Khadija bint Khuwaylid


Khadijah bint Khuwaylid, commonly known as Khadija, was the first wife and first female follower of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. Khadijah was the daughter of Khuwaylid ibn Asad, a leader of Quraysh tribe in Mecca, and a successful businesswoman in her own right.
Khadijah is often referred to by Muslims as "Mother of the Believers". She and her daughter Fatimah are two of the most important female figures in Islam. Muhammad was monogamously married to her for 25 years. The number of children she bore before and to Muhammad is disputed.

Before marrying Muhammad

Family

Khadijah's father, Khuwaylid ibn Asad, was a merchant and leader. According to some/many traditions, he died c. AD 585 in the Sacrilegious War, but according to others, he was still alive when Khadijah married Muhammad in 595. Khuwaylid also had a sister named Umm Habib binte Asad.
Khadijah's mother, Fatima bint Za'idah, who died around AD 575, was a member of the Amir ibn Luayy clan of the Quraysh and a third cousin of Muhammad's mother.

Profession

Khadijah became a very successful merchant. It is said that when the Quraysh's trade caravan travelers gathered to embark upon their summer journey to Syria or winter journey to Yemen, Khadijah's caravan equalled the caravans of all other traders of the Quraysh put together. Honorifics associated with Khadijah included, “Ameerat-Quraysh,” “The Pious One,” and “Khadijah Al-Kubra.” It is said that she fed and clothed the poor, assisted her relatives financially and provided marriage portions for poor relations. Khadijah was said to have neither believed in nor worshipped idols, which was atypical for pre-Islamic Arabian culture.
Khadijah did not travel with her trade caravans; she employed others to trade on her behalf for a commission. In 595 Khadijah needed a co-worker for a transaction in Syria. She chose Muhammad ibn Abdullah for the trade in Syria. With the permission of Abu Talib ibn Muttalib, his uncle, he was sent to Syria with one of Khadijah's servants. This caravan experience earned Muhammad the honorific titles “Al-Sadiq ” and Al-Amin. Khadijah hired Muhammad, who was then 25 years old, sending word that she would pay double her usual commission.
She sent one of her servants, Maysarah, to assist him. Upon returning, Maysarah gave accounts of the honorable way that Muhammad had conducted his business, with the result that he brought back twice as much profit as Khadijah had expected.

Differing views on previous marriages

Sunni version

Khadijah married three times and had children from all her marriages. While the order of her marriages is debated, it is generally believed that she first married Atiq ibn 'A'idh ibn' Abdullah Al-Makhzumi and second Malik ibn Nabash ibn Zarrara ibn at-Tamimi. To her second husband she bore two sons, who were named Hala and Hind. He died before his business became a success. To husband Atiq, Khadijah bore a daughter named Hindah. This marriage also left Khadijah as a widow.
Khadijah proposed to Muhammad when he was 25 years old and she was 40 years old. Khadijah consulted her cousin Waraqah ibn Nawfal ibn Asad ibn 'Abdu'l-'Uzza.

Shia version

Shi'a scholars believed Khadijah did not marry anyone before Muhammad.
Ibn Shahrashub quoted from al-Sayyid al-Murtada in al-Shafi and al-Shaykh al-Tusi in al-Talkhis that Khadijah was a virgin when she married Muhammad. In addition, considering the cultural and intellectual situation in Hijaz and high position and status of Khadijah al-Kubra among other people, it would be highly improbable that she marry men from Banu Tamim and Banu Makhzum.
According to researchers, two children attributed to Khadijah were the children of Hala, Khadija's sister. After Hala’s husband’s death, Khadijah took care of Hala and Hala’s children.
Khadijah was 40 when she was married to Muhammad.

Marriage to Muhammad

Khadijah entrusted a friend named Nafisa to approach Muhammad and ask if he would consider marrying. When Muhammad hesitated because he had no money to support a wife, Nafisa asked if he would consider marriage to a woman who had the means to provide for herself. Muhammad agreed to meet with Khadijah, and after this meeting they consulted their respective uncles. The uncles agreed to the marriage, and Muhammad's uncles accompanied him to make a formal proposal to Khadijah. It is disputed whether it was Hamza ibn Abdul-Muttalib, Abu Talib, or both who accompanied Muhammad on this errand. Khadijah's uncle accepted the proposal, and the marriage took place. At the time of the marriage Muhammad was 25 years old and Khadijah was 40 years old.
Muhammad and Khadijah were married monogamously for 25 years. After her death, Muhammad took other wives.
Another Narration states Hisham bin Muhammad bin al-Sa’ib reports from his father Muhammad bin al-Sa’ib al-Kalbi from Abu Salih that Ibn ‘Abbas said: At the time of marriage with the Messenger of Allah, Khadija was twenty-eight years old.

