There is no disagreement that his mother died at al-Abwā’, between Mecca and Medina, while returning from Medina after visiting his maternal uncles. He had not yet reached the age of seven (1).
His grandfather, ‘Abd al-Muttalib, then took him into his care. He died when the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, was about eight years old. Other accounts give his age as six or ten (2).
His uncle Abū Tālib then took him into his care and continued to look after him. When he reached twelve years of age, his uncle took him to Syria; according to another account, he was nine. During this journey, the monk Bahīrā saw him and urged his uncle not to take him into Syria, fearing for his safety because of the Jews. His uncle therefore sent him to Medina with some of his servants (3).
Al-Tirmidhī’s book (4) and other works state that he sent Bilāl with him. This is an error
(1) For the differing views on this, see Mukhtasar Ibn Jamā‘a (p. 27).
(2) All manuscripts except jīm, mīm-bā’, and nūn read: “‘ashara” (ten).
(3) This is the reading in all the manuscripts and early editions. It is an error; the correct reading is “Mecca,” as in Shaykh al-Fiqī’s edition and, following it, the al-Risāla edition.
(4) No. 3620. Also reported by Ibn Abī Shayba (37696), al-Bazzār (8:97), al-Hākim (2:615), and al-Bayhaqī in al-Dalā’il (2:24). ‘Abd al-Rahmān ibn Ghazwān, known as Qarrād, alone transmitted it. He is a trustworthy narrator with some uniquely transmitted reports, but this report’s content contains objectionable elements. Al-Bayhaqī quoted al-‘Abbās al-Dūrī as saying: “No one in the world narrates it except Qarrād…” Al-Tirmidhī and al-Bazzār made similar statements. Al-Hākim declared it authentic, but al-Dhahabī challenged him, saying: “I think it is fabricated, and part of it is false.” Ibn Sayyid al-Nās said in ‘Uyūn al-Athar (1:55): “All the narrators in this hadith’s chain have reports included in al-Sahīh… Nevertheless, its content contains objectionable elements.”
Al-Dhahabī identified these objectionable elements, saying: “Qarrād alone transmitted it… It is a highly objectionable hadith. And where was Abū Bakr? Was he ten years old? For he was two and a half years younger than the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace. And where was Bilāl at that time? Abū Bakr did not purchase him until after the beginning of the prophetic mission, and he had not yet been born…” See Tārīkh al-Islām (1:503).