Banū Saʿd ibn Bakr

Husband of Ḥalīma al-Saʿdiyya — the Prophet's ﷺ foster father.

The principal foster mother (wet nurse) of the Prophet ﷺ. From Banū Saʿd ibn Bakr, a sub-tribe of Hawāzin. Nursed Muhammad ﷺ for 4-5 years from infancy, in the desert near Ṭāʾif. The famous incident of the splitting of the Prophet's chest by two angels (sharḥ al-ṣadr) occurred during this period when the Prophet was about 4. The Prophet ﷺ later said: "I am the most eloquent of the Arabs because I was raised among Banū Saʿd ibn Bakr." When the Hawāzin were defeated at Ḥunayn (8 AH / 630 CE), the Prophet ﷺ released their captives in honour of his upbringing among them.