Khadijah bint Khuwaylid

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Khadījah bint Khuwaylid (Arabic: خديجة بنت خويلد‎) or Khadījah al-Kubra ^[1] (555 CE – 619 CE) was the first wife of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. Khadijah was the daughter of Khuwaylid ibn Asad and Fatimah bint Za'idah and belonged to the clan of Banu Hashim.

Biography

Khadijah's father, Khuwaylid ibn Asad, who died around 585, was a merchant, a successful businessman whose vast wealth and business talents were inherited by Khadijah, who successfully managed her father's business interests and preserved the family's fortune. It is said that when Banu Quraish's trade caravans gathered to embark upon their lengthy and arduous journey either to Syria during the summer or to Yemen during the winter, Khadijah's caravan equaled the caravans of all other traders of Quraish put together. Fatimah bint Za'idah – Khadijah's mother – died around 575, a member of the Banu `Amir ibn Luayy ibn Ghalib tribe and a distant relative of Muhammad.^[2]

Khadijah earned two titles: Ameerat-Quraish (Princess of Quraish) and al-Tahira (the Pure One), and Khadija Al-Kubra (Khadija the great) and was said to have had an impeccable character. She used to feed and clothe the poor, assist her relatives financially, and provide for the marriage of those of her kin who could not otherwise have had the means to marry. Another aspect of her character, unusual for her times and unlike the practices of her people Khadijah was said to have neither believed in nor worshipped idols.

By 585, Khadijah , even 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. ^[3]

Khadijah did not travel with her trade caravans, she relied on someone else to act as her agent to trade on her behalf in return for an agreed upon commission. In 595, Khadijah 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 who, by then, had earned the honorifics of Al-Sadiq (the truthful) and Al-Amin (the trustworthy).

Muhammad, did not have any official 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. It was not uncommon to hire an agent who did not have prior experience; so, Khadijah decided to give Muhammad a chance. He was only 25 years old. Khadijah sent Muhammad 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 sent 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 that was most striking, indeed one that encouraged her to abandon her decision never to marry again.

The profits Khadijah reaped from that trip were twice as much as she had anticipated. Maysarah was more fascinated by Muhammad than by anything related to the trip. The trip's measure of success encouraged Khadijah to employ Muhammad again on the winter trip to Yemen. Yemen, at that time, had just been annexed by Persia and a regent of the Persian King, Chosroes I, Anoshervan was ruling the land. This time Khadijah offered Muhammad 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.

Age of Khadija

The age of Khadijah is not well documented. This is because Arabs were more concerned with the month they were born in than the year. Therefore, her age has been narrated as anywhere from 25 to 40 years.^[4]

Correlation of her age with that of her daughter Fatima, does not support the tradition that she was as much as fifteen years his senior; but, presumably, she was older than he was. ^[5]

Marriage to Muhammad

Part of a series on Islam Umm-al-Momineen Wives of Muhammad
Khadijah bint Khuwaylid Sawda bint Zama Aisha bint Abi Bakr Hafsa bint Umar Zaynab bint Khuzayma Hind bint Abi Umayya Zaynab bint Jahsh Juwayriya bint al-Harith Ramlah bint Abi Sufyan Rayhana bint Zayd Safiyya bint Huyayy Maymuna bint al-Harith Maria al-Qibtiyya

With the passage of time, her admiration for Muhammad developed into a deeper affection. Khadijah 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 detailed all the business transactions in which he would be involved on her behalf, but Khadijah was thinking to leave the financial matters to her distant cousin Waraqah ibn Nawfal. By the time Muhammad was gone, Khadijah sought the advice of a friend named Nufaysa bint Umayyah. The latter offered to approach him on her behalf and, if possible, arrange a marriage between them.

Khadijah and Muhammad agreed that he should speak to his uncles and she would speak to her uncle, `Amr ibn Asad, since her father had died. It was Hamza ibn ‘Abd al-Muttalib, 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 Saffiyah bint ‘Abd al-Muttalib had just married Khadijah's brother `Awwam.

It was Abu Talib, Muhammad's uncle, who delivered the marriage sermon saying,^[6]
"All praise is due to Allah Who has made us the progeny of Ibrahim 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 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 is a man whose lineage you all know, and he has sought Khadijah bint Khuwaylid for marriage, offering her such-and-such of the dower of my own wealth."^[7]

Becoming the first Muslim

When her husband received his first revelation from the Archangel Gabriel, she was the first person (besides Muhammad) — among both male and females — to convert to Islam. According to some sources, it was Khadijah's parental cousin, Waraqah ibn Nawfal, who informed Muhammad of his prophethood soon after his vision of the angel. ^[8]

Khadijah did not hesitate to embrace Islam at all, trusting to her husband's teachings.

