It is widely reported among both the Sunnī and Shīʿa...

It is widely reported among both the Sunnī and Shīʿa, the Shīʿa popularly accepting that he was born in the Kaʿba in Mecca, an incident that had been never been reported to have taken place previously or after.18 It would not be difficult to imagine what commotion the news of this birth would have caused as it would have spread around Mecca and further onwards by people coming for pilgrimage as they returned back.

After some years Muḥammad would follow the example of his uncle Abū Ṭālib when he took the young ʿAlī under his guardianship and care. After the death of his protector, carer and uncle Abū Ṭālib and his wife Khadīja, who had been a great support for him, the persecutions against Muḥammad increased in number…