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LIFE OF KHADIJA
Biography
History 134 4/21/2015
Rob Parker
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“Islam did not rise except through Ali’s sword and Khadija’s wealth.” The legacy that
Khadija has left behind for the Islamic faith is as great as any one person had for his or her faith.
Now a very common name for girls among the Muslim faith is Khadijah. This is to show respect
to the first wife of Muhammad. Khadijah was born in five hundred sixty-five A.D. in Meccai
(Makkah.) Daughter of Khuwaylad ibn (son of) Asad ibn Abdul-Uzza and Fatima Bint Zalida.
Khadija’s family was a large family but this was not uncommon during these times. She had two
brothers, Hizam and al-Awwam, along with a half-brother Nawful. Along with those two
brothers she had two sisters, Raqayqa and Hala. Khadija along with her family belonged to the
clan of Banu Hashimii of the tribe of Banu Asad which was a part of the bigger Quraysh tribe.
She is a distant cousin of her husband Muhammad and a direct relative of the great Qussay Ibn
who was the keeper of Ka’aba and ruler of Mecca. She is known to Muslims as al-Kubraiii and
al-Tahiraiv. These names have been given to her because she was often seen feeding the poor and
assisting her relatives in need. Her name Khadijah means “pre-mature” suggesting that she was
born pre-mature. Although she was born pre-mature her father Khuwaylad and her mother
Fatima were not worried, they took this as a sign of greatness to come. Khadija’s personality was
one of her special traits, she was known to be very determined and intelligent. Her father
Khuwaylad was a wealthy businessman that transported and traded goods from foreign lands
providing Khadija a very good life. As his daughter, Khadija spent her childhood sitting in the
bazaars learning to negotiate and bargain with his business partners.
The society she was born into was very male oriented meaning that they did not respect
women and they would not have high ranking roles. Although this was the norm for women in
Mecca at this time, in her case, she was respected due to her personality, character and honorable
decent. It is rumored that if she did not have this honorable decent she would have not been able
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to have the role that she did. As Khadija grew older she admired her father’s work, learning as
much as she could because she knew that she would become the owner of this company when
her father either retired or died. While growing up she was very close to her father because most
of her time was spent with him. However this closeness would not last forever because by five
eight-five A.D, Khadija was left an orphan. The deaths of her father and mother would leave her
with a feeling of emptiness but this did not stop her in her pursuits to become a successful
woman. With this motivation, Khadija followed her father’s footsteps and successfully became a
well-known business woman earning the name Ameerat Quraishv.
With Khadija’s rising success she wanted to marry and have children so that they could
follow in her footsteps like she had followed in her fathers. Her first husband was Abu HalahHind ibn Zar’ah. From her first husband young Khadija had a son she named after her husband,
Hind. Hind became one of the greats Sahabis which is a companion of the Holy Prophet. Her son
Hind also participated in battles of Badr and Vhud, and is also famous for describing her future
husband, the Prophet Muhammad. Her son was blessed with the same qualities as her being seen
as a man of honor, righteousness and generosity. She later had two other sons with Abu HalahHind named at-Tahir and Halah. After the death of her husband due to the warsvi, all of her
attention was devoted to the upbringing of her children. Along with the upbringing of her
children she wanted to build up the business she inherited from her father. Although at the time
she was devastated, this ended up being one of the best things that could have happened to her.
This devotion added with her unique business skills aloud Khadija’s trading to be one of the
most widespread business among the Qurayshvii.
With the death of her first Husband and after her children and business grew to her
expectations, she married again. Her second husband was Ateeq ibn Aa’ith ibn ‘Abdullah al-
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Makhzumi who was from the Tamin tribe. This marriage was a strange one because the two
clans were a traditional rival of one another. Ateeq and his brothers were noblemen of the Tamin
tribe and when moving to Mecca they looked for Quraysh wives. Together Khadija and Ateeq
had three children, two boys and one girl. The children that Khadija had with this second
husband have been debated on whether or not they were actually with Ateeq or her future and
last husband Muhammad. But none the less, her first child was Kunya, her second son Hind. The
daughter Zaynab unfortunately died at a young age. The marriage ended in the same way as the
first when Ateeq died in battle. With this death many men tried to marry Khadija because she
was the richest women in Mecca, but she refused.
After the death of her second husband she had become the richest woman in Mecca.
