Encyclopaedia of Islam, Second Edition

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Ḥalīma Bint Abī Ḏh̲uʾayb
(220 words)

foster-mother of the prophet Muḥammad. She and her husband belonged to the tribe of Saʿd b. Bakr, a subdivision of Hawāzin. Muḥammad was given to her to suckle from soon after his birth until he was two years old. Well-to-do families thought desert-life healthier for infants than that in Mecca. Some modern scholars have doubted the whole episode, but Muḥammad probably lived with this tribe for a time. After the battle of Ḥunayn he honoured his fostersister al-S̲h̲aymā, and responded favourably w…

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Watt, W. Montgomery, “Ḥalīma Bint Abī Ḏh̲uʾayb”, in: Encyclopaedia of Islam, Second Edition, Edited by: P. Bearman, Th. Bianquis, C.E. Bosworth, E. van Donzel, W.P. Heinrichs. Consulted online on 19 March 2024 <http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/1573-3912_islam_SIM_2648>
First published online: 2012
First print edition: ISBN: 9789004161214, 1960-2007



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