Bahjat al-Asrar preserves a report attributed to Shaykh Abd al-Qadir al-Jilani’s mother, Umm al-Khayr Fatima, that while he was an infant he did not nurse during the daylight hours of Ramadan. The report adds that on a day when the crescent had been obscured and people were uncertain whether Ramadan had begun, his refusal to nurse during the day was taken locally as a sign, and the day was later recognized as a day of Ramadan.
Among the reports preserved about the early life of Shaykh Abd al-Qadir al-Jilani is a striking account connected with the month of Ramadan. Bahjat al-Asrar attributes the report to his mother, Umm al-Khayr Fatima, and preserves it through a named chain of transmitters.
According to the account, while Abd al-Qadir was still an infant, a noticeable pattern was observed during Ramadan: throughout the daylight hours he would not take milk from his mother. When night came, he would nurse again. For his family, this became a recurring sign associated with the fasting hours of the sacred month.
The report then describes a particular day on which the crescent had been obscured and people were uncertain whether the new month of Ramadan had actually begun. There was no clear sighting by which everyone could immediately settle the question. In that uncertainty, attention turned to the infant. His mother observed that, just as on the known days of Ramadan, he was not nursing during the day.
The news of this behavior was treated locally as a sign that the day belonged to Ramadan. Later, the day was recognized as a day of the month. In the devotional memory surrounding Shaykh Abd al-Qadir, this childhood report therefore came to be remembered not merely as an unusual habit of an infant, but as an early sign associated with Ramadan and with the spiritual distinction later attributed to him.
The sequence of the report is simple and easy to follow: an infant who, according to his mother, repeatedly refrains from nursing during Ramadan daylight; a day of uncertainty because the crescent is hidden; the same daytime abstention being observed again; and the behavior being taken by people around him as an indication that Ramadan had begun.
The account is preserved in Bahjat al-Asrar, page 116, through a later manaqib transmission ending in the repeated statements attributed to Umm al-Khayr Fatima. It is therefore best presented in the form in which the source gives it: as a transmitted report from the Qadiri manaqib tradition about a remarkable sign in the infancy of Shaykh Abd al-Qadir al-Jilani.
According to the account, while Abd al-Qadir was still an infant, a noticeable pattern was observed during Ramadan: throughout the daylight hours he would not take milk from his mother. When night came, he would nurse again. For his family, this became a recurring sign associated with the fasting hours of the sacred month.
The report then describes a particular day on which the crescent had been obscured and people were uncertain whether the new month of Ramadan had actually begun. There was no clear sighting by which everyone could immediately settle the question. In that uncertainty, attention turned to the infant. His mother observed that, just as on the known days of Ramadan, he was not nursing during the day.
The news of this behavior was treated locally as a sign that the day belonged to Ramadan. Later, the day was recognized as a day of the month. In the devotional memory surrounding Shaykh Abd al-Qadir, this childhood report therefore came to be remembered not merely as an unusual habit of an infant, but as an early sign associated with Ramadan and with the spiritual distinction later attributed to him.
The sequence of the report is simple and easy to follow: an infant who, according to his mother, repeatedly refrains from nursing during Ramadan daylight; a day of uncertainty because the crescent is hidden; the same daytime abstention being observed again; and the behavior being taken by people around him as an indication that Ramadan had begun.
The account is preserved in Bahjat al-Asrar, page 116, through a later manaqib transmission ending in the repeated statements attributed to Umm al-Khayr Fatima. It is therefore best presented in the form in which the source gives it: as a transmitted report from the Qadiri manaqib tradition about a remarkable sign in the infancy of Shaykh Abd al-Qadir al-Jilani.
Conclusion
The report may be published with caution as a classical Qadiri manaqib account that Shaykh Abd al-Qadir al-Jilani, while still an infant, did not nurse during Ramadan daylight and that this behavior was treated locally as a sign on a day when the Ramadan crescent was obscured.
Sources
Bahjat al-Asrar wa Ma‘din al-Anwar, p.116; later reproduced chain: Abu Ali Ishaq al-Hamadani <- Muhammad b. Abd al-Latif al-Suhrawardi <- Ahmad b. As‘ad al-Muqri <- Abu Sa‘d Abd Allah b. Sulayman b. Ja‘ran and Umm Ahmad al-Jiliyya, reporting repeated statements of Umm al-Khayr Fatima.
Ibn Rajab, Dhayl Tabaqat al-Hanabila, 2/194–195: source-level warning concerning al-Shattanufi’s Bahjat al-Asrar and reliance on its reports unless known independently.
Ibn Hajar, al-Durar al-Kamina, biography of al-Shattanufi: the book contained unusual narratives and people criticized many of its stories and isnads.