Some reports claim that she owned half the trade in Mecca but others did not, they did agree on
the fact that she was the wealthiest trader of this time. Her policy when trading was to employ
hardworking, honest, and distinguished men to deal on her behalf. This policy lead to her
meeting Muhammad and the eventual birth of the Islamic faith. Since she did not travel with her
trade caravans she had to rely on some else to act as her agent to trade on her behalf. In 595 A.D.
she needed an agent to trade her goods to Syria. When talking to Abu Talib a close business
associate, he suggested young Muhammad because he was known as Sadiqviii and al-Amin.ix At
this point young Muhammad had no solo business experience but had accompanied his uncle,
Abu Talib and learned trade tips and the skill of bartering. With all of this being said, Khadijah
decided to give him the chance at the age of 25. Khadijah offered him two times the commission
that she usually offered her other trading agents. Along with the money she also offered him one
of her servants, Maysarah who was young, brilliant and talented to assist him with his journey.
She had him carry a cargo of hides, raisins, perfumes, light weight woven items, silver bars, and
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herbs. The success of this trip was the fuel for Muhammad’s thoughts of Islam because on this
trip he met a monk that talked to him about religious things. The trip profited her two times the
amount she had predicted which blossomed the relationship between Khadijah and Muhammad.
The trips success encouraged her to employ Muhammad again to travel to Yemenx. This
time offering him three times the amount of usual commission. This second trip was also very
successful and brought her a lot of profit. Khadijah was now thinking that she had finally found
a man who was worthy of her, so she initiated the marriage proposal herself. She was so worried
about her proposal to Muhammad, one night she had a dream that helped guide her though it.
This dream was that the shinning sun had descended from the heavens to her courtyard, glowing
on her home. She brought this dream to her cousin Waraqah bin Nawful, who was a blind person
known for his skill in interrelating dreams. When he heard the dream he said the sun she was
descending in her courtyard indicated that the prophet would grace her home and she would gain
from his presence in her life. After this meeting her desire to marry Muhammad became stronger
and she sent her friend Nafisah bint Manbah to talk to Muhammad for her. She told Muhammad
about the love that Khadijah had for him, he was surprised and accepted this proposal.
At the time of the marriage he was twenty five and she was forty. This marriage gave her
the most children out of any marriage. She and Muhammad had six children together! Qasim,
Zaynab, Abdullah, Ruqayya, Umm-Kulthum, and Fatima. This marriage was a very happy one,
the only down part was the two children who died in infancy; Qasim and Abdullah. At this time
in her life Khadija was a very wealthy lady, so wealthy that she felt no need to keep trading. She
retired to enjoy a life with her husband and children. Khadija enjoyed spending time with him
doing activities with him such as meditatingxi. Khadija’s happiness eventually started to go
downhill after fifteen years because of her husband’s travels promoting Islam.
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Khadija died of a fever on the tenth or eleventh day of the month of Ramadanxii. She had
died three years before the Hiraj. When Muhammad saw her in the process of death he consoled
saying “Allah had so ordained it, and the thing she was dreading, would prove favorable for her.”
The death of Khadija ended her twenty four year marriage to Muhammad. When she passed
away, Muhammad was heartbroken at the loss because she had stood by him during the most
difficult period of his life. After her death Muhammad always talked good on her behalf, at some
time even making his future wives jealous. Khadija was buried at Hajonxiii on the outskirts of
Mecca. It was reported that by the time of her death, her entire wealth had already been spent to
promote Islam. Khadija is the mother of Islam because without her and her wealth, Muhammad
would not have been able to spread Islam as effectively. She is also known as this because other
than Muhammad, she was the first to convert to the Islamic faith.
i
City in now a day Saudi Arabia. Also translated to Mekkah.
Is a clan in the Quraysh tribe
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The great
iv
The pure
v
or the Princess of Quraish
vi
Many battles had been fought with opposing tribes and clans during this time.
vii
Powerful merchant tribe that controlled Mecca
viii
The truthful
ix
The trustworthy
x
Arab country in southwest Asia.
xi
Muhammad would do this for days at a time even up to thirty days in a row, he said it would help clear his mind,
this is where he says he was first talked to by god.
xii
Ninth month of Islam colander, month of fasting.
xiii
A plateau with caves.
ii
Al-Jibouri, Y. T. (n/a, n/a n/a). Kjadijah, daughter of Khuwaylid, wife or prophet Muhammad. . Retrieved
from Al-islam.org: www.al-islam.org/articles/Kjadijah-daughter-of-Khuwaylid-wife-of-prophetMuhammad.
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Britannica, E. o. (2015, Febuary 2). Kjadijah. Retrieved from Britannica:
www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/316024/khadijah
n/a. (2015, n/a n/a). Muslim woman: past and present . Retrieved from wisemuslimwomen:
www.wisemuslimwomen.org/muslimwomen/bio/khadija_bint_khuwalid/
Publications, D.-u. S. (n/a, n/a n/a). Great women of Islam. Retrieved from islamswomen:
www.islamswomen.com/article/khadija_bint_khuwlid.php
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