Khadija Daughter of Khuwaylid Wife of Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) , http://www.al-islam.org/biographies/khadija.htm

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*Khadija Daughter of Khuwaylid
*Wife of Prophet Muhammad (pbuh)
> http://www.al-islam.org/biographies/khadija.htm
Yasin T. al-Jibouri
*
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*INTRODUCTION:*

*I*f you wish to research the life of this great lady, and if you do not
have al-Majlisi's voluminous [110 Vol.] encyclopedia titled *Bihar al-Anwar*,
the best references are: al-Sayyuti's *Tarikh al Khulafa*, Abul-Faraj
al-Isfahani's *Aghani*, Ibn Hisham's Seera, Muhammad ibn Ishaq's *Seerat
Rasool-Allah*, and *Tarikh al-rusul wal muluk* by Abu Ja`far Muhammad ibn
Jarir al-Tabari (839-923 A.D.). Of all these books, only al-Tabari's *
Tarikh *is being translated (by more than one translator and in several
volumes) into English. One publisher of Tabari's *Tarikh *is the press of
the State University of New York (SUNY). This article has utilized a number
of Arabic and English references, and it is written especially for those who
appreciate history, our great teacher, be they Muslims or non-Muslims, and
who aspire to learn from it.

"*I*slam did not rise except through Ali's sword and Khadija's wealth," a
saying goes. Khadija al-Kubra daughter of Khuwaylid ibn (son of) Asad ibn
Abdul-`Uzza ibn Qusayy belonged to the clan of Banu Hashim of the tribe of
Banu Asad. She was a distant cousin of her husband the Messenger of Allah
Muhammad ibn Abdullah ibn Abdul-Muttalib ibn Hashim ibn Abd Manaf ibn
Qusayy, Allah's peace and blessings be upon him and his progeny. Qusayy,
then, is the ancestor of all clans belonging to Quraysh. According to some
historians, Quraysh's real name was Fahr, and he was son of Malik son of
Madar son of Kananah son of Khuzaimah son of Mudrikah son of Ilyas son of
Mazar son of Nazar son of Ma`ad son of Adnan son of Isma`eel (Ishmael) son
of Ibrahim (Abraham) son of Sam son of Noah, peace and blessings of Allah be
upon the prophets from among his ancestors. According to a number of
sources, Khadija was born in 565 A.D. and died one year before the Hijra
(migration of the Holy Prophet and his followers from Mecca to Medina) in
623 A.D. at the age of 58, but some historians say that she lived to be 65.
Khadija's mother, who died around 575 A.D., was Fatima daughter of Za'ida
ibn al-Asam of Banu `Amir ibn Luayy ibn Ghalib, also a distant relative of
Prophet Muhammad (pbuh). Khadija's father, who died around 585 A.D.,
belonged to the Abd al-`Uzza clan of the tribe of Quraysh and, like many
other Qurayshis, was a merchant, a successful businessman whose vast wealth
and business talents were inherited by Khadija and whom the latter succeeded
in faring with the family's vast wealth. It is said that when Quraysh's
trade caravans gathered to embark upon their lengthy and arduous journey
either to Syria during the summer or to Yemen during the winter, Khadija's
caravan equalled the caravans of all other traders of Quraysh put together.

*A*lthough the society in which Khadija was born was a terribly male
chauvinistic one, Khadija earned two titles: *Ameerat-Quraysh*, Princess of
Quraysh, and *al-Tahira*, the Pure One, due to her impeccable personality
and virtuous character, not to mention her honorable descent. She used to
feed and clothe the poor, assist her relatives financially, and even provide
for the marriage of those of her kin who could not otherwise have had means
to marry.

*B*y 585 A.D., Khadija was left an orphan. Despite that, and after having
married twice- and twice lost her husband to the ravaging wars with which
Arabia was afflicted- she had no mind to marry a third time though she was
sought for marriage by many honorable and highly respected men of the
Arabian peninsula throughout which she was quite famous due to her business
dealings. She simply hated the thought of being widowed for a third time.
Her first husband was Abu (father of) Halah Hind ibn Zarah who belonged to
Banu `Adiyy, and the second was Ateeq ibn `Aaith. Both men belonged to Banu
Makhzoom. By her first husband, she gave birth to a son who was named after
his father Hind and who came to be one of the greatest *sahabah* (companions
of the Holy Prophet). He participated in both battles of Badr and Uhud, and
he is also famous for describing the Prophet's physique; he was martyred
during the Battle of the Camel in which he fought on the side of Imam Ali
ibn Abu Talib (as), although some historians say that he died in Basrah. All
biography accounts describe Hind as an outspoken orator, a man of
righteousness and generosity, and one who took extreme caution while quoting
the Messenger of Allah (pbuh). Besides him, Khadija gave birth by Abu Halah
to two other sons: al-Tahir, and, of course, Halah, who is not very well
known to historians despite the fact that his father is nicknamed after him.

