The Story of Buhayra

The Story of Buhayra After the death of Abd al-Muttalib, the uncle of the Holy Prophet undertook the responsibility of his care when he was nine or according to another narration, twelve or thirteen years old. Like the other people of the Quraysh, Abu Talib had arranged a business caravan in order to purchase necessities. They set off towards the Levant, their destination being Bosra, one of the cities surrounding Damascus, and in order to protect the Holy Prophet, he took him on this business journey. When this caravan set out, the differences between this journey and other journeys slowly became clear. The sun which prevented movement in the previous journeys with its extreme heat had now become comforting and a small cloud in the sky would move with Abu Talib’s caravan and protect the people of the caravan from the heat of the sun (some historians believe that the cloud only gave shade to the Holy Prophet).

The caravan reached the city of Bosra. There was a monastery next to the place in which the caravans would take rest. The head priest of the monastery was a great Christian scholar and monk by the name of Buhayra who lived in the same monastery. Buhayra was watching the caravan of Abu Talib from the window of the monastery. The small cloud and some other signs attracted Buhayra’s attention. After the people of the caravan settled down for rest, Buhayra prepared food and invited Abu Talib’s caravan to partake in his food (some say that Buhayra himself invited them and some others believe that he sent someone to invite them). The people of the caravan went to the monastery and started to eat food, but Buhayra was carefully watching and assessing Muhammad’s movements, behaviour and words. After eating food, the people of the caravan left the monastery. Then, Buhayra approached Abu Talib and Muhammad and started to speak to them. At first, he swore to the Holy Prophet by Lat and Uzza and asked him to answer his questions. When he heard the names of Lat and Uzza, the Holy Prophet rejected and for this reason, Buhayra changed his tone and said,

“I swear to you by God that you must answer my questions.”

The Holy Prophet replied,

“Ask me what you wish!”

Buhayra started to ask his questions about the state, life and even the sleep of the Holy Prophet and listened to his answers. Buhayra was comparing what he was hearing with that which he had read in the holy scriptures regarding the attributes and characteristics of the seal of the prophets and he found the Holy Prophet compatible. He then looked between the two shoulders of the Holy Prophet and when he saw the seal of prophethood, he kissed it involuntarily. He then turned to Abu Talib and asked,

“How is this child related to you?”

He answered,

“He is my son.”

Buhayra stated,

“He isn’t your son as his father isn’t alive.”

Abu Talib replied again,

“He is the son of my brother.”

Buhayra questioned,

“What happened to his father?”

Abu Talib explained,

“When his mother was pregnant with him, his father passed away.”

Buhayra inquired about his mother and Abu Talib said,

“His mother has been dead for a few years.”

After hearing Abu Talib’s truthful statements, Buhayra exclaimed,

“You have told the truth! Take him back to his homeland, keep him away from the Jews and protect him. I swear to God that if they see him and become informed of what I know, they will harm him. O’ Abu Talib! Know that your nephew will do something great. I request for you to take him back to his city as soon as possible!”

Abu Talib replied to Buhayra,

“If it is as you said, he is in God’s care and God will protect him.”

He then gathered his things to return to Makkah. Therefore, the business of the caravan was taken care of quickly and they returned to Makkah.