Khadijah bint Khuwaylid (R.A)  (556-619 CE) was born in the 6^th century CE to a merchant family of Quraish tribe in Mecca.[1] Daughter of Khuwaylid bin Asad and Fatima bint Zaidah, her father was a well-known businessman and leader in Quraish. She got married to Abu Halah Malak bin Nabash at-Tamimi and had two children named, Halah and Hind.[2] After he passed away, she married Atiq bin ‘Aith al-Makhzoomi and had a daughter named Hindah.[3] Their marriage however did not last for  long. (The different schools of thought have different opinions about Khadijah’s (R.A) marriages prior to the Prophet). Khadijah ran her father’s business and with her long-term vision and intelligence she expanded it.[4]

Khadijah (R.A) heard about Prophet Muhammad’s (PBUH) honesty and integrity – before prophecy – and sent him a job offer to manage a business caravan to Syria. In this first business trip, Khadijah sent her trusted helper Maysara to accompany Muhammad. Maysara was moved by Muhammad’s character and behaviour and disclosed that to Khadijah (R.A), who inturn was beyond impressed with her new business manager. She was interested in Muhammad’s (PBUH) character, intelligence, and honesty. Khadijah’s belief in the nobleness of Muhammad’s (PBUH)  personality, made her consider proposing to marry him as she felt that he would be the best of the spouses, although a lot of the most well-known upper class men of Quraish had previously proposed to her.

Khadijah (R.A) was a woman who was knowledgeable and a firm believer in truth and honesty. She was a wise wife and Muhammad (PBUH) loved his wife with all his heart. They had six children: two sons and four daughters. They named their first son Qasim, who passed away at the age of two years. They had another son, Abd-Allah, who died in his infancy. Their daughters are Ruqaiya, Um Kulthum, Zainab, and Fatimah. Khadijah cared for her family deeply and was an immensely compassionate mother and wife.

According to the traditional sources, Khadijah (R.A) provided instrumental support in Muhammad’s (PBUH) early prophethood.[5] Her wealth allowed him the leisure to meditate, and she reassured him of the authenticity of his revelations.[6] When he  received the first revelation in 610 AD, he ran to his wife Khadijah, who comforted him by saying: “God will never disappoint you.. Didn’t you always say the truth? Didn’t you always help orphans, glorify guests….” After that, she consulted her relative Waraqah ibn Nawfal, who affirmed the identity of Gabriel and recognised Muhammad(PBUH) as a Prophet.[7] Thus, Khadijah is considered the first person to have believed in the prophethood of Muhammad (PBUH) and the revelation.

Khadijah (R.A) was a wealthy woman and a philanthropist, whose wealth has been delegated to aid Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) in upholding the message of monotheism, Tawhid. At the beginning of Prophet Muhammad’s (PBUH) mission, he faced many obstacles, and Khadijah(R.A) stood by him compassionately.

Her love for the Prophet and her belief in the truth of the message of Islam made her sacrifice all her property to do good to defend her husband’s honour from the humiliation carried out by the nobles of Quraish and to support his mission. Counting her virtues, Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) said: “She [Khadijah] believed in me when people denied me, held me truthful when people belied me, supposted me with her wealth when people prevented me…”

Hazart Khadijah is a phenomenal figure and a role model with regard to her integrity, strength, faith, and commitment to support and sacrifice for Islam.  Recognising her role and commitment, Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) declared: “Maryam [Mary, Jesus’ mother] was the best woman of her time, and the best woman of this Ummah is Khadijah.” [Al-Bukhari and Muslim].

References:

[1] Khadījah (R.A) died a few years before the Hijrah—the emigration to Medina. Muhammad ibn Saad, Tabaqat vol. 1. Translated by Haq, S. M. Ibn Sa’d’s Kitab al-Tabaqat al-Kabir (Delhi: Kitab Bhavan), 148–149.

[2] Ibid.

[3] Tabari, Tarik al-Rusul wa’l-Muluk. Translated by E. Landau-Tasseron, Biographies of the Prophet’s Companions and Their Successors, vol. 39 (New York: SUNY Press, 1998), 161.

[4] The Sirah of ʿAbd al-Malik Ibn Hisham characterizes Khadijah as a resolute and noble lady who had significant respect within her tribe. When the city of Mecca was hit by a great flood, the flood cracked the walls of the Ka’ba which was already fragile. To repair the fragile Ka’ba, Khadijah contributed twenty camels. Muntasir, Saiful Bahri, Yusfriadi, Muttaqien, Ahmad Nidal, Fadlon, Human Communication with Allah through Asmaul Husna (99 Names of God) (Study of Asmaul Husna’s Understanding in Islamic Theology), Britain International of Humanities and Social Sciences (BioHS) Journal: Volume 1 No. 2, October 2019.

http://biarjournal.com/index.php/biohs/article/view/45.

[5] Muhammad ibn Saad, Tabaqat vol. 1. Translated by Haq, S. M. Ibn Sa’d’s Kitab al-Tabaqat al-Kabir (Delhi: Kitab Bhavan).

[6] Gabriel appears before him and commands him to “Read!”. He responded, “But I cannot read!”. Then angel Gabriel embraced him tightly and then revealed to him the first lines of chapter 96 of the Qur’an, “Read: In the name of your Lord Who created, (1) Created man from a clot. (2) Read: And your Lord is the Most Generous, (3) Who taught by the pen, (4) Taught man that which he knew not.” (Al-Bukhari 4953).

[7] Waraqah ibn Nawfal was Christian. Waraqah testified to Muhammad’s prophethood, and convinced Muhammad that the revelation was from God. Waraqah said: “O my nephew! What did you see?” When Muhammad told him what had happened to him, Waraqah replied: “This is Namus (meaning Gabriel) that God sent to Moses. I wish I were younger. I wish I could live up to the time when your people would turn you out.” Muhammad asked: “Will they drive me out?” Waraqah said: “Anyone who came with something similar to what you have brought was treated with hostility; and if I should be alive until that day, then I would support you strongly.” A few days later Waraqah died. The life of Muhammad. Oxford University Press.

(The views expressed in this article are the author’s own. Content can be used with due credit to the author and to Zariya: Women’s Alliance for Dignity and Equality)