Genealogy
Her ancestry was Hazrat Khadijah bint Khuwalid ibn Asad ibn Kilab. Her mother was Fatima bint Zayda who was a descendent of another clan of the Quraish. Genealogists say that the Prophet was one of her cousins, or more precisely one of her nephews through a mutual great Grandfather Qusay ibn Kilab.
Parents
Her father Khuwalid had mar-ried Fatima bint Zayda who was descended from another clan of the Quraish. Her father died in the year 590 AD when she was about 35 years old. Details regarding her mother’s death are not available. However after the death of her father she came under the guardianship of her uncle Umar ibn Asad, as it was customary with families of repute.
Brothers and Sisters
Not many details are available regarding her brothers and sisters. However according to Tariekhay Islam by Shah Moien ud Din Ahmed she had one brother named Awam but according to encyclopedia of Seerah by Afzal ur Rehman she had one sister named Halah. Having of a sister is more authenticated because her son Abul As ibn Rabi was married to the Prophet’s eldest daughter Zanib.
Early Life
According to Islam ki Namwer Khawateen by Qamar Taskeen She was born in the year 560.AD.Where as no other book exactly gives the year in which she was born. Therefore in order to determine the exact year of her birth we calculate it from that of the Prophet’s. We all know that the Holy Prophet was born on 20/22 Feb 571 and we also know that Hazrat Khadijah at the time of her marriage with the Prophet was 15 years older than him. Thus by cal-culating backwards we can say that Hazrat Khadijah was born in the year 555/556 AD in one of the respectable upper middle class family of Mecca.
General Appearance
She was fair and modest in her general demeanor and meticulously submissive and an obedient woman. She had black glossy hair and wore high quality garments of dark shades. She had excellent taste in ornaments and generally wore silver and turquoise jewelry rings, earring bangles and neck-laces of fine craftsmanship.
Early Marriages
Before she became the wife of the Holy Prophet she was married twice.
First Marriage
Her first marriage was with a rich merchant, Abu Hala Hind ibn al Nabbash ibn Zurara of Banu Tammim. There are varied reports regarding her children from this marriage. According to encyclopedia of Seerah by Afzal Ur Rehman she had a son from him named Hind. He later accepted Islam and participated in the battles of Badar and Uhud. He ultimately died of plague in Basra. Whereas according to Islamic Encyclopedia by Syed Qasim Mahmood she had two sons and one daughter. They were Hind, Harithah and Zanib. Finally according to Seerat ul Nabi volume II by Shibli Nomani, she had only two boys namely Hind and Harithah. However they all unanimous-ly agree that the name of the eldest son was Hind. Soon after the birth of her son her husband died. Thus she became a widow in her adolescence.
Second Marriage
After the death of her first hus-band she was married to another merchant called Atiq ibn Aidh or Abid ibn Abdullah ibn Umar ibn Makhzum from whom she had a daughter named Hind. The history does not provide any substantial record regarding the life of Hind. Hazrat Khadijah had hardly come out from the mourning of her first husband, when once again she became a widow at an early age.
Khadijah as a Business Woman
She was a lady of dignity and opulence. Though she was from a middle upper class family, she inherited much of her wealth and commercial-banking houses from two of her husbands. Being a widow she could not actively participate directly as she could not move with various trade caravans thus she lent money to reliable Quraish merchants on a profitable sharing basis. Sometimes she donated capital of her creditors to trade caravans and on return of trade caravans from designated commercial expeditions the profits were equitably and justly shared. In addition to having her own employees and agents in Mecca at times she also hired men to carry merchandise out side the Hijaz on Mudarash (partner-ship in commendan).
Incidents Leading to the Marriage with The Holy Prophet
Khuzamiah, the nephew of Hazrat Khadijah who had the opportunity of traveling with the Prophet on various expeditions spoke of his truthfulness, sincerity and integrity and suggested that he be taken into her service. Hazrat Khadijah sent for him and pro-posed that he should take her merchandise to Syria and trade with it in the manner he thought best. Thus according to the agreed plan the Prophet took her Ethiopian slave boy Maysara with him and went on the trade expedition to Syria. It is also narrated that, at the vertex of noon when it was intensely hot as he rode his camel Maysara saw two angels shading the Prophet from the scorching rays of the sun. When the Prophet had sold the goods he had brought and bought what he thought best and most profitable to buy, he started journeying back to Mecca. He did not stop for long enroute and soon the caravan was in Mecca. Hazrat Khadijah was genuinely pleased with the results and stewardship for the excellent business he had done.
