It was...

It was, therefore, only natural that when that noble lady died, (p) uttered sorrowfully: "She was a mother to me after my real mother". FIRST TRIP TO SYRIA When Muhammad was twelve years old, ABU TALIB undertook a trade trip to Syria. Being an ambitious boy, he accompanied him. It was during this journey that BUHAIRA, a Christian hermit, met him and observed the signs of which he had read in previous Scriptures, and predicted: "This boy is destined to be a Prophet of great power and prestige".

It was a very brief and fleeting encounter. They never stayed with BUHAIRA as some people mistakenly suggest. PARTICIPATING IN THE 'LEAGUE OF THE INTERVENERS' When Muhammad was twenty years old, the elders of the tribe of QURAYSH, headed by ZUBAIR son of ABD AL-MUTTALIB, drafted a covenant which they called "HILF AL-FUDUL", that is, "the league of the interveners", promoting chivalric principles. In the aftermath of 'ABD AL-MUTTALIB'S death, the Arabian tribes took to lawlessness.

The anarchy and chaos reached such a level that the lives and property of strangers were no longer safe in Mecca. Resenting this situation, the HASHEMITES, the Prophet's clansmen, called upon the tribes of ZOHRA and TAYM to suppress the shameful disorder. They assembled at the house of 'ABD-Allah son of ADNAN and took an oath that: "We will always defend the oppressed, redress the grievances at all cost, and cooperate with one another to achieve this noble cause".

Muhammad was one of the participants, and he held this agreement in high esteem. Even in the hey-day of Islam, when all other covenants of the Days of ignorance had been cancelled, he held himself bound by the said agreement and used to say: "If somebody were to appeal to me today in the name of that charter, I would surely respond to his appeal". Yet in spite of such noble efforts, the vicious circle of evil was in full rotation.

Women were regarded as inferior creatures; many of them were reduced to prostitution. Drinking, gambling, idolatry, adultery and usury were the order of the day. Murder, inter-tribal feuds and endless chains of revenge incidents were devastating the land. Life was neither safe nor peaceful. These were the moral and social conditions which the sensitive youth Muhammad was watching with very profound concern.

TRADE JOURNEY The Prophet was twenty-five years old when he made a journey to Syria to sell KHADIJA'S merchandise there.