*W*ho were Khadija's children by her second husband? This is another
controversy that revolves round the other daughters or step-daughters of the
Prophet (pbuh) besides Fatima (as). These daughters, chronologically
arranged, are: Zainab, Ruqayya, and Ummu Kulthoom. Some historians say that
these were Khadija's daughters by her second husband, whereas others insist
they were her daughters by Muhammad (pbuh). The first view is held by Sayyid
Safdar Husayn in his book *The Early History of Islam* wherein he bases his
conclusion on the contents of al-Sayyuti's famous work *Tarikh al-khulafa
wal muluk* (history of the caliphs and kings). We hope some of our Muslim
sisters who read this text will be tempted to research this subject. Here is
a brief account of Khadija's daughters:

*Z*ainab, their oldest, was born before the prophetic mission and was
married to Abul-`As ibn al-Rabee`. She had accepted Islam before her
husband, and she participated in the migration from Mecca to Medina. She
died early in 8 A.H. and was buried in Jannatul Baqee` where her grave can
still be seen defying the passage of time. Ruqayya and Ummu Kulthoom married
two of Abu Lahab's sons. Abu Lahab, one of the Prophet's uncles, stubbornly
and openly rejected his nephew's preaching; therefore, he was condemned in
the Mecci Chapter 111 of the Holy Qur'an, a chapter named after him. Having
come to know about such a condemnation, he became furious and said to his
sons, "There shall be no kinship between you and me unless you part with
these daughters of Muhammad," whereupon they divorced them instantly.
Ruqayya married the third caliph `Uthman ibn `Affan and migrated with him to
Ethiopia in 615 A.D., five years after the inception of the prophetic
mission, accompanied by no more than nine others. That was the first of two
such migrations. After coming back home, she died in Medina in 2 A.H. and
was buried at Jannatul Baqee`. `Uthman then married her sister Ummu Kulthoom
in Rabi` al-Awwal of the next (third) Hijri year. Ummu Kulthoom lived with
her husband for about six years before dying in 9 A.H., leaving no children.

*O*ne particular quality in Khadija was quite interesting, probably more so
than any of her other qualities mentioned above: she, unlike her people,
never believed in nor worshipped idols. There was a very small number of
Christians and Jews in Mecca, and a fairly large number of Jews in Medina.
Waraqah ibn Nawfal, one of Khadija's cousins, had embraced Christianity and
was a pious monk who believed in the Unity of the Almighty, just as all
early Christians did, that is, before the concept of the Trinity crept into
the Christian faith, widening the theological differences among the
believers in Christ (as). He reportedly had translated the Bible from Hebrew
into Arabic. His likes could be counted on the fingers of one hand during
those days in the entire populous metropolis of Mecca, or Becca, or
Ummul-Qura (the mother town), a major commercial center at the crossroads of
trade caravans linking Arabia with India, Persia, China, and Byzantium, a
city that had its own Red Sea port at Shu`ayba. Most importantly, Mecca
housed the Ka`ba, the cubic "House of God" which has always been sought for
pilgrimage and which used to be circled by naked polytheist "pilgrims" who
kept their idols, numbering 360 small and big, male and female, inside it
and on its roof-top. Among those idols was one for Abraham and another for
Ishmael, each carrying divine arrows in his hands. Hubal, a huge idol in the
shape of a man, was given as a gift by the Moabites of Syria to the
tribesmen of Khuza`ah, and it was Mecca's chief idol. Two other idols of
significance were those of the Lat, a grey granite image which was the deity
of Thaqif in nearby Taif, and the Uzza, also a block of granite about twenty
feet long. These were regarded as the wives of the Almighty... Each tribe
had its own idol, and the wealthy bought and kept a number of idols at home.
The institute of pilgrimage was already there; it simply was not being
observed properly, and so was the belief in Allah Whom the Arabs regarded as
their Supreme deity. Besides Paganism, other "religions" in Arabia included
star worship and fetishism.

