The Prophet Muhammad, upon him be peace and blessings,
never worshiped idols at any time before he became a Prophet because right from his birth, he was brought up in the sight and under the care of God.
Extraordinary events took place on the night of his birth. For example, most of the idols at the Ka‘ba toppled over; the palace of the Sassanid Emperor shook and cracked, and its fourteen pinnacles collapsed; the small lake of Sawa in Persia sank into the earth, and the fire which was worshipped by the Magians at Istakhrabad and had been lit continually for a thousand years was extinguished. Together with these events, the different character he displayed even in his childhood and the meaningful signs men of insight observed on him meant that he would undertake a great mission in future.
As related by historians and biographers such as Ibn Ishaq, his uncle Abu Talib took him to Syria in a trade caravan, when he was ten or twelve years old. They stopped somewhere near Damascus and left him, as he was the youngest among them, to watch over the caravan. The caravan was being carefully observed by a monk from his nearby monastery, one who had been expecting the arrival of the Last Prophet, upon him be peace and blessings. The monk, named Bahira, had seen a cloud following the caravan, stopping when the caravan stopped, starting when the caravan started to shade one amongst them.1 ‘This is a special characteristic of Prophets. The expected Prophet must be in that caravan,’ he thought.
When the caravan stopped near his monastery, Bahira sent for the tradesmen and invited them for a meal. He noticed the cloud was still hovering over the caravan. Bahira asked Abu Talib if someone was left behind. Abu Talib answered that there was only a young boy, whom they had left to watch over their things. The monk asked them to fetch him. When Muhammad came, Bahira took Abu Talib to one side and asked him about his relationship with the boy. ‘He is my son,’ Abu Talib answered, but Bahira disputed this, saying: ‘He cannot be your son. According to our books, his father must have died before his birth.’ Then he added: ‘Let me give you this advice. Take this boy back immediately. The Jews are envious. If they recognize him, they will harm him.’ Abu Talib made an excuse to the other members of the caravan and returned to Makka with his nephew.
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