The Prophet ﷺ was born in the month of Rabi' al-Awwal, on a Monday without disagreement, and most scholars agree that it was on the night of the 12th of Rabi' al-Awwal .
Khalifah ibn Khayyat said: "It is agreed that he - peace be upon him - was born in the Year of the Elephant. "
Ahmad (17891) and al-Tirmidhi (3619) narrated from Qais ibn Makhramah ibn al-Mutalib ibn Abd Manaf, who said: "I was born the same year as the Messenger of Allah ﷺ; we were born together." The two born together are called "Lidān."
Muslim (1162) narrated from Abu Qatadah al-Ansari - may Allah be pleased with him - that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ was asked about fasting on Mondays, and he said: "That is the day I was born, and the day I was appointed as a prophet - or the day revelation descended upon me."
Signs That Appeared at His Birth ﷺ:
The appearance of light from the mother of the Prophet ﷺ that illuminated the palaces of Sham: Imam Ahmad narrated in his Musnad (17163), and Ibn Hibban (6404) and al-Hakim (3619) with a good chain from al-Irbad ibn Sariya - may Allah be pleased with him - who said: I heard the Messenger of Allah ﷺ say: "Indeed, I am written before Allah with the seal of the Prophets, and Adam - peace be upon him - was still being molded from clay. I will tell you about the beginning of that: the supplication of my father Ibrahim, the glad tidings of my brother Isa, and the vision of my mother when she saw at my birth that a light emanated from her that illuminated the palaces of Sham."
The appearance of the star: Ibn Ishaq narrated in the Sirah with a good chain from Hassan ibn Thabit - may Allah be pleased with him - who said: "By Allah, I was a young boy, nearing puberty but not yet having it, at the age of seven or eight, understanding everything I heard, when I heard a Jew shouting at the top of his voice from a high place in Yathrib: 'O people of the Jews!' When they gathered around him, they asked him: 'What is wrong with you?' He said: 'The star of Ahmad has appeared tonight, by which he was born.' "
Famous Signs About His Birth ﷺ That Are Not Authentic :
- When he ﷺ was born, the Iwan of Kisra shook.
- Fourteen of the towers of the Iwan of Kisra fell.
- The fire that the Magians worshipped extinguished.
- The lake of "Sawa" sank, and the temples around it collapsed.
- And other signs that have no authentic basis.
Al-Ghazali said in "Fiqh al-Sirah" (p. 61, 62): "This statement is a misrepresentation of a correct idea; for the birth of Muhammad ﷺ was indeed an indication of the end of oppression, the disappearance of its era, and the collapse of its symbols... So when people, having escaped the shackles of oppression, wanted to depict this truth, they imagined these signs and fabricated weak narrations for them. Muhammad ﷺ is free from all of this; for his substantial share of honorable reality makes us indifferent to these fabricated stories and similar ones."
Abdul Muttalib's Reception of His Grandson's ﷺ Birth:
When his mother Amina gave birth to him, she sent news of her grandson's birth to his grandfather Abdul Muttalib. Abdul Muttalib received the news of his grandson's birth with joy and happiness; it extinguished some of the fire of his beloved son’s loss, and he saw in him a replacement. Emotions flowed towards the new arrival instead of the departed father, and he greatly cared for his grandson who was born an orphan.
Although the Prophet ﷺ was born an orphan, he did not taste the humiliation of being an orphan; for his grandfather, his mother, and everyone around him endeavored to compensate for the loss of his father. Thus, he ﷺ began his life with dignity and noble lineage, crafted by Allah’s own hands.
