Question:
Salam Alekom, In the movie (Innocence of Muslims) They claim that Prophet Mohamed's (PBUH) father have died long ago before his mother be pregnant? so how did she give birth to him? Thanks for your efforts.

Answer:
In order for us to answer this question, we need to go back to the genealogical history of Prophet Muhammad so we are able to have a deep understanding of his noble lineage. Prophet Muhammad is a direct descendant of Prophet Ishmael. The Prophet’s full name is Muhammad ibn ‘Abdullah ibn ‘Abd al Muttalib ibn Hashim ibn ‘Abd Manaf ibn Qusay ibn Kelab ibn Murrah ibn Ka’b ibn Lu’ay ibn Ghalib ibn Fehr ibn Malik ibn al Nadr ibn Kenanah ibn Khuzaymah ibn Mudrikah ibn Elyas ibn Mudar ibn Nezar ibn Ma’d ibn ‘Adnan. The full name of the prophet’s mother is Amenah bint Wab ibn ‘Abd Manaf ibn Zuhrah ibn Kelab ibn Murrah ibn Ka’b ibn Kelab.

There is no argument among scholars that ‘Adnan is one of the children of Prophet Ishmael son of Prophet Abraham but scholars vary in their opinion when it comes to the number of people between ‘Adnan and Ishmael. Historians agreed that the Prophet’s family had the highest lineage and the noblest of characters among the tribes in Arabia.

The Prophet’s father, ‘Abdullah, had an epithet which is al zabih or the slaughtered one. The origin of this epithet is that when his father, ‘Abdul Mutalib, was asked in a vision to dig the well of zamzam, he had no children at that time except one named “al Harith”, so he vowed that if his children reached ten he would slaughter one of them in the Ka’bah as an oblation. So when the number of his children reached ten, ‘Abdul Mutalib, gathered his children and told them about his vow. They all complied to the wish of their father and decided to honor his vow. He asked them to write their names on darts for a toss and whoever’s name is chosen will be slaughtered to fulfill the vow. The chosen dart belonged to ‘Abdullah, the Prophet’s father, and he was the youngest of ‘Abdel Mutalib’s son and the dearest to his heart. The chieftains of the tribe of Quraysh in Makkah refused such vow and were afraid that this might be a customary practice where people kill their children in a fulfillment of vows. They instead asked him to offer a sacrifice in exchange of his son’s life. So the father of ‘Abdullah offered 100 camels in exchange for his son’s life.

For this reason Prophet Muhammad used to say that I am the son of the two slaughtered men. He means by that his father, ‘Abdullah and his grand father Ishmael, as they were both about to be slaughtered and sacrifices were offered in exchange for their lives.

Historians have agreed that ‘Abdullah was the best looking man that was ever seen in Arabia and he enjoyed a fine character and elegant manners. He was once passing by a gathering of women and one of them said “who would marry this man and is granted the light between his eyes which I see clearly”. Later on ‘Abdul Mutalib took his son ‘Abdullah and went to Wahb ibn ‘Abd Manaf ibn Zuhra who was the Chieftain of Bani Zuhra tribe and the highest in lineage and honor. Wahb agreed to marry off his noble daughter, Amenah who was the most honorable in lineage and had the prestigious position among the tribe of Quraysh. She married the honorable ‘Abdullah ibn ‘Abdul Mutalib.

After the consummation of the marriage, lady Amenah got pregnant and she carried in her womb the blessed Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him). She narrated that her pregnancy was a light one and she didn’t feel the heavy burden of pregnancy that women usually feel.

Regarding the death date of the father of Prophet Muhammad, the historian Ibn Ishaq narrated that ‘Abdullah died during the pregnancy of lady Amenah and this incident is confirmed by other historians like al Waqidi, Ibn Sa’d and al Balazhuri and was later asserted by al Zahabi.

The famous and most authenticated opinion is that ‘Abdullah died in the second month of the pregnancy of lady Amenah with the Prophet and this was confirmed by Ibn Katheer. Other less authenticated versions narrated that ‘Abdullah passed away during the Prophet’s infant years and other version suggested that the Prophet was two months old when his father died and others said 28 months or 9 months.

The story of the death of ‘Abdullah occurred when he went out to the Levant area to reach Ghaza in a commercial trip with his tribe, Quraysh. When they finished their business in Ghaza and were heading back to Makkah, they passed by the Medinah on their way back and ‘Abdullah was getting sick at that time so he stayed behind with his maternal uncles Bani ‘Adeyy ibn al Najjar. His father, ‘Abd al Muttalib send his eldest son, al Harith, to go to the Madinah and seek the news of ‘Abdullah and by the time he went there he found that ‘Abdullah died and was buried in Dar al Nabegha so he went back to his father and delivered the aching news of ‘Abdullah’s death. His father and his brothers were deeply grieved by the death of ‘Abdullah who died when he was 25 years old.

The historian al Waqidi said that ‘Abdullah did not marry any other women except Amenah and Amenah did not marry any other man except ‘Abdullah. When lady Amenah heard the sad news about her husband’s death, she was grieved and chanted a heartfelt eulogy for her beloved deceased husband.