Abu
Talib

When Muhammad was about 12 years old,

Abu Talib decided to go on a trading expedition

north to a place called al-Sham.

The journey was a long and difficult one,

full of danger and with little water to be found along the way.

Abu Talib would have left Muhammad behind,

but the young Muhammad pleaded with Abu Talib that he should be allowed to go.

So even though he really thought the expedition was too dangerous for a young boy,

Abu Talib agreed to take Muhammad with him on the journey,

and let him ride with him on the back of one of the many camels they were using

to carry all the goods they were to trade, along with their tents and food and water for the journey.

Now on the way to al-Sham, the caravan of camels had to make its way through places in the desert

far away from any towns or villages where any people lived.

But in one of these remote places there lived a Christian monk,

a holy man who preferred to stay away from the crowded places and live the life of a hermit,

spending his time in study and prayer.

This man's name was Bahira,

and as the trade caravans passed by the little cell where he lived, they just left him to his prayers and ignored him,

as Bahira had made it clear that he preferred his prayers to the company of other people.

But this time, as Abu Talib's caravan drew near to where he lived

they found that Bahira had come out to meet them,

and invite them all to join him and share his food and water.

Surprised at this unusual occurrence,

but honoured that the holy man had invited them,

Abu Talib and the other traders travelling with him brought their camels to a halt

and went to share the hermit's hospitality.

As each man came close to Bahira, he looked at him closely

as if he was trying to see something he recognised or remembered,

until finally, when no one else seemed to be arriving he said

"But I asked that you should all come to eat with me".

The traders said

"But that is all of us,

except for a young boy we left behind to let him play."

Bahira then asked that they bring the boy to join them,

and when Muhammad arrived the monk asked whose son he was.

"Mine" said Abu Talib,

but Bahira replied "No. This is not the case."

Abu Talib was shocked, and said "Very well, he is actually my brother's child,

but his father died before he was born and I now treat him as my own."

"Ah - This is how it should be" said Bahira, and began to ask Muhammad questions.

After some time, Bahira turned him around and looked between his shoulder blades,

where he found Muhammad's birthmark.

"This is the mark which shows the boy to be a Messenger from God to his people" said Bahira.

Abu Talib and his companions listened to Bahira's words,

but at this time there seemed very little about this boy

to make him seem so very different from any other child.

So when they returned to Makkah

and Muhammad continued to play with the other children and behave just as he had before,

they thought that Bahira was a little crazy,

and that the things that he said about Muhammad were just his imagination.

It was many years, during which the boy became a man,

before Muhammad heard the words of God,

and Abu Talib's nephew changed the lives of those around him

and eventually became famous

not just to the Arab people, but to people all around the world.