In the course of this journey various extraordinary acts were witnessed from him...
In the course of this journey various extraordinary acts were witnessed from him; in addition, as soon as the caravan came across a monk by the name of Bahira - who had been engaged in worship in the monastery for years, possessed knowledge of the Old and New Testaments and used to be visited by the trade caravans who passed that way - Muhammad (S), who was not more than twelve years old then, attracted his attention.
Bahira, after gazing at him deeply and profoundly, asked: To which of you does this child belong? Those around pointed to Abu Talib, who informed him that he was his nephew. Bahira said: “This child has a brilliant future before him.
He is the very prophet, whose prophethood has been prophesized by the Divine books and whose attributes I have read in them.”[^1] Even before this encounter, there had been other indications which made Abu Talib aware of the prophethood and the spirituality of the Noble Prophet (S). As has been stated by the Sunni scholar Shahristani (the author of al-Milal Wal Nihal ) and others, one year skies of Mecca withheld their rains and the city was caught in the grip of a severe drought.
Abu Talib ordered his nephew, Muhammad, who was just a suckling then, to be brought to him. When the child, suntil wrapped in swaddling-clothes, was handed to him, he stood before the Ka'bah, raised the child upwards three times and each time beseeched: O' Lord! By the sake of this child, send down the blessed rains upon us.
It was not long before a cloud became visible above the horizon and soon covered the skies above Mecca; it then began to pour with such intensity that it was feared that the Ka'bah might suffer damage. Shahristani then writes: This incident, which indicates Abu Talib's knowledge of his nephew's prophethood right from his infancy, proves that he believed in the Noble Prophet (S).