Halimah’s Account of Choosing to Nurse the Prophet

Halimah said: “Every woman among us to whom the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, was offered declined him when she was told that he was an orphan. We hoped for generous payment from the child’s father, and we would say, ‘An orphan! What can his mother and grandfather do for us?’ So we were reluctant to take him. Every woman who came with me took a nursing infant except me. When we were ready to depart, I said to my husband, ‘By Allah, I dislike returning among my companions without taking an infant. I will go to that orphan and take him.’ He said, ‘You may do so; perhaps Allah will place blessing for us in him.’” Halimah continued: “I went to him and took him, having found no one else. When I laid him in my lap, both my breasts flowed with milk; he drank until satisfied, and his foster brother drank with him. They slept, though before that our child’s crying kept us awake. My husband found our old she-camel full of milk; we both drank until satisfied and spent an excellent night. In the morning he said, ‘By Allah, Halimah, you have taken a blessed soul.’ I said, ‘By Allah, I hope so.’ We set out, and my she-ass, carrying him, outpaced the caravan so that the others could not keep up with her.”