*T*he Jews of Medina had migrated from Palestine and settled there waiting
for the coming of a new Prophet from the seed of Abraham (as) in whom they
said they intended to believe and to be the foremost in following, something
which unfortunately did not materialize; on the contrary, they joined ranks
with the Pagans to fight the spread of Islam. Only a handful of them
embraced Islam, including one man who was a neighbor of Muhammad (pbuh); he
lived in the same alley in Mecca where Khadija's house stood; his wife, also
Jewish, used to collect dry thorny bushes from the desert just to throw them
in the Prophet's way.

*S*ince Khadija did not travel with her trade caravans, she had always had
to rely on someone else to act as her agent to trade on her behalf and to
receive an agreed upon commission in return. In 595 A.D., Khadija needed an
agent to trade in her merchandise going to Syria, and it was then that a
number of agents whom she knew before and trusted, as well as some of her
own relatives, particularly Abu Talib, suggested to her to employ her
distant cousin Muhammad ibn Abdullah (pbuh) who, by then, had earned the
honoring titles of *al-Sadiq*, the truthful, and *al-Amin*, the trustworthy.
Muhammad (pbuh) did not have any practical business experience, but he had
twice accompanied his uncle Abu Talib on his trade trips and keenly observed
how he traded, bartered, bought and sold and conducted business; after all,
the people of Quraysh were famous for their involvement in trade more than
in any other profession. It was not uncommon to hire an agent who did not
have a prior experience; so, Khadija decided to give Muhammad (pbuh) a
chance. He was only 25 years old. Khadija sent Muhammad (pbuh) word through
Khazimah ibn Hakim, one of her relatives, offering him twice as much
commission as she usually offered her agents to trade on her behalf. She
also gave him one of her servants, Maysarah, who was young, brilliant, and
talented, to assist him and be his bookkeeper. She also trusted Maysarah's
account regarding her new employee's conduct, an account which was most
glaring, indeed one which encouraged her to abandon her insistence never to
marry again.

*B*efore embarking upon his first trip as a businessman representing
Khadija, Muhammad (pbuh) met with his uncles for last minute briefings and
consultations, then he set out on the desert road passing through Wadi
al-Qura, Midian, and Diyar Thamud, places with which he was familiar because
of having been there at the age of twelve in the company of his uncle Abu
Talib. He continued the lengthy journey till he reached Busra (or Bostra) on
the highway to the ancient city of Damascus after about a month. It was then
the capital of Hawran, one of the southeastern portions of the province of
Damascus situated north of the Balqa'. To scholars of classic literature,
Hawran is known by its Greek name Auranitis, and it is described in detail
by Yaqut al-Hamawi, Abul-Faraj al-Isfahani, and others. Arab trade caravans
used to go there quite often and even beyond it to Damascus and Gaza, and
few made it all the way to Mediterranean shores to unload their precious
cargoes of Chinese paper and silk textiles bound for Europe.

*W*hat items did Muhammad (pbuh) carry with him to Busra, and what items did
he buy from there? Meccans were not known to be skilled craftsmen, nor did
they excel in any profession besides trade, but young Muhammad (pbuh) might
have carried with him a cargo of hides, raisins, perfumes, dried dates,
light weight woven items, probably silver bars, and most likely some herbs.
He bought what he was instructed by his employer to buy: these items may
have included manufactured goods, clothes, a few luxury items to sell to
wealthy Meccans, and maybe some household goods. Gold and silver currency
accepted in Mecca included Roman, Persian, and Indian coins, for Arabs
during those times, including those who were much more sophisticated than
the ones among whom Muhammad (pbuh) grew up such as the Arabs of the
southern part of Arabia (Yemen, Hadramout, etc.), did not have a currency of
their own; so, barter was more common than cash. The first Arab Islamic
currency, by the way, was struck in Damascus by the Umayyad ruler Abd
al-Malik ibn Marwan (697-698 A.D.) in 78 A.H., 36 years after the
establishment of the Umayyad dynasty (661-750).

