Birth of the Prophet as Light

 

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

الصلاة والسلام عليك يا سيدى يا رسول الله

In the Name of Allah, the Rahman, the Merciful

We Sunni Muslims believe the Holy Prophet Muhammad, sall Allahu alaihi wasallam, was both a mortal human—a son of Adam who was made from clay—and a special Nur or light that was created by Allah. Hence, the mother of Uthman bin Abi al-As al-Thaqafi, who was present at the birth of the Prophet, sall Allahu alaihi wasallam, narrates:

شَهِدْتُ آمِنَةَ لَمَّا وَلَدَتْ رَسُولَ اللهِ صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ فَلَمَّا ضَرَبَهَا الْمَخَاضُ نَظَرْتُ إِلَى النُّجُومِ تَدَلَّى حَتَّى إِنِّي أَقُولُ لَتَقَعَنَّ عَلَيَّ ‌فَلَمَّا ‌وَلَدَتْ ‌خَرَجَ ‌مِنْهَا ‌نُورٌ أَضَاءَ لَهُ الْبَيْتُ الَّذِي نَحْنُ فِيهِ وَالدَّارُ فَمَا شَيْءٌ أَنْظُرُ إِلَيْهِ إِلَّا نُورٌ

I witnessed Aminah when she gave birth to the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace. When she went into labor, I looked at the stars hanging down until I said, “They will fall on me.” When she gave birth, a light came out of her that illuminated the house we were in and the abode. I did not look at anything except a light (Mu’jam al-Kabir, v.25, p.147, #355)

Irbad bin Sariyah, radi Allahu anhu, narrates that the Prophet, sall Allahu alaihi wasallam, said:

إِنِّي عَبْدُ اللَّهِ وَخَاتَمُ النَّبِيِّينَ وَإِنَّ آدَمَ لَمُنْجَدِلٌ فِي طِينَتِهِ وَسَأُخْبِرُكُمْ عَنْ ذَلِكَ إِنِّي دَعْوَةُ أَبِي إِبْرَاهِيمَ وَبِشَارَةُ عِيسَى بِي وَرُؤْيَا أُمِّي الَّتِي رَأَتْ وَكَذَلِكَ أُمَّهَاتُ النَّبِيِّينَ يَرَيْنَ وَإِنَّ أُمَّ رَسُولِ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ رَأَتْ حِينَ وَضَعَتْهُ نُورًا أَضَاءَتْ لَهُ قُصُور الشَّام

"Indeed, I am the servant of Allah and the Seal of the Prophets (while) Adam was still kneading in his clay, and I will inform you about that. Indeed, I am the supplication of my father Abraham, and the glad tidings of Jesus about me, and the vision that my mother saw. And so do the mothers of the Prophets see." And indeed, the mother of the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, saw when she gave birth to him a light that illuminated the palaces of Sham. (Musnad Ahmad, v.28, p.382, #17151)

The vision of the Prophet’s mother, that she would give birth to a Light through whom the palaces of the Levant would be illuminated illustrates the manifest destiny of the Sahabah and Ummah of the Prophet, sall Allahu alaihi wasallam, to take possession of the Holy Land, which extends from the Nile to the Euphrates.