Sargis Bkheera

Not to be confused with Bagheera.
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Bahira (Arabic: بَحِيرَىٰ, Classical Syriac: ܒܚܝܪܐ) is the name of a Christian monk in Islamic traditions who is said to have foretold Muhammad's prophethood when they met while Muhammad was accompanying his uncle Abu Talib on a trading journey.[1][2] His name derives from the Syriac word bḥīrā, typically used in that language to describe or address a monk, meaning "tested (by God) and approved", and is not a proper name.[3][4]

Etymology of name

The name Bahira comes from the Syriac language, where it is not a proper name but rather a way of addressing or describing a monk. It is an adjective used to denote someone who has been "tested" and "approved." It takes the form of the passive participle of b-h-r, which translates as "to try, to prove as silver in the fire," figuratively meaning "renowned" or "eminent."[3]

Islamic tradition

The story of Muhammad's encounter with Bahira occurs in the works of the early Muslim historians Ibn Hisham (died 833 CE), Ibn Sa'd al-Baghdadi (784–855), and Muhammad ibn Jarir al-Tabari (839–923), whose versions differ in some details. The young Muhammad, then either nine or twelve years old, met Bahira in Syria while travelling with a Meccan caravan, accompanying his uncle Abu Talib ibn ‘Abd al-Muttalib.[1] When the caravan passed by his cell, the monk invited the merchants to a feast. They accepted the invitation, leaving the boy to guard the camel. Bahira, however, insisted that everyone in the caravan should come to him.[2] Then a miraculous occurrence indicated to the monk that Muhammad would become a prophet.

When Muhammad sat under a tree its branches moved to shade him, and the movement of a cloud shadowed Muhammad regardless of the time of the day; this drew Bahira's attention.[5] The monk revealed his visions of Muhammad's future to his uncle, Abu Talib, warning him to protect the child from the Jews (in Ibn Sa'd's version) or from the Byzantines (in al-Tabari's version). Both Ibn Sa'd and al-Tabari write that Bahira found the announcement of the coming of Muhammad in the original, unadulterated gospels, which he possessed.[1]

A similar tradition is attributed to Ibn Shihab al-Zuhri in the works of the early hadith compiler ‘Abd al-Razzaq al-San‘ani, in which the unnamed figure is a rabbi of Tayma instead of a Christian Syrian monk.[6] The rabbi warns Abu Talib against bringing Muhammad to Syria, as he predicts that Muhammad will be killed by the Syrian Jews if they proceed. In response, Abu Talib returned to Mecca with his nephew. Later Islamic writers gave the rabbi the name of Bahira.[7]

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Bibliography

References

  1. ^ a b c Abel, A. "Baḥīrā". Encyclopaedia of Islam, Second edition. Brill. Brill Online, 2007 [1986].
  2. ^ a b Watt, W. Montgomery (1964). Muhammad: Prophet and Statesman, p. 1-2. Oxford University Press.
  3. ^ a b Roggema 2008, p. 57–8.
  4. ^ Roggema, Barbara. "Baḥīrā." Encyclopaedia of Islam, THREE. Edited by: Gudrun Krämer, Denis Matringe, John Nawas, Everett Rowson. Brill Online, 2014 [2011]. Accessed July 12, 2014.
  5. ^ "Reflections: Majlis 5 – Ashara Mubaraka 1442 H". Retrieved 2020-08-25.
  6. ^ ibn Rashid, Mamar (16 May 2014). The Expeditions: An Early Biography of Muhammad. Translated by Sean W. Anthony. NYU Press. p. 9. ISBN 978-0814769638.
  7. ^ Roggema, Barbara (2009). The Legend of Sergius Baḥīrā: Eastern Christian Apologetics and Apocalyptic in Response to Islam. Brill. p. 44. ISBN 978-9004167308.

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