*T*he time Muhammad (pbuh) stayed in Busra was no more than a couple of
months during which he met many Christians and Jews and noticed the
theological differences among the major Christian sects that led to the
disassociation of the Copts, the Syrian (Chaldean) Nestorian, and the
Armenian Christians from the main churches of Antioch (Antakiya), Rome, and
Egyptian Alexandria. Such dissensions and differences of theological
viewpoints provided Muhammad (pbuh) with plenty of food for thought; he
contemplated upon them a great deal. He was seen once by Nestor the monk
sitting in the shade of a tree as caravans entered the outskirts of Busra,
not far from the monk's small monastery. "Who is the man beneath that tree?"
inquired Nestor of Maysarah. "A man of Quraysh," Maysarah answered, adding,
"of the people [the Hashemites] who have guardianship of the Sanctuary."
"None other than a Prophet is sitting beneath that tree," said Nestor who
had observed some of the signs indicative of Prophethood: two angels (or,
according to other reports, two small clouds) were shading Muhammad (pbuh)
from the oppressive heat of the sun. "Is there a glow, a slight redness,
around his eyes that never parts with him?" Nestor asked Maysarah. When the
latter answered in the affirmative, Nestor said, "He most surely is the very
last Prophet; congratulations to whoever believes in him."

*O*ne of Muhammad's observations when he was in that Syrian city was the
historical fact that a feud was brewing between the Persian and Roman
empires, each vying for hegemony over Arabia's fertile crescent. Indeed,
such an observation was quite accurate, for after only a few years, a war
broke out between the then mightiest nations on earth that ended with the
Romans losing it, as the Holy Qur'an tells us in Chapter 30 (The Romans),
which was revealed in 7 A.H./615-16 A.D., only a few months after the fall
of Jerusalem to the Persians, just to win in a successive one. Only four
years prior to that date, the Persians had scored a sweeping victory over
the Christians, spreading their control over Aleppo, Antioch, and even
Damascus. Muhammad (pbuh) was concerned about either of these two empires
extending its control over the land inhabited by Muhammad's Pagan fiercely
independent Pagan people. The loss of Jerusalem, birthplace of Christ Jesus
son of Mary (as), was a heavy blow to the prestige of Christianity. Most
Persians were then following Zoroastrianism, a creed introduced in the 6th
century before Christ by Zoroaster (628-551 B.C.), also known as
Zarathustra, whose adherents are described as worshippers of the "pyre," the
holy fire. "Persia," hence, meant "the land of the worshippers of the pyre,
the sacred fire." Modern day Iran used to be known as "Aryana," land of the
Aryan nations and tribes. Not only Iranians, but also Kurds, and even
Germans, prided in being Aryans, (Caucasian) Nordics or speakers of an
Indo-European dialect. Some Persians had converted to Christianity as we
know from Salman al-Farisi who was one such adherent till he fell in
captivity, sold in Mecca and freed to be one of the most renown and
cherished sahabis and narrators of hadith in Islamic history, so much so
that the Prophet of Islam (pbuh) said, "Salman is one of us, we Ahl al-Bayt
(People of the Household of Prophethood)."

*T*he war referred to above was between the then Byzantine (Eastern Roman)
emperor Heraclius (575 - 641 A.D.) and the Persian king Khusrau (Khosrow)
Parwiz (Parviz) or Chosroes II (d. 628 A.D.). It was one of many wars in
which those mighty nations were embroiled and which continued for many
centuries. Yet the hands of Divine Providence were already busy paving the
path for Islam: the collision between both empires paved the way for the
ultimate destruction of the ancient Persian empire and in Islam setting root
in that important part of the world. Moreover, Muhammad's (and, naturally,
Khadija's) offspring came to marry ladies who were born and raised at
Persian as well as Roman palaces. Imam Husain ibn Ali ibn Abu Talib (as),
Muhammad's grandson and our Third Holy Imam, married the daughter of the
last Persian emperor Jazdagird (Yazdegerd) III son of Shahryar and grandson
of this same Khusrau II. Jazdagerd ruled Persia from 632-651 A.D. and lost
the Battle of Qadisiyyah to the Muslim forces in 636, thus ending the rule
of the Sassanians. Having been defeated, he fled for Media in northwestern
Iran, homeland of Persian Mede tribesmen, and from there to Merv, an ancient
Central Asian city near modern day Mary in Turkmenistan (until very recently
one of the republics of the Soviet Union), where he was killed by a miller.
The slain emperor left two daughters who, during their attempt to escape,
following the murder of their father, were caught and sold as slaves. One of
them, Shah-Zenan, ended up marrying our Third Holy Imam Husain ibn Ali ibn
Abu Talib (as), whereas her sister married the renown scholar and acclaimed
*muhaddith*(traditionist) Muhammad son of the first Muslim caliph Abu Bakr.
Shah-Zenan was awarded a royal treatment and was given a new name in her own
Persian mother tongue: Shahr Banu, which means "mistress of the ladies of
the city." The marriage between her and Imam Husain (as) produced our Fourth
Holy Imam (Zainul-Abidin, or al-Sajjad) Ali ibn al-Husain ibn Ali ibn Abu
Talib (as).