Children

Muhammad and Khadijah may have had six or eight children..
Their first son was Qasim, who died after his third birthday. Khadijah then gave birth to their daughters Zaynab, Ruqayyah, Umm Kulthum and Fatima; and lastly to their son Abd-Allah. Abd-Allah was known as at-Tayyib and at-Tahir because he was born after Muhammad was declared a prophet by the Angel Gabriel as a direct message from Allah. Abdullah also died in childhood.
Two other children also lived in Khadijah's household: Ali ibn Abi Talib, the son of Muhammad's uncle; and Zayd ibn Harithah, a boy from the Udhra tribe who had been kidnapped and sold into slavery. Zayd was a slave in Khadijah's household for several years, until his father came to Mecca to take him home. Muhammad insisted that Zayd be given a choice about where he lived, and Zayd decided to remain where he was, after which Muhammad legally adopted Zayd as his own son.

Becoming the first follower of Muhammad

According to the traditional Sunni narrative, when Muhammad reported his first revelation from the Angel Gabriel, Khadijah was the first person to convert to Islam. After his experience in the cave of Hira, Muhammad returned home to Khadijah in a state of terror, pleading for her to cover him with a blanket. After calming down, he described the encounter to Khadijah, who comforted him with the words that Allah would surely protect him from any danger, and would never allow anyone to revile him as he was a man of peace and reconciliation and always extended the hand of friendship to all. According to some sources, it was Khadijah's cousin, Waraka ibn Nawfal, who confirmed Muhammad's prophethood soon afterwards.
Yahya ibn `Afeef is quoted saying that he once came, during the period of Jahiliyyah, to Mecca to be hosted by 'Abbas ibn 'Abd al-Muttalib, one of Muhammad's uncles mentioned above. "When the sun started rising", he said, "I saw a man who came out of a place not far from us, faced the Kaaba 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." He expressed his amazement at that, saying to Abbas: "This is quite strange, O Abbas!" "Is it, really?" retorted al-Abbas. "Do you know who he is?" 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 Abbas said, "She is Khadijah bint Khuwaylid, my nephew's wife." This incident is included in the books of both Ahmad ibn Hanbal and Al-Tirmidhi, each detailing it in his own Ṣaḥīḥ.
Khadijah was supportive of Muhammad's prophetic mission, always helping in his work, proclaiming his message and belittling any opposition to his prophecies. It was her encouragement that helped Muhammad believe in his mission and spread Islam. Khadijah also invested her wealth in the mission. When the polytheists and aristocrats of the Quraysh harassed the Muslims, she used her money to ransom Muslim slaves and feed the Muslim community.
In 616 the Quraysh declared a trade boycott against the Hashim clan. They attacked, imprisoned and beat the Muslims, who sometimes went for days without food or drink. Khadijah continued to maintain the community until the boycott was lifted in late 619 or early 620.

Death

Khadijah died in "Ramadan of the year 10 after the Prophethood", i.e., in November AD 619. Muhammad later called this tenth year "the Year of Sorrow", as his uncle and protector Abu Talib also died at this time. Khadijah is said to have been about 65 years old at the time of her death. She was buried in Jannat al-Mu'alla cemetery, in Mecca, Saudi Arabia.
Another report Muhammad bin Ishaq said," Abu Talib and Khadija bint Khuwaylid died in the same year. This was three years before the emigration of the Messenger of Allah to Madina. Khadija was buried in al-Hajun. The Messenger of Allah buried her in her grave. She was twenty-eight years old when the Messenger of Allah married her"
In the years immediately following Khadijah's death, Muhammad faced persecution from opponents of his message and also from some who originally followed him but had now turned back. Hostile tribes ridiculed and stoned him. Muhammad migrated to Yathrib after Khadijah's death.

Children and relatives

Sons

The Sunni scholar Yusuf ibn abd al-Barr says: "His children born of Khadīja are four daughters; there is no difference of opinion about that."
The Qur’an says:

Shia view

According to some Shi‘ite sources, Khadijah and Muhammad together had only one biological daughter, Fatimah. The others either belonged to Khadijah's sister or were from a previous marriage and were treated by Muhammad as his own daughters. The Shi'i scholar Abu'l-Qasim al-Kufi writes:
  1. Hind bint Atiq. She married her paternal cousin, Sayfi ibn Umayya, and they had one son, Muhammad ibn Sayfi.
  2. Zaynab bint Abi Hala, who probably died in infancy.
The adopted daughters attributed to Muhammad, by Shia sources, are:
  1. Zaynab. She married her maternal cousin Abu al-Aas ibn al-Rabee before al-Hijra. Later lived with Muhammad. Her husband accepted Islam before her death in 629
  2. Ruqayyah. She was first married to Utbah ibn Abu Lahab and then to the future third caliph Uthman ibn Affan.
  3. Umm Kulthum. She was first married to Utaybah bin Abu Lahab and then, after the death of her sister Ruqayyah, to Uthman ibn Affan. She was childless.

    Cousins

"There has come to him,” Waraḳa says, “the greatest law that came to Moses; surely he is the prophet of this people”

Her important descendants