The mother of the Prophet sallallaahu `alayhi wa sallam ( may Allaah exalt his mention ) died when he was six years old, in a place between Makkah and Madeenah called Al-Abwaa’. She had taken him on a visit to his maternal uncles from the Banu ‘Adiyy bin An-Najjaar, and on her way back to Makkah, she died and was buried in Al-Abwaa’.
After the death of his mother, his grandfather, ‘Abd Al-Muttalib, looked after him and the Prophet sallallaahu `alayhi wa sallam ( may Allaah exalt his mention ) lived under his guardianship. ‘Abd Al-Muttalib preferred the Prophet sallallaahu `alayhi wa sallam ( may Allaah exalt his mention ) to his own children, the paternal uncles of the Prophet sallallaahu `alayhi wa sallam ( may Allaah exalt his mention ).
He was a venerable person and none of his children dared to sit on his rug out of reverence for him, but the Prophet sallallaahu `alayhi wa sallam ( may Allaah exalt his mention ) would do so freely. Whenever his uncles tried to keep him away from the rug of their father, his grandfather would support him and allow him to sit on his rug as he expected great goodness and a high status for this grandson of his. His grandfather loved him dearly and would send for him and fulfill all his needs.
Once, he sent him to look for a camel and the Prophet sallallaahu `alayhi wa sallam ( may Allaah exalt his mention ) was late; hence, his grandfather circumambulated the Ka‘bah entreating Allah The Almighty to return him to him. When the Prophet sallallaahu `alayhi wa sallam ( may Allaah exalt his mention ) eventually returned with the camel, his grandfather said to him, “O my son, I was devastated and missed you like a woman would. I thought that the grief would never leave me.” [At-Tabaraani]
‘Abd Al-Muttalib then died when the Prophet sallallaahu `alayhi wa sallam ( may Allaah exalt his mention ) was eight years old. His grandfather entrusted him to the care of his uncle, Abu Taalib, who looked after him, treated him kindly and cared for him.
The wisdom of Allah The Almighty entailed that the Prophet sallallaahu `alayhi wa sallam ( may Allaah exalt his mention ) would grow as an orphan and be maintained only by the care of Allah The Almighty, away from a hand that would have excessively pampered him and wealth that would have offered him a luxurious life. This was meant to protect his soul from being inclined to the grandeur of wealth and prestige, and to protect him from being influenced by the surrounding meanings of precedence and leadership which would have been something that could have made others confused between the sanctity of prophethood and the prestige of this world. They might have thought that he claimed the first only to attain the second. The disasters which afflicted the Prophet sallallaahu `alayhi wa sallam ( may Allaah exalt his mention ) from his early childhood, such as the death of his mother, then his grandfather, after he had been deprived of the kindness of the father and tasted the cup of sadness time and time again, made his heart tender and his feelings gentle. Grief melts the soul and purifies it from the filth of harshness, arrogance and self-conceitedness and, makes it gentle and humble.