*T*he profits Khadija reaped from that trip were twice as much as she had
anticipated. Maysarah was more fascinated by Muhammad (pbuh) than by
anything related to the trip. Muhammad (pbuh), on the other hand, brought
back his impressions about what he had seen and heard, impressions which he
related to his mistress. You see, those trade caravans were the only links
contemporary Arabs had with their outside world: they brought them the news
of what was going on beyond their drought-ridden and famine-stricken desert
and sand dunes.

*W*araqah ibn Nawfal, like Bahirah, the monk who had seen and spoken to
Muhammad (pbuh) when Muhammad (pbuh) was a lad, adhered to the Nestorian
Christian sect. He heard the accounts about the personality and conduct of
young Muhammad (pbuh) from both his cousin Khadija and her servant Maysarah,
an account which caused him to meditate for a good while and think about
what he had heard. Raising his head, he said to Khadija, "Such manners are
fit only for the messengers of God. Who knows? Maybe this young man is
destined to be one of them." This statement was confirmed a few years later,
and Waraqah was the very first man who identified Muhammad (pbuh) as the
Messenger of Allah immediately after Muhammad (pbuh) received the first
revelation at Hira cave.

*T*he trip's measure of success encouraged Khadija to employ Muhammad (pbuh)
again on the winter trip to southern Arabia, i.e. Yemen, the land that
introduced the coffee beans to the rest of the world, the land where the
renown Ma'rib irrigation dam was engineered, the land of Saba' and the
renown Balqees, the Arabian Queen of Sheba (Saba') of Himyar, who married
King Solomon (Sulayman the wise, peace be upon him), in 975 B.C. (after the
completion of the construction of the famous Solomon's
Temple[1]<http://www.al-islam.org/biographies/khadija.htm#footnote1>),
the land of natives skilled in gold, silver and other metal handicrafts, not
to mention their ingenuity in the textile industry and domestic
furniture..., and it may even be the land that gave Arabic its first written
script which, as some believe, was modelled after written Amheric, then the
official language in Ethiopia and its colonies. Yemen, at that time, was
being ruled by an Ethiopian regent. This time Khadija offered Muhammad
(pbuh) three times the usual commission. Unfortunately, historians do not
tell us much about this second trip except that it was equally profitable to
both employer and employee. Some historians do not mention this trip at all.

*K*hadija was by then convinced that she had finally found a man who was
worthy of her, so much so that she initiated the marriage proposal herself.
Muhammad (pbuh) sat to detail all the business transactions in which he
became involved on her behalf, but the wealthy and beautiful lady of Quraysh
was thinking more about her distant cousin than about those transactions.
She simply fell in love with Muhammad (pbuh) just as the daughter of the
Arabian prophet Shu`ayb had fallen in love with then fugitive prophet Moses
(as). Muhammad (pbuh) was of medium stature, inclined to slimness, with a
large head, broad shoulders and the rest of his body perfectly proportioned.
His hair and beard were thick and black, not altogether straight but
slightly curled. His hair reached midway between the lobes of his ears and
shoulders, and his beard was of a length to match. He had a noble breadth of
forehead and the ovals of his large eyes were wide, with exceptionally long
lashes and extensive brows, slightly arched but not joined. His eyes were
said to have been black, but other accounts say they were brown, or light
brown. His nose was aquiline and his mouth was finely shaped. Although he
let his beard grow, he never allowed the hair of his moustache to protrude
over his upper lip. His skin was white but tanned by the sun. And there was
a light on his face, a glow, the same light that had shone from his father,
but it was more, much more powerful, and it was especially apparent on his
broad forehead and in his eyes which were remarkably luminous.

