Father Died Before Birth of Muhammad ﷺ?

This allegation comes from the books Ayyam-us-sulh and Paigam-i-sulh. The two statements are as follows:

“The Holy Prophet^saw did not even have the possibility to learn the mother tongue from his parents, as both had died when he had reached the age of six months.” (Ayyam as-sulh, Ruhani Khazaʼin, vol. 14, p. 396)

And:

“Have a look at history; the Holy Prophet^saw was that one orphaned boy whose father died just a few days after his birth.” (Paigham-i sulh, Ruhani Khazaʼin, vol. 23, p. 465)

The answer to this allegtion is quite simple. Wherever in the books of History it is written that the Holy Prophet Muhammad^saws father died before his birth, in the same books it states that his father died after his birth. In today’s age we do not have a way where he can completely know which one is truthful because of how many they are. Hazrat Ahmad^as has stated that his father died before his birth and this is present in abundance throughout books of history.The anti Ahmadi Muslims claim that the Promised Messiah^as told a lie. Firstly, Paigum-i-Sulh is mentioning that the opponents say that Islam was spread by the sword. Ahmad^as is replying to this and states that when the Holy Prophet^saw claimed Prophethood, he had no army at all, so who used the sword to force people to join Islam? Also which king did he ask to send their army for them to spread Islam by force? After this, Ahmad^as states that the Holy Prophet^saw had no army, when he was born, a little while after that his father passed away, then his mother, then his grandfather, so which army helped him? Which warrior helped him? At this the anti Ahmadis say the Promised Messiah^as lied. Now the question is what is a lie? A lie is when someone has knowledge of something, but he knowingly, says something against the truth for benefitting himself or someone else. The anti Ahmadis could have said that Ahmad^as made a mistake or that he had forgotten but this cannot be called a lie. A lie is only stated for benefit and in this statement there is no benefit that can come to Ahmad^as which further shows that this allegation is baseless.

The books of those who have written tareekh, are full of statements which show that there is dispute on whether the father of the Prophet^saw died before or after his birth of Holy Prophet Muhammad^saw. Some say he passed away before the birth of the Prophet^saw, while others say he passed away after the birth of Holy Prophet^saw.

Firstly, we will look at a statement of Ibn Kathir. Ibn Kathir as born during 701 Hijri and he has stated under the ayah of the Qur’an from Surah Duha verse 7:

أَلَمْ يَجِدْكَ يَتِيمًا فَآوَىٰ {7}

Under this ayah, Ibn Kathir states that the father of the Prophet^saw passed away before his birth, however some say he passed away after his birth. Does this mean all those muarikheen who Ibn Kathir has mentioned have lied as well?

Maulana Muhammad Ashiq writes in Anwar-ul-Bayan under this same ayah states the exact same as Ibn Kathir that the Holy Prophetsaw was in the womb of his mother when his father passed away, however it is also written that some say the father passed away after his birth.

A third reference comes from Ustadh Muhyuddin Al Darwesh from Aarab al Quran al Kareem Volume 10, which was published in Syria. He states similar on page 510:

Hazrat Muhammad Ibn Wahab, who is a scholar respected worldwide, also stated in his Seerah as well that there is ikhtilaf on the death of the Prophet Muhammad^saw‘s father on whether he passed away before or after the birth of the Prophet^saw.

Allama Al Muhaqqi states in his seerat Al Saheehu Min Seerat al Nabi  under the childhood of the Holy Prophet^saw in the section of the death of the Parents of the Prophet^saw two possible outcomes. One states that some believe the father passed away before the birth of the Holy Prophet^saw while others say he passed when the Prophet^saw was a young child.

Imam Muhammad Tahir Al Hindi Al Gujrati states in Majmua Al Bihar al Anwar wrote a Qur’anic dictionary, and under the fifth chapter he writes about the Nasab of the Prophet^saw. Under this he writes that Hazrat Abdullah passed away in Madinah before the birth of the Prophet^saw, however some say that he passed away after.

I will now provide some of many references which further show the possibility of the death of the Holy Prophet^saw to be after the birth of the Prophet^saw.

It is stated in Surah An Nabawiyyah of Ibn Ishaq who passed away in 768 AD:

ويقال : إن عبد الله هلك والنبي صلى الله عليه وسلم ابن ثمانية وعشرين شهرا.

“And it is said, that Abdullah passed away when the Prophet^saw was of  twenty eight months”

Ibn Sa’d who passed away in 845 AD wrote in his book Kitab at-Tabaqat al-Kabir:

قالا: توفي عبد الله بن عبد المطلب بعدما أتى على رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم ثمانية وعشرون شهرا، ويقال: سبعة أشهر.

“It is said: The death of the father of the Holy Prophetsaw was after twenty eight months after the birth of the Prophet^saw, and it is also said seven months”

It is stated in al-Bayhaqi, who passed away in 1066 AD in his book Dala’il an-Nabuwah:

وقال بعضهم: مات أبوه وهو ابن سبعة أشهر.”

And some said: He passed away when he was seven months”

There are many more references but two should be enough for those who are seekers of the truth. This shows that both views are available in regards to this.

There are many more references as well which state this and it was not only the view of Ahmad^as. There is no way one can confirm which view is completely true and both exist within the ummah and both are held by great scholars of Islam.  If one chooses one opinion over the other, they can not in any way be called a liar because of it.