Years of Childhood

The Holy Prophet and Ali

The Holy Prophet was a posthumous child, and he was born after the death of his father Abdullah. He lost his mother Aamina when he was hardly six years old. Thereafter he became a ward of his grandfather Abdul Muttalib. He lost his grandfather when he nine years old. The Holy Prophet next lived with his Uncle Abu Talib who a real brother of his father. In the house of Abu Talib, the Holy prophet was well cared for. Abu Talib loved the Holy Prophet more than his own sons. Fatima the wife of Abu Talib gave the Holy Prophet the love of mother. The Holy Prophet accompanied Abu Talib on his trade journeys. It was under the loving care of Abu Talib and Fatima that the Holy Prophet grew into manhood. At the age of twenty-five, some time around 596 C.E., the Holy Prophet married a rich lady Khadija and shifted to her house. There was not much distance between the two houses and the two families visited each other frequently. The Holy Prophet cold never forget the love that Abu Talib and Fatima had born for him. Even after his marriage, the Holy Prophet regarded himself as a member of the family of Abu Talib. In this context, it is probable that the Holy Prophet and Khadija would have rejoiced at the birth of Ali and would have some function to celebrate the occasion.

Life in the desert

No detailed account of the early years of the childhood of Ali is available, and where the source books are silent the story has been reconstructed on the basis of the laws of plausibility and probability. It was a custom of the Quraish of Makkah that they entrusted their new born sons to the care of foster parents belonging to the tribes of the desert, and it was in the open air of the desert that the young sons of the Quraish were bred during the first few years of their childhood. We know that the Holy Prophet spent the first five years of his childhood with his foster parents in the desert. We do not know who the foster parents of Ali were. Ali had a strong constitution, and after the Holy Prophet, he was the most eloquent person among the Quraish. This provides evidence to the effect that like the Holy Prophet, Ali spent the first few years of his childhood in the desert. It appears that the necessary arrangements in this behalf were made by the Holy Prophet, and he paid for the maintenance of Ali in the desert.

Induction of Ali as a member of the family of the Holy Prophet

As the Holy Prophet had arranged for the stay of Ali in the desert, it appears that on return from the desert, the young Ali was brought to the house of the Holy Prophet, and he arranged some function to mark the occasion which was attended by Abu Talib and his family, and other close relatives. The Holy Prophet had looked after the young Ali since his birth and he developed a great liking for him. It was against this background that the Holy Prophet requested Abu Talib that Ali be entrusted to his care, and be allowed to live with him as a member of his family. Abu Talib agreed as he felt that the Holy Prophet would look after Ali in a much better way than he could.

Most of the writers have expressed the view that the Holy Prophet took over the responsibility for the maintenance of Ali to provide financial relief to Abu Talib whose financial position had grown weak. It is difficult to accept this view. Abu Talib was a Quraish chief and he enjoyed reputation as such and commanded great influence. Like the other Quraish he undertook trading activities. There is no evidence to the effect that he was involved in any financial difficulty. Abu Talib had really any financial difficulty, the Holy Prophet who was in affluent circumstances could have supplemented the financial resources of Abu Talib by providing financial assistance as a son would help a father in old age. The truth of the matter is that Ali was entrusted to the Holy Prophet, not because of any financial considerations, but because the Holy Prophet had developed a liking for the child, and wanted to have him by his side. In entrusting Ali to the care of the Holy Prophet, Abu Talib did not part from Ali. Ali visited the house of his parents every day, and he was as much a member of the house of Abu Talib as that of the Holy Prophet. Indeed the house of the Holy Prophet was an extension of the house of Abu Talib, and the young Ali lived with the Holy Prophet as a younger brother would live with an elder brother without any break with the paternal house.

The Umayyads versus the Hashimites

It appears that most of the accounts of the period were written when the Umayyads had wrested power from the Hashimites. Because of the rivalry between the Umayyads and the Hashimites, most of the writers during the Umayyad period tried to create the impression that the Hashimites were not good managers, and that the financial position of Abu Talib had deteriorated because of his inefficiency. This view is uncharitable. The Muslims are under great obligation to Abu Talib for his guardianship of the Holy Prophet and for his support of Islam, and such views which cast an indirect aspersion on Abu Talib have to be rejected because of the bias of the writers.