*B*y the time he was gone, Khadija sought the advice of a friend of hers
named Nufaysa daughter of Umayyah. The latter offered to approach him on her
behalf and, if possible, arrange a marriage between them. Nufaysa came to
Muhammad (pbuh) and asked him why he had not married yet. "I have no means
to marry," he answered. "But if you were given the means," she said, "and if
you were bidden to an alliance where there is beauty and wealth and nobility
and abundance, would you not then consent?" "Who is she?!" he excitedly
inquired. "Khadija," said Nufaysa. "And how could such a marriage be mine?!"
he asked. "Leave that to me!" was her answer. "For my part," he said, "I am
willing." Nufaysa returned with these glad tidings to Khadija who then sent
word to Muhammad (pbuh) asking him to come to her. When he came, she said to
him:

O son of my uncle! I love you for your kinship with me, and for that you are
ever in the center, not being a partisan among the people for this or for
that. And I love you for your trustworthiness, and for the beauty of your
character and the truth of your speech.

Then she offered herself in marriage to him, and they agreed that he should
speak to his uncles and she would speak to her uncle `Amr son of Asad, since
her father had died. It was Hamzah, despite being relatively young, whom the
Hashemites delegated to represent them on this marriage occasion, since he
was most closely related to them through the clan of Asad; his sister
Safiyya had just married Khadija's brother `Awwam. It was Abu Talib,
Muhammad's uncle, who delivered the marriage sermon saying,

All praise is due to Allah Who has made us the progeny of Ibrahim (Abraham),
the seed of Isma`eel (Ishmael), the descendants of Ma`ad, the substance of
Mudar, and Who made us the custodians of His House and the servants of its
sacred precincts, making for us a House sought for pilgrimage and a shrine
of security, and He also gave us authority over the people. This nephew of
mine Muhammad (pbuh) cannot be compared with any other man: if you compare
his wealth with that of others, you will not find him a man of wealth, for
wealth is a vanishing shadow and a fickle thing. Muhammad (pbuh) is a man
whose lineage you all know, and he has sought Khadija daughter of Khuwaylid
for marriage, offering her such-and-such of the dower of my own wealth.

Nawfal then stood and said,

All praise is due to Allah Who has made us just as you have mentioned and
preferred us over those whom you have indicated, for we, indeed, are the
masters of Arabs and their leaders, and you all are worthy of this (bond of
marriage). The tribe (Quraysh) does not deny any of your merits, nor does
anyone else dispute your lofty status and prestige. And we, furthermore,
wish to be joined to your rope; so, bear witness to my words, O people of
Quraysh! I have given Khadija daughter of Khuwaylid in marriage to Muhammad
ibn Abdullah for the dower of four hundred dinars.

Then Nawfal paused, whereupon Abu Talib said to him, "I wished her uncle had
joined you (in making this statement)." Hearing that, Khadija's uncle stood
and said, "Bear witness, O men of Quraysh, that I have given Khadija
daughter of Khuwaylid in marriage to Muhammad ibn Abdullah."

*T*hese details and more are recorded in Ibn Hisham's *Seera*. After his
marriage, Muhammad (pbuh) moved from his uncle's house to live with his wife
in her house which stood at the smiths' market, an alley branching out of
metropolitan Mecca's long main bazaar, behind the *mas`a*, the place where
the pilgrims perform the seven circles during the *hajj* or *`umra*. In that
house Fatima (as) was born and the revelation descended upon the Messenger
of Allah (pbuh) many times. This house, as well as the one in which the
Prophet of Islam (pbuh) was born (which stood approximately 50 meters
northwards), were both demolished by the ignorant and fanatical Wahhabi
rulers of Saudi Arabia last year (1413 A.H./1993 A.D.) and turned into
public bathrooms. The grave sites of many family members and companions of
the Holy Prophet (pbuh) were all demolished by the same Wahhabis in 1343
A.H./1924 A.D. against the wish and despite the denunciation of the
adherents of all other Muslim sects and schools of thought world-wide.

*T*he marriage was a very happy one, and it produced a lady who was one of
the four perfect women in all the history of mankind: Fatima daughter of
Muhammad (pbuh). Before her, Qasim and Abdullah were born, but they both
died at infancy.