R V. C. Bodley in his book The Messenger, the Life of Mohammed, 1946^[9]:

Washington Irving in his book Life of Mohammed^[10]:

Yahya ibn `Afeef is quoted saying that he once came, during the period of Jahiliyyah (before the advent of Islam), to Mecca to be hosted by al-Abbas ibn Abdul-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 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." 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 Khadijah bint 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.

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 Quraish, sacrificing her vast wealth to promote Islam, seeking Allah's Pleasure.^[11],[12]

She remained at his side and supported him throughout his mission to spread Islam.

Death — 619 or 623

Muhammad is reported to have taken no other wife until after her death because of his love for her.^[13]

Edward Gibbon in his book The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire^[14]:

Kazi Ejaz and Ibne Abdul Bir in his book Al-Estiab^[15]:

The year of her death is known as the Year of Sorrow, because of the devastation that it caused him and it was also the same year in which his uncle and guardian Abu Talib died. She was either 64 or 68 years old (having been born in AD 555).^[16] Her grave can be found in Jannatul Mualla cemetery, in Mecca, Saudi Arabia.^[17] Many scholars place the events of the Year of Sorrow in 619, prior to hijra, and use these events as part of the reason for Muhammad's emigration.

Muslim views

Ibn Kathir

Ibn Kathir, the famous Islamic scholar and commentator on the Qur'an writes in his book Wives of the Prophet Muhammad^[18]:

Shi'a views

The Favorite Wife

The following view of Khadijah can be found in the Shi'a book Fatima The Gracious:

Relatives

Sons:

• Qasim ibn Muhammad
• Abd-Allah (Taher) ibn Muhammad

Daughters: From Khadija, Muhammad had four daughters:

1. Zainab who was married to her maternal cousin Abu al-'As ibn ar-Rabi' before al-Hijra
2. Ruqayyah was married to Uthman ibn Affan
3. Umm Kulthum too was married to Uthman ibn Affan after the death of her sister Ruqayyah
4. Fatimah the youngest was married to 'Ali bin Abi Talib

According to some Shia sources she only had one daughter, Fatimah. The others either belonged to her sister or were orphaned girls raised by her. Possibly, all of them were Khadijah's but only Fatimah was born to Muhammad. Sunni Muslims however do not contest the parentage of her daughters. They affirm what the Qur'ân states: "O Prophet! Tell your wives and your daughters and the women of the believers...".^[20] The famous Sunni scholar Yusuf ibn abd al-Barr says: "His children born of Khadīja are four daughters; there is no difference of opinion about that".^[21]

Sister:

• Halah bint Khuwailid

Cousins:

• Abdullah ibn Umm Maktum
• Waraqah ibn Nawfal

See also

• Muhammad
• Timing of Sahaba becoming muslims

References

1. ^ ^{a b} Wife of the Prophet Muhammad (SAWAS).
2. ^ Early Life
3. ^ Khadija and Muslim Historians
4. ^ http://www.arabnews.com/?page=5&section=0&article=115532&d=20&m=10&y=2008&pix=islam.jpg&category=Islam
5. ^ [The Student's Quran: An Introduction (1961), p.xv, by Hashim Amir Ali]
6. ^ A Restatement of the History of Islam and Muslims (Restatement of History of Islam and Muslims: The Marriage of Muhammad Mustafa and Khadija
7. ^ The Marriage
8. ^ Khatijatul Kubra
9. ^ R V. C. Bodley: The Messenger, the Life of Mohammed, 1946
10. ^ Washington Irving: Life of Mohammed
11. ^ A Restatement of the History of Islam and Muslims (Restatement of History of Islam: The Economic and Social Boycott of the Banu Hashim (A.D. 616-619))
12. ^ A Restatement of the History of Islam and Muslims (Restatement of History of Islam: The Deaths of Khadija and Abu Talib - A.D. 619)
13. ^ The Death
14. ^ Edward Gibbon: The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire
15. ^ Kazi Ejadh & Ibne Abdul Bir: Al-Estiab
16. ^ The Death
17. ^ Muhammad, Farkhanda Noor.Islamiat for Students. Revised Edition 2000: pp. 74-75.
18. ^ Ibn Kathir: Wives of the Prophet Muhammad (SAW)
19. ^ Fatima The Gracious page 29
20. ^ al-Qur'ân 33:59
21. ^ al-Istī`āb fī Ma`rifat al-Aşĥāb (The Comprehensive Compilation of the Names of the Prophet's Companions) vol.1 pp.50

^ The Student's Quran: An Introduction (1961), p.xv, by Hashim Amir Ali

External links

• Khadija Daughter of Khuwaylid
• Marriage of Khadija
• The Wives of Prophet Muhammad by Ibn Kathir