The Children of the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم

All of the Prophet’s صلى الله عليه وسلم children were born of Khadijah رضي الله عنها, except the last, Ibrāhīm, who was born of Māriyah al-Qibṭiyyah, his maidservant, when the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم was about fifty-nine years old.

His first child was al-Qāsim, which is why the Prophet’s kunya was Abū al-Qāsim. Al-Qāsim was born before the revelation began. He lived until he could ride a camel, perhaps six or seven years old, and then he died. Not a single story about him has been preserved.

Then came four daughters: Zaynab, Ruqayyah, Umm Kulthūm, and Fāṭimah, who was the youngest. All four lived to maturity and all married. Three of them, Zaynab, Ruqayyah, and Umm Kulthūm, died in his own lifetime, and he buried each of them with his own hands.

Then came his final son with Khadijah, ʿAbdullāh. Some early scholars say he had two additional sons, At-Tāhir (الطاهر, the Pure) and At-Ṭayyib (الطيّب, the Good); the stronger position is that At-Tāhir and At-Ṭayyib were simply two honorific names for ʿAbdullāh. He was born after the revelation began, and he died in infancy.

When ʿAbdullāh died, Abu Jahl ran through Makkah crying: “Qad batara Muḥammadun, his lineage has been cut off!” For the Arabs, everything was male children; if no son lived to carry the name, you were as if you had never existed. Can you imagine: your infant son has just died, and your worst enemy is cheering in the streets. Allah answered with three verses that the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم said were more beloved to him than the whole world and everything it contains:

إِنَّا أَعْطَيْنَاكَ الْكَوْثَرَ ⋅ فَصَلِّ لِرَبِّكَ وَانْحَرْ ⋅ إِنَّ شَانِئَكَ هُوَ الْأَبْتَرُ

“We have given you al-Kawthar, the abundant good, so pray to your Lord and sacrifice. Indeed it is the one who hates you who is cut off.” (al-Kawthar 108). Abū Jahl’s name is known today only by those who despise and hate him; the one whom he mocked became the most remembered human being in history.

Only Fāṭimah رضي الله عنها outlived her father. On his deathbed the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم called her close and whispered something; she wept. Then he called her again and whispered something else; she laughed. Many months later ʿAisha asked her about it. Fāṭimah said: “The first time, he told me he was about to die. I could not help but cry. Then he called me again and said: You will be the first of my family to meet me. So I laughed.” She died only months after him.

As for Ibrāhīm, born when the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم was around fifty-nine: he lived eighteen months, the sweetest age of childhood, before the terrible twos, and then he died. The Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم said, recorded in Ibn Mājah: “Had Ibrāhīm lived, he would have been a Prophet. But there is no Prophet after me.” There is a divine wisdom here: the son of Rasūlullāh would necessarily have been a Prophet, and so Allah sealed the prophethood by not allowing a son to reach manhood. There is also a mercy to the Ummah in it: the Prophet’s lineage passes through his daughters, particularly through Fāṭimah. Yet even that lineage, through a woman, not through a direct male heir, has been a source of exaggeration by some groups. Had there been a son who grew to maturity, the temptation to elevate him beyond what Allah permitted would have been immeasurable.