Maysara for his part told her about the two angels who had shaded the Prophet when he traveled at midday. He also told her that on several occasions when he shared meals with the young traveling sales men, they were never famished or ever short of provisions. He added when we spread we always ate our fill and we found more often then not ample leftovers for the needy, which passed by. As a trial the lady called for a Qina (tray) full of fresh dates and offered them to her sister Hala and the Prophet and a few other guests. They all ate from it and ate their fill but the tray still looked as full as before.
After hearing and observing for few months regarding the honesty, trust worthiness, high moral character and clean habits of the Prophet, Hazrat Khadijah promoted her young salesman to the post of Manager of her trade caravans. She also became conscious of his spiritual capacities. Since, he was popularly known as Al-Amin (the Trust —worthy) and also by another fitting title al-Sadiq (the Truthful) thus we can unmistakably say that these attracted her. She being a kind employer appreciated the efforts put in by her young salesman and also gave due credit for his enterprise. As the time passed Hazrat Khadijah knowing and acknowledging the fact that the business was in the hands of a capable and honest individdal, started to devote lesser time towards her business but nevertheless she continued encouraging the Prophet to deal with all the tasks independently.
Marriage Proposal
Hazrat Khadijah discussed all what her slave reported with her cousin Waraqa who was a Christian. He had studied the old scriptures and was well versed in the ancient lore. After hearing all what she had to say he told her that if this were true Muhammad is certainly the Prophet of his people. Thereafter the marriage proposal was made and there are two versions to it:
First Version
She returned home form Waraqa’s house very pleased and immediately sent for the young Muhammad. She spoke openly of what was on her mind and said, “0 my cousin, I like you because of our relationship and also because of your noble reputation among your people. Your truthfulness and good character are your accomplishments.” Then she made a proposal of marriage in plain words. The Holy Prophet happily accepted it.
Second Version
According to another version, this proposal had already been made through the Ethiopian slave Maysara, who had accompanied the Prophet on a number of expeditions. Maysara one day addressed the Prophet and said, if a man of twenty -five with charming looks, sobriety and wisdom, and with a fine family background proposed to marry. Never thought of it was the calm reply. Maysara continued his discourse with the suggestion or, if such a man should marry wealth, the Prophet exclaimed how could a traveling salesman with limited means dream of meeting a wealthy woman and how could he gather courage to make such a proposal. Maysara was clever, he said sup-pose a wealthy, fair, good-looking lady of noble descent should offer her hand to you? Being amazed and astonished, He said, “Who is this dream fairy you have in mind.” None but Khadijah, Maysara promptly replied. The Prophet had not yet recovered from his astonishment when Maysara hastily added, “If you leave it to me, I shall arrange every thing”. Maysara soon arranged an interview between the two at her home. In this talk, the Prophet sat shy and mute and she had to do all the explaining. Ultimately she was able to win him over but winning over of his family was still to come.
Wedding Celebrations
One day Hazrat Khadijah slaughtered a lamb and arranged a dinner at her residence, dishes were carefully prepared and elaborate arrangements were made. The list of invitees consisted of Umer-ibne-Asad, Waraqa ibne Nawfal, Khuzaimah, Abutalib, Hamza and the bridegroom. During the dinner the hostess made a speech in which she spoke of the intellect that had made her business prosper, as the man who had made colossal increase in her fortune. She spoke at length of his integrity, probity, truthfulness and noble descent. She concluded that it would be an honour for any woman of dignity to marry such a man. All the guests applauded. Every body supported the propos-al and in the same flow of reminiscences, Umer knowing little about the matter approved of the engagement. The Prophet immediately rose from his seat and draped Umer-ibne-Asad in the robe conventionally presented to the father-in-law or guardian of the bride. Perfume was profusely applied to Umer’s hair and the air was laden with the fragrance of saffron and ambergris. The marriage had been solemnized. A con-tract was drafted and the mehr of ten uqiyat of silver (an uqyat being equal to 1.32 ounces) this was the usual amount of mehr for a woman of the upper-middle class.
The next morning the Prophet slaughtered a camel and the flesh was distributed among the poor and the needy of Mecca as the wedding feast (walima). The young couple had invited all the friends and relatives of both sides. Dancers and singers amused the guests all day and night and awards were showered bounteously by the newly wed. The wet nurse of the Prophet, Halima, had also been invited to this happy function. Hazrat Khadijah gave her a present of forty sheep and thanked her for having nursed the orphan Muhammad who had brought prosperity and blessings to her.
