Halimah bint Abi Dhu'ayb al-Sa'diyyah

Halimah bint Abi Dhu'ayb came from the Banu Sa'd ibn Bakr, a Bedouin tribe known for the purity of their Arabic dialect. It was the custom of the noble families of Quraysh to send their infants to be nursed among the Bedouins so they would grow up in the healthier desert environment and learn eloquent Arabic. In the year of the Prophet's birth, Halimah came to Makkah with other wet-nurses from Banu Sa'd seeking nurslings. She arrived on a weak donkey, with a she-camel that gave no milk, and her own infant was crying from hunger. Every wet-nurse who was offered the orphan Muhammad declined, because as an orphan whose father had died, there was little expectation of generous payment. Halimah, having found no other nursling, reluctantly took him so as not to return empty-handed. From the moment she took the infant, blessings became apparent. Her breasts filled with milk, her she-camel gave abundant milk, and her donkey — which had been so slow it held back the caravan — became the swiftest mount. Her companions remarked: 'What has happened to you, O daughter of Abu Dhu'ayb?' The barren land of Banu Sa'd became green and their flocks returned full. Halimah's husband, al-Harith ibn Abd al-Uzza, said: 'By Allah, O Halimah, you have taken a blessed soul.' The Prophet stayed with Halimah for approximately four to five years. It was during this period that the well-known incident of the opening of the chest (shaqq al-sadr) occurred, in which two angels came, opened his chest, washed his heart, and filled it with wisdom and faith. When Halimah heard of this, she became anxious and returned him to his mother Aminah in Makkah. The Prophet honoured Halimah throughout his life. When she visited him years later, he would spread his cloak for her to sit on and treat her with utmost respect.