Ihyaaud Deen An Effort to Revive Deen in Totality
After Rasulullah (sallallahu ‘alaihi wasallam) was fed by Hazrat Suwaibah (radhiyallahu ‘anha), he was next fed by Hazrat Halimah Sa’diyyah (radhiyallahu ‘anha). It was customary among the Arabs for those who were noble to send their suckling infants out to the countryside so that they would be raised in the clean and pure air of the countryside, learn to speak eloquent Arabic and so that they would not lose the qualities and culture of the Arabs. Hazrat ‘Umar (radhiyallahu ‘anhu) says:
تمعددوا وتمعزروا واخشوشنوا
“Adopt the appearance of Ma‘ad bin ‘Adnaan (i.e. do not adopt the clothing and appearance of the non-Arabs), exercise patience upon all adversities, and wear coarse clothing (i.e. adopt simplicity and do not fall into luxurious comforts).”
Hazrat Abu Bakr (radhiyallahu ‘anhu) once remarked to Rasulullah (sallallahu ‘alaihi wasallam), “O Rasul of Allah (sallallahu ‘alaihi wasallam)! Your speech is extremely eloquent!” Rasulullah (sallallahu ‘alaihi wasallam) replied, “Firstly, I am from the Quraish tribe. Moreover, I was suckled amongst the Banu Sa’d tribe.”
According to this custom of the Arabs, the women of Banu Sa’d would make an annual journey to Makkah Mukarramah in search of suckling infants. Hazrat Halimah (radhiyallahu ‘anha) recalls, “A few women from the Banu Sa’d and I set out for Makkah Mukarramah in search of suckling infants. Accompanying me on this journey was my husband and my infant son who was still breastfeeding. As our conveyance, we had an extremely thin donkey and a camel that would not provide even a single drop of milk. We were unable to fall asleep at night due to the hunger. My son’s state was such that he would cry and remain restless the entire night due to hunger, as I did not have sufficient milk to satiate him.”
(Extracted from Seeratul Mustafa 1/69-70)