Khadijah A Paragon of Virtue
Hazrat Khadijah was extremely happy and loved the Prophet Muhammad, perhaps loved him passionately. His affection and tender-ness towards Hazrat Khadijah also increased tremendously. He loved her more deeply than she loved him and he always cared more about her than any other woman in his entire life. The Prophet knew that all this had happened only due to her fostering help and generous cooperation. He also knew that she was the only one who had ever meant anything serious to him in his life. She was a paragon of virtue and was the first one to believe in his mission. She resigned herself to Allah and to His Messenger. She was a true believer, steadfast, a devout and performed all the rituals of Islam. She observed the stipulated salat and fasted with him and was always the first to learn the Holy Quran and Commandments of Allah. She gave all the wealth that she possessed in the cause of Allah as charity and on no occasion did she ever think of retaining the slightest bit of wealth for herself. She had in fact sacrificed her ease and comfort for the sake of Allah and His Prophet. She was penitent and obedient.
Khadijah as a Wife
Hazrat Khadijah was a typical Meccan lady of the Quraish. She was a devoted wife and loved her husband as no other wife would ever love. She admired his genuinely transcendental qualities. She revered him for his superb sublime thoughts. She adored him for being blessed with divine achievements with full earnest. She looked after him, took care of him, and helped him and above all made all sorts of sacrifices for him. Yet she was able to console and comfort him in distress in his early days of Prophet- hood.
No one knew of the spiritual changes, which Prophet Muhammad was experiencing except her and she wisely kept secret all he told her of the mystifying occurrences. Hazrat Khadijah was of course in this way serving Islam. If the Prophet would have been alone, he might have been ridiculed and suffered extreme dis-tress, which might, probably had pushed him to an extent where he would have taken his life. That he did not do this for was partly for his formidable character and firm faith in the Lord and a great deal to the kind-ness and understanding of his affectionate wife Khadijah. She always encouraged him and never showed the faintest sign of distress.
She not only gave him the love and affection of a wife and companion but sacrificed all: her comfort, her peace, her wealth, her property, and all her salves and maids were at the service of her husband. She kept nothing from him but spent it all on his pleasure and comfort. In short she showered all her body, soul and material possessions on him for his com-fort. Above all she accepted his religion and served as a source of love, affection and solace for him when all around him was hatred abuse and rejection of him and all his teachings.
Children of Hazrat Khadijah
Hazrat Khadijah bore all the chil-dren of The Holy Prophet except Ibrahim who was born to Maria Qibita. The names of their children are as follows.
1. Qasim
2. Zaynab
3. Ruqiah
4. Umm Kulthum
5. Fatimah
6. Abdullah.
Khadijah -The First of The Believers
When the Prophet announced that Allah had sent him to them as His Messenger all his people opposed him, abused him and even threw thorns in his way. They rejected him totally. It was Hazrat Khadijah who first came into his faith supported him in all those troublesome days. When ever he came home rejected, dis-carded and despised by his people he always found her full of love and affection for him and forgot all the pain and suffering. It was she who bore with him the brunt of his most painful, distressing and testing time, but she never complained of any thing. She was always the willing sufferer with him and comforting him all the time. He felt relief in her company and forgot all the out side troubles, at least for the time being. What ever injury or affliction he received by the rejection and accusations it was completely eradicated when he came home to Hazrat Khadijah, because she fully corroborated and confirmed the words and presented the non believer’s attitude as light and trivial.
Her Standing in The Eyes of-Prophet
The following incidents will corroborate the place of Hazrat Khadijah in the Muslim Ummah:
Once Aiesha the youngest wife of the Prophet said, while he was in Medinah, Never was I as jealous of any of the Prophet’s wives as I was of Hazrat Khadijah, although I never saw her for the Prophet remembered her much. He would often kill a sheep, cut it into pieces and send them among Hazrat Khadijah’s friends. I often said to him, “It seems as if Khadijah was the only woman in the world” and he replied, “She was indeed a fine woman and I had children from her,” (Bukhari and Muslim). It is narrated byAli that he heard Allah’s Messenger say, “The best woman of her time was Mary, daughter of Imran and the best woman of her time is Khadijah daughter of Khuwailid.” (Bukhari and Muslim)
Abu Hurairah reported that Gabriel came to the Prophet and said, “Allah’s Messenger, lo, Khadijah is coming to you with a vessel of seasoned food or drink. When she comes to you, offer her greetings from her Lord, the Exalted and Glorious, and on my behalf and give her glad tidings of a palace of jewels in Paradise wherein there is no noise and no toil” (Bukhari and Muslim). Abdullah bin Abi Aufa’s Hadith, may Allah be pleased with him. Ismail reported: I said toAbdullah bin Abi Aufa: Did Allah’s Messenger (may peace be upon him) give glad tidings of Paradise to Khadijah? He said: Yes. He gave glad tidings to her of a palace of jewels in Paradise wherein there would be no noise and no toil.