*B*y the time Khadija got married, she was quite a wealthy lady, so wealthy
that she felt no need to keep trading and increasing her wealth; instead,
she decided to retire and enjoy a comfortable life with her husband who, on
his part, preferred an ascetic life to that of money making. The Messenger
of Allah (pbuh) had no desire to accumulate wealth; that was not the purpose
for which he, peace and blessings of Allah upon him and his progeny, was
created. He was created to be savior of mankind from the darkness of
ignorance, idol worship, polytheism, misery, poverty, injustice, oppression,
and immorality. He very much loved to meditate, though his meditation
deepened his grief at seeing his society sunk so low in immorality,
lawlessness, and the absence of any sort of protection for those who were
weak and oppressed. Khadija's period of happiness lasted no more than 15
years after which her husband, now the Messenger of Allah (pbuh), started
his mission to invite people to the Oneness of God, to equality between men
and women, and to an end to the evils of the day. Muhammad (pbuh) was forty
years old when the first verses of the Holy Qur'an were revealed to him.
They were the first verses of Surat al-Alaq (chapter 96), and they were
revealed during the month of Ramadan 13 years before the Hijra, at the cave
of Hira in Jabal al-Noor (the mountain of light), his favorite place for
isolation and meditation, a place which is now visited by many pilgrims.
Muhammad (pbuh) went back home heavy-hearted, profoundly perplexed, deeply
impressed by the sight of arch-angel Gabriel and by the depth of meaning
implied in those beautiful words:

*In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful
*Proclaim (or read)! In the Name of your Lord and Cherisher who created
(everything). (He) created man of a (mere) clot of congealed blood.
Proclaim! And your Lord is the Most Bountiful Who taught (the use of) the
pen, Who taught man that which he knew not... (Qur'an, 96:1-5)

He felt feverish, so he asked to be wrapped and, once he felt better, he
narrated what he had seen and heard to his faithful and supportive wife. "By
Allah," Khadija said, "Allah shall never subject you to any indignity...,
for you always maintain your ties with those of your kin, and you are always
generous in giving; you are diligent, and you seek what others regard as
unattainable; you cool the eyes of your guest, and you lend your support to
those who seek justice and redress. Stay firm, O cousin, for by Allah I know
that He will not deal with you except most beautifully, and I testify that
you are the awaited Prophet in this nation, and your time, if Allah wills,
has come." After a short while, Khadija told her husband about the
prediction of the Syrian monk Buhayra regarding Muhammad's Prophethood, and
about her dialogue with both her servant Maysarah, who had informed her of
what Bahirah (or Buhayrah) had said, and with her cousin Waraqah ibn Nawfal.
She then accompanied her husband to Waraqah's house to narrate the whole
incident. "Let me hear it in your own words," Nawfal said to Muhammad
(pbuh), adding, "O noble master!" Having heard the Prophet's words, Nawfal
took his time to select his words very carefully; he said, "By Allah, this
is the prediction which had been conveyed to Moses (as) and with which the
Children of Israel are familiar! [Moses] had said: `O how I wish I could be
present when Muhammad (pbuh) is delegated with Prophethood to support his
mission and to assist him!'"

*I*t was only natural for Khadija to receive her share of the harassment
meted to him by none other than those who, not long ago, used to call him *
al-Sadiq*, *al-Amin*. Khadija did not hesitate to embrace Islam at all,
knowing that her husband could not have put forth any false claim. Yahya ibn
`Afeef is quoted saying that he once came, during the period of
*jahiliyya *(before
the advent of Islam), to Mecca to be hosted by al-Abbas ibn Abdul-Muttalib,
one of the Prophet's uncles mentioned above. "When the sun started rising,"
says he, "I saw a man who came out of a place not far from us, faced the
Ka`ba and started performing his prayers. He hardly started before being
joined by a young boy who stood on his right side, then by a woman who stood
behind them. When he bowed down, the young boy and the woman bowed, and when
he stood up straight, they, too, did likewise. When he prostrated, they,
too, prostrated." Then he expressed his amazement at that, saying to
al-Abbas: "This is quite strange, O Abbas!" "Is it, really?" retorted
al-Abbas. "Do you know who he is?" al-Abbas asked his guest who answered in
the negative. "He is Muhammad ibn Abdullah, my nephew. Do you know who the
young boy is?" asked he again. "No, indeed," answered the guest. "He is Ali
son of Abu Talib. Do you know who the woman is?" The answer came again in
the negative, to which al-Abbas said, "She is Khadija daughter of Khuwaylid,
my nephew's wife." This incident is included in the books of both Imam Ahmad
and al-Tirmithi, each detailing it in his own *Sahih*. And she bore
patiently in the face of persecution to which her revered husband and his
small band of believers were exposed at the hands of the polytheists and
aristocrats of Quraysh, sacrificing her vast wealth to promote Islam,
seeking Allah's Pleasure.

