The World Before Islam
This Arabic term describes the pre-Islamic period of moral, spiritual, and social ignorance.
What is Jahiliyyah?
This wet nurse from the Banu Sa'd nursed baby Muhammad ﷺ and saw her flocks and land flourish because of him.
Who is Halima?
After Abdul Muttalib's death, this uncle took Muhammad ﷺ into his home and raised him like his own son.
Who is Abu Talib?
On the first trip to Damascus, this natural phenomenon followed Muhammad ﷺ and shaded him wherever the caravan stopped.
What is a (single) cloud?
This twice-widowed, wealthy businesswoman hired Muhammad ﷺ to lead her trade caravan to Damascus.
Who is Khadija?
This is the name of the year the Prophet was born in. Named after an improtant event that acurred.
What is the year of the elephant?
The collective name used for the tribes of Makkah that the prophet was born into.
What is Quraish?
Muhammad ﷺ was roughly this age when Abdul Muttalib died and entrusted him to Abu Talib.
What is about seven or eight years old?
This Christian monk near Busra invited Abu Talib's caravan to dinner after noticing a cloud shading young Muhammad ﷺ.
Who is Priest Bahira?
Long before revelation, Meccans gave Muhammad ﷺ this nickname meaning "the Trustworthy."
What is Al-Amin?
This name is given to people, like Waraqa ibn Nawfal, who rejected idol worship and held to the pure faith of Ibrahim even before Islam.
Who are the Hanifs?
Muhammad's ﷺ mother died near this village while returning from visiting his father's grave in Madinah.
What is Abwa?
This was the name of the special seating area in the shade of the Ka'bah where, out of respect, only Abdul Muttalib was allowed to sit.
What is the divan?
This servant of Khadija accompanied Muhammad ﷺ to Damascus and witnessed the oath refusal, Nastura's words, and two clouds shading him on the way home.
Who is Maysara?
When tribes nearly came to blows over who would place this sacred object while repairing the Ka'bah, Muhammad ﷺ settled it by having every tribe lift a corner of a cloth carrying it.
What is the Black Stone (Hajar al-Aswad)?
This was the name of the Abyssinian army commander who marched on Makkah with war elephants, hoping to destroy the Ka'bah.
Who is Abraha?
This was Abdul Muttalib's given name before Meccans mistakenly called him "slave of Muttalib."
What is Shayba?
Abdul Muttalib traveled to this land with a Quraysh delegation, where King Sayf ibn Dhi Yazan privately shared secret knowledge about his grandson's future.
What is Yemen?
On the second Damascus journey, this priest asked Maysara whether there was redness in the resting traveler's eyes before declaring him the last of the prophets.
Who is Priest Nastura?
Khadija gave this many sheep to Halima, the Prophet's ﷺ childhood nurse, as a wedding gift out of gratitude.
What is forty (40)?
This desert region, which home to Makkah and Yathrib, a crossroads of Byzantine and Sasanian trade routes. Is also where the Seerah begins.
What is the Hijaz?
This is the date, according to the lunar calendar, on which the Prophet ﷺ was born.
What is the 12th of Rabi al-Awwal?
This group of scholars traveled to Makkah, recognized signs of Prophethood in young Muhammad ﷺ by his footprints and features, and warned Abdul Muttalib to protect him from jealous clergy.
Who are the scholars from Mudlij?
At this site where Quraysh sacrificed to an idol on festival days, young Muhammad ﷺ refused to take part, saying a man dressed in white warned him away.
What is Buwana?
Formed at the house of Abdullah ibn Jud'an after a wronged trader from Zabid cried out for justice, this pact vowed to defend anyone mistreated in Makkah.
What is Hilf al-Fudul (the Alliance of the Virtuous)?