Hazrat Khadijah whom the Prophet always remembered with. I feelings of love and affection, even when he was later the sole ruler of Arabia and had many beautiful wives around him at Medinah. The intensity of his love and regard for Hazrat Khadijah is shown by the following incident.
Aiesha reported that once the hurt his feeling on this issue and he replied, “Allah has blessed me with her love”. On another occasion, Aiesha asked him if she had been the only woman worthy of his love, and Muhammad replied in an honest burst of tenderness ” She believed in me when no body else did. She embraced Islam when people disbelieved me and she helped me and comforted me when there was none to lend me a helping hand”
Carlyle describes this incident in these words. “He never forgets this good Khadijah. Long afterwards Aiesha, his young and favourite wife, a woman who indeed distinguished herself among the Muslims by all manners of qualities through her whole life this young and brilliant Aiesha was one day, questioning him. Now am I not better than Hazrat Khadijah? She was a widow, old and had lost her looks; you love me better than you did her? No. By God! Answered Muhammad, she believed in me when none else would believe. In the whole world I had but one friend and she was that” He adds, “He seems’ to have lived in a most affectionate, peaceable, wholesome way with this wedded benefaction, loving her truly, and her alone.”
Ibn mad has explained that Khadijah was better than Aiesha on the grounds that when the latter asked the Prophet whether Allah had not undoubtedly given him a better wife (she meant herself) than Hazrat Khadijah, he said, “By Allah No. Allah has not given me a better wife than Khadijah, for she believed in me when people rejected me. She helped me with her wealth at a time when people had deprived me. “When Abu Dawud was asked who was the better of the two, he replied, “Khadijah, “because Aiesha sent her compliments to Allah through Gabriel by requesting Muhammad whereas Allah sent com-pliments to Khadijah through Gabriel in the words of the Prophet. She was therefore better than Aiesha.
There is no doubt that Hazrat Khadijah stands very high in the religion as well as history of Islam. She was foremost in accepting Islam when it was being rejected and the Prophet being abused and hated. She helped and supported him with all her social and financial resources to make him and his religion succeed. She left no stone unturned in this matter and spent all her wealth in the establishment, growth and strength of the Faith of Allah. Beyond any doubt there is no one who can claim superiority over her in this respect. She loved the Messenger of Allah with all her heart and soul and pro-vided him with all the love, comfort, pleasure and happiness of home, which he needed most in those distressing and painful years. She was, in fact the means by which Allah pro-vided encouragement and stimulus to His Messenger so that every day he started his Mission with greater vigor and zeal. The Quran seems to refer to her help and her comforting company for the Prophet in these words.
“Did he not find you an orphan and give you shelter (and care)? He found you in need, and made you independent.”
Joining The Eternal Life
The period of boycott, during which the Hashmities remained almost shut away from the outer world, was a period of great ordeal. The conditions to which they had been subjected told upon the general health of the women and children. Hazrat Khadijah who had already been worn down by the hardship in Shib Abi Talib, to which she had never been used, fell ill. The Prophet remained by her side nursing her all the time She had been his faithful wife and helpmate and had helped Islam with all the means at her disposal. At last as she fainted and dropped her head in languor, he promised she would be the, “most honoured of women in Paradise” She believed him. She believed what ever he said. She looked up at him with a loving smile, and drew her last breath. With this, her limbs relaxed and her weight fell on his arms, and was no more for the Prophet Muhammad this was indeed an irreparable loss. Any other married couple rarely enjoys happiness; contentment and the comfort of deep mutual love such as, Hazrat Khadijah gave him, for a quarter of a century. He himself went into her grave and buried her. He deeply mourned her and always remembered her even though later he had other young and beautiful wives. He was so grieved at her death that the year of her death was called, the year of grief.
According to encyclopedia of Seerah by Afzal ur Rehman it was some time in December 619 A.D in the 10th year of Prophet-hood that she died after a brief illness of three days.
According to Fazale Amal by Mulana Zakaria she died in the year 631 AD. The Islamic Encyclopedia by Syed Qasim Mahmood says that she died at the age of 65 years in the 10th year of Prophet-hood. Therefore in order to arrive at a consensus and working on the undisputed data, the following is revealed:
There is no ambiguity as to the age at which she died i.e. 65 years. There is also no ambiguity as to the year of Prophet-hood i.e. 12 Feb 610 AD
She died at the 10th year of Prophet-hood i.e.12 Feb 610 +10=620/621 If her year of birth be 555/556 AD then adding 65 in it = 620/621 AD is likely the year of her death.♦
