She was the first wife of
the Prophet
and the first heart to be affected and to accept his
call to Islam. She was Khadija bint Khuwaylid. When
she reached adolescence, she came to be known as Taahira
(righteous, virtuous) due to her noble and sublime
character.
She was married but soon both her father and husband
died, leaving her in charge of the trade. Khadija
became a business woman in her own right, know and respected
throughout the Quraish
for her noble character, wealth and good manners.
She heard the Prophet's fair dealings and how he was
acclaimed to be al-Ameen amongst the people, and so she
asked if he could accompany her merchandise to its various
destinations - he agreed.
At the age of twenty-five, the Prophet Mohammed
accepted the proposal of Khadija , his distant cousin, who
was fifteen years his senior. They had six children: two
sons, Qaasim and 'Abdullah, both of whom died in infancy,
and four daughters, Zaynab, Ruqayyah, Umm Kaltoumum,
and Fatima.
Fifteen years later, what do we find Khadija saying
when the Prophet
came to her with his heart trembling after receiving the
first Revelation? He informed her of the happening and said
to her
"O Khadija what has happened to me? I fear for
myself?" She replied: "It can't be. Be happy. I swear by
Allah that he will never humiliate you. By Allah, you join
ties of relationship, you speak the truth, you bear people's
burdens, you help the destitute, you entertain guests and
you help the vicissitudes which affect the people."
(Reported
by 'Aisha & collected by Muslim (eng. Trans vol.1 pp.96-8
no.301). Imaam an-Nawaawee, who wrote the commentary on
Sahih Muslim said that the scholars have explained Khadija
's statement by saying that she knew that Allah
would never allow one who had been given such a generous
character and noble manners by Him, to be affected by
madness, since good manners is itself such a blessing from
Allah)
Look at her conviction in what the Prophetsaid. Pause for a moment and note her weighty words.
She didn't doubt him, nor show the slightest hesitation
towards the words he uttered. In fact she was his greatest
source of comfort, the first to provide security for him and
be sincere to him. He attested to the messenger ship of her
husband and was the first to believe in him, and who could
have known him better? After all, she had been married to
him for fifteen years. She was convinced that it could only
be one of such eloquent character who could be worthy of
revelation from Allah
and thus hers was the first heart to be moved, and to accept
Islam.
However, her loyalty and assistance didn't culminate
there. By accepting and supporting his call to the worship
of Allah
alone, Khadija , a woman highly esteemed among the Quraish,
was now denouncing their way of life, and the Quraish were a
proud and affluent people; and Makkah was at the heart of
trading and the home of the idols - much revered by the
Quraish. They were not going to stand back and allow a man
to now come and preach a way of life alien to theirs,
rejecting their beliefs and everything they stood for. And
remember when Islam was first cultivated, the Muslims were
small in number, and, in such a trying period, Khadija
remained alongside the Messenger
of Allah
in support whenever the Quraish disclaimed him or contracted
hostility towards him. She assisted him in preaching the
words of Allah
and hence witnessed the division between the people of faith
(iman) and those of disbelief (kufr).
This continued until her death on the eleventh of Ramadan
in the tenth year of the Prophet hood - at the age of
sixty-four. The Prophet
would think of Khadija often. Open up any book written
on the life of the Prophet Mohammed,
and you will not fail to find Khadija bint Khuwaylid
mentioned and evidences pertaining to her excellence. The
Prophet
said: "Sufficient for you, from
the women of the worlds are, Maryam bint Ibrahim [the
mother of Eesaa], Khadija bint Khuwaylid, Fatima
bint Mohammed [sallAllahu 'alayhi wa sallam] and 'Isaiah,
the wife of Fir'awn [Pharoah]." (Sahih
- Reported by Anas in Ahmad, at-Tirmidhee & others. Declared
authentic by al-Albaanee in his Tarteeb Sahih ul-Jaami'
(no.18). The "sufficiency" mentioned here means 'sufficient
regarding obedience to Allah'
(Sheikh Alee Hassan al-Halabee))
Further proof of the Prophet's
inherent love for Khadija can be seen in 'Asia's
statement: "I was not so jealous of any of the Prophet's
wives as I was of Khadija . I never saw her, but he
frequently mentioned her and he would often kill a sheep,
cut it in pieces and send them round among Khadija 's
friends. I often said to him: 'It seems as if Khadija
was the only woman in the world!' And he replied:
'She was indeed a fine
woman and I had children from her."
(Collected
by al-Bukhari (eng. Trans. Vol.5 p.104 no.166) & Muslim
(eng. Trans. Vol.4 p.1297 no.5972))
So we have the perfect role models, and it is only
through reading about them, that we can truly love them and
love to be like them, and understand why they are happy
occupants of al-Jannah. And Jibreel, , came with the good
news from Allah,
saying to the Messenger,
"When she [Khadija ] comes, give her a greeting from her
Lord and me, and give her the good news that in Jannah she
will have a house of brilliant pearls, in which there will
be no clamour or toil."
(Reported
by Abu Hurayrah & collected by al-Bukhari (vol.5 pp.104-5
no.168) & Muslim (vol.4 p.1297 no.5967).
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