The Orphan No One Wanted

Halimah bint Abi Dhu'ayb belonged to Banu Sa'd ibn Bakr, a Bedouin clan of Hawazin. It was the custom of the noble families of Makkah to give their infants to desert women to nurse, and in a year of drought Halimah came to Makkah with other women of her tribe, her husband al-Harith and their own baby, hoping for a generous family.

According to the account Ibn Ishaq reports from her, every woman was offered the orphan Muhammad ﷺ and turned him down, since a child without a father promised little reward. When the others had all found infants, Halimah told her husband she would not go home empty-handed, and went back for the orphan.

She described what followed as blessing upon blessing. Her breasts, too dry to quiet her own son, now filled for both boys; their old she-camel gave milk again; her weak donkey outpaced the whole caravan; and in a barren land her flocks came home full while others came home hungry. "We kept recognising increase and good from Allah," she said, until he was two years old.