when he got married to
the lady Aminah, Barakah looked after her affairs as well.
Two weeks after the couple were married, according to
Barakah, Abdullah’s father came to their house and instructed
his son to go with a trading caravan that was leaving for Syria.
Aminah was deeply distressed and cried:
“How strange! How strange! How can my husband go on a
trading journey to Syria while I am yet a bride and the traces of
henna are still on my hands?”
Abdullah’s departure was heartbreaking. In her anguish, Aminah
fainted. Soon after he left, Barakah said: “When I saw Aminah
unconscious, I shouted in distress and pain: ‘O my lady!’
Aminah opened her eyes and looked at me with tears streaming
down her face. Suppressing a groan she said: “Take me to bed,
Barakah.”
“Aminah stayed bedridden for a long time. She spoke to no
one. Neither did she look at anyone who visited her except
Abd al-Muttalib, that noble and gentle old man. “Two months
after the departure of Abdullah, Aminah called me at dawn one
morning and, her face beaming with joy, she said to me:
“O Barakah! I have seen a strange dream.” “Something good,
my lady,” I said. “I saw lights coming from my abdomen lighting
up the mountains, the hills and the valleys around Makkah.”
“Do you feel pregnant, my lady?”
“Yes, Barakah,” she replied. “But I do not feel any discomfort
as other women feel.” “You shall give birth to a blessed child
who will bring goodness,” I said.
So long as Abdullah was away, Aminah remained sad and
melancholic. Barakah stayed at her side trying to comfort her and
make her cheerful by talking to her and relating stories. Aminah
however became even more distressed when Abd al-Muttalib
came and told her she had to leave her home and go to the
mountains as other Makkans had done because of an impending
attack on the city by the ruler of Yemen, someone called
Abrahah. Aminah told him that she was too grief-stricken and
weak to leave for the mountains but insisted that Abrahah could
never enter Makkah and destroy the Kabah because it was
protected by the Lord. Abd al-Muttalib became very agitated but
there was no sign of fear on Aminah’s face. Her confidence that
the Kabah would not be harmed was well-founded. Abrahah’s
army with an elephant in the vanguard was destroyed before it
could enter Makkah.
Day and night, Barakah stayed beside Aminah. She said: “I slept
at the foot of her bed and heard her groans at night as she called
for her absent husband. Her moans would awaken me and I
would try to comfort her and give her courage.”
The first part of the caravan from Syria returned and was joyously
welcomed by the trading families of Makkah. Barakah went
secretly to the house of Abd al-Muttalib to find out about
Abdullah but had no news of him. She went back to Aminah but
did not tell her what she had seen or heard in order not to
distress her. The entire caravan eventually returned but not with
Abdullah.
Later, Barakah was at Abd al-Muttalib’s house when news came
from Yathrib that Abdullah had died. She said: “I screamed when
I heard the news. I don’t know what I did after that except that I
ran to Aminah’s house shouting, lamenting for the absent one
who would never return, lamenting for the beloved one for
whom we waited so long, lamenting for the most beautiful
youth of Makkah, for Abdullah, the pride of the Quraysh.
“When Aminah heard the painful news, she fainted and I stayed
by her bedside while she was in a state between life and death.
There was no one else but me in Aminah’s house. I nursed her
and looked after her during the day and through the long nights
until she gave birth to her child, “Muhammad (SAW)”, on a night
in which the heavens were resplendent with the light of God.”
When Muhammad (SAW) was born, Barakah was the first to
hold him in her arms. His grandfather came and took him to the
Kabah and with all Makkah, celebrated his birth. Barakah stayed
with Aminah while Muhammad (SAW) was sent to the desert
with the lady Halimah who looked after him in the bracing
atmosphere of the open desert. At the end of five years, he was
brought back to Makkah and Aminah received him with
tenderness and love and Barakah welcomed him “with joy,
longing and admiration”.
When Muhammad (SAW) was six years old, his mother decided
to visit the grave of her husband, Abdullah, in Yathrib. Both
Barakah and Abd al-Muttalib tried to dissuade her. Aminah
however was determined. So one morning they set off- Aminah,
Muhammad (SAW) and Barakah huddled together in a small
covering mounted on a large camel, part of a huge caravan that
was going to Syria. In order to shield the tender child from any
pain and worry, Aminah did not tell Muhammad (SAW) that she
was going to visit the grave of his father.
The caravan went at a brisk pace. Barakah tried to console
Aminah for her son’s sake and much of the time the boy
Muhammad (SAW) slept with his arms around Barakah’s neck.
The caravan took ten days to reach Yathrib. The boy Muhammad
(SAW) was left with his maternal uncles of the Banu Najjar while
Aminah went to visit the grave of Abdullah. Each day for a few
weeks she stayed at the grave. She was consumed by grief.
WHO IS BARAKAH ? (R.A)