A01098 Amina bint Wahb, The Mother of the Prophet Muhammad

Amina bint Wahb 

Amina bint Wahb (b. 549 CC [66 BH], Mecca, Arabia - d. 577 CC [36 BH], Al-Abwa, Arabia), was a noble woman of the Banu Zuhrah clan, and the mother of the Prophet Muhammad. 

Amina was born to Wahb ibn Abd Manaf and Barrah bint 'Abd al 'Uzza ibn 'Uthman ibn 'Abd al-Dar in Mecca.  She was a member of the Banu Zuhrah clan in the tribe of Quraysh who claimed descent from Abraham through his son Ishmael.  Her ancestor Zuhrah was the elder brother of Qusayy ibn Kilab, who was also an ancestor of Abdullah ibn Abdul-Muttalib.  Qusayy ibn Kilab became the first Quraysh custodian of the Ka'ba. 

Abdul Muttallib proposed the marriage of Abdullah, his youngest son, and Amina. Some sources state that Aminah's father accepted the match, while others say that it was Aminah's uncle Wuhaib, who was serving as her guardian. The two were married soon after.

Abdullah spent much of Amina's pregnancy away from home as part of a merchant caravan, and died of disease before the birth of his son.

Three months after Abdullah's death, in 570 CC, Muhammad was born. As was tradition among all the great families at the time, Amina sent Muhammad to live with a milk mother in the desert as a baby. The belief was that in the desert, one would learn self-discipline, nobility, and freedom. During this time, Muhammad was nursed by Halimah bint Abi Dhuayb, a poor Bedouin woman from the tribe of Banu Sa'ad, a branch of the Hawazin.  

When Muhammad was six years old, he was reunited with Amina, who took him to visit her relatives in Yathrib (later Medina). Upon their return to Mecca a month later, accompanied by her slave Umm Ayman,  Amina fell ill.

She died around the year 577 CC and was buried in the village of Al-Abwa'. The young Muhammad was taken in first by his paternal grandfather Abd al-Muttalib in 577 CC and later by his paternal uncle  Abu Talib ibn Abd al-Muttalib.