Thursday, August 16, 2012

the time had come for him to live in Mecca. It was hard for Salma', Shaybah's mother, to let her son go with his uncle but she finally realized that it was for the best. Al-Muttalib returned to Mecca, entering the city at noon on his camel with Shaybah behind him. When the people of Mecca saw the boy they thought he was a slave and, pointing at him, called out 'Abd al-Muttalib', 'Abd' being the Arabic for 'slave'.
Al-Muttalib told them that Shaybah was not a slave but his nephew who had come to live with them. From that day on, however, Shaybah was always affectionately called Abd al-Muttalib. On the death of al-Muttalib, who died in Yemen where he had gone to trade, 'Abd al-Muttalib took his place. He became the most respected member of his family, loved and admired by all. He was, however, unlike those Arabs who had given up the teachings of Abraham.
The Promise At Zamzam
The well of Zamzam, which disappeared when the Arabs placed idols at the Ka'bah, remained buried under the sand.
  The people of Quraysh, thus, had to fetch their water from far away for many years. One day 'Abd al-Muttalib was very tired from doing this and fell asleep next to the Ka'bah. He had a dream in which he was told to dig up Zamzam. When he woke up he was puzzled because he did not know what Zamzam was, the well having disappeared many years before he was born. The next day he had the same dream, but this time he was told where to find the well.
'Abd al-Muttalib had one son at that time, and together they began to dig. The work was so difficult that 'Abd al-Muttalib made an oath to Allah that if one day he were to have ten sons to help him and stand by him, in return he would sacrifice one of them in Allah's honor. After working for three days they finally found the well of Zamzam. Pilgrims have been drinking from it ever since. The years passed by and 'Abd al-Muttalib did have ten sons. They grew into fine, strong men and the time came for him to keep his promise to Allah. He told his sons about the promise and they agreed that he had to sacrifice one of them To see which one it would be,

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