*A*mong Khadija's merits was her being one of the four most perfect of all
women of mankind, the other three being: Fatima daughter of Muhammad (pbuh),
Maryam bint `Umran (Mary daughter of Amram), mother of Christ (as) and niece
of prophet Zakariyya and Ishba (Elizabeth), and `Asiya daughter of Muzahim,
wife of Pharaoh. Prophet Zakariyya, as the reader knows, was the father of
Yahya (John the Baptist), the latter being only a few months older than
prophet Jesus (as). The Prophet of Islam (pbuh) used to talk about Khadija
quite often after her demise, so much so that his youngest wife, `Ayesha
daughter of Abu Bakr, felt extremely jealous and said to him, "... But she
was only an old woman with red eyes, and Allah has compensated you with a
better and younger wife (meaning herself)." This caused him (pbuh) to be
very indignant, and he said, "No, indeed; He has not compensated me with
someone better than her. She believed in me when all others disbelieved; she
held me truthful when others called me a liar; she sheltered me when others
abandoned me; she comforted me when others shunned me; and Allah granted me
children by her while depriving me of children by other women." Imam Ahmad
ibn Hanbal, Abu Hatim, al-Dulabi, al-Tabari, and many others, all quote
`Ayesha saying: "One day, the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) mentioned Khadija
affectionately, so I was carried away by jealousy and said about her what I
should *not *have said. It was then that his face changed color in a way I
never saw it change except when he (pbuh) was receiving revelation, so I
realized what I had done and felt overwhelmed by regret to the extent that I
could not help uttering these words: `O Lord! If You remove the anger of
Your Messenger right now, I pledge not to ever speak ill of her as long as I
live.' Having seen that, he forgave me and narrated to me some of her
merits." Both Muslim and Bukhari indicate in their respective *Sahih* books
that among Khadija's merits was the fact that the Lord of Dignity ordered
Jibraeel (Gabriel), peace be upon him, to convey His regards to her. Gabriel
said to Muhammad (pbuh): "O Muhammad! Khadija is bringing you a bowl of
food; when she comes to you, tell her that her Lord greets her, and convey
my greeting, too, to her." When he (pbuh) did so, she said: "Allah is the
Peace, and He is the source of all peace, and upon Gabriel be peace."
Khadija died of an attack of fever on the tenth or eleventh day of the month
of Ramadan, ten years after the start of the Prophetic mission (in the year
619 A.D.), 24 years after her marriage with Muhammad (pbuh), and she was
buried at Hajun in the outskirts of Mecca. The Messenger of Allah (pbuh) dug
her grave and buried her... Funeral prayers (*salat al janaza*) had not yet
been mandated in Islam. It is reported that by the time she died, her entire
wealth had already been spent to promote Islam; she left not a single gold
dinar nor a single silver dirham, nor anything more or less...

O soul that are at rest! Return to your Lord,
well-pleased (with Him),well-pleasing (Him),
so enter among My servants, and enter into My garden.
(Qur'an, 89:27-30)

------------------------------

[1] This temple was built by Solomon (Prophet Sulayman) to express his
gratitude for what the Almighty had granted him. Solomon had in advance
obtained his Lord's permission to erect it. A glimpse of its grandeur is
described in the Holy Qur'an in 27:44: "It was said to her (to Balqees, the
Queen of Sheba): Enter the palace; but when she saw it, she deemed it to be
a great expanse of water," that is, its marble floors shone like glass,
reflecting her image as water does. This temple was later ordered by Solomon
to be demolished in its entirety, and the claim of the Jews that the al-Aqsa
mosque is built on its very foundations is false. The Jews plot to demolish
the al-Aqsa mosque in order to rebuild Solomon's Temple. Jews intend to do
so at the right time, when they realize that the Muslims of the world,
because of the weakness and hypocrisy of their rulers, are too weak to stand
between them and the achievement of their most vile goals, and when the
"Christian" West will be ready, more than now, to help them achieve their
objectives. The West has been supporting the Jews against the Muslims, and
there will never be any reversal to this trend... *We are Allah's, and to
Him shall we return*...
--

The Hermit doesn't sleep at night:
in love with the blue of the Vacant moon.
The cool of the breeze
that rustles the Trees, rustles him too.