up in Makkah. Her father Khuwailid ibn Asad was an immensely wealthy merchant and an eminent leader of the Qurayshi tribe of Makkah. Surrounded by much wealth and luxury, Khadijah had a privileged upbringing. After the death of her father, she inherited the family business and became one of the wealthiest women in Makkah. After the untimely death of her first husband, Abu Halah ibn al-Nabbash (by whom she had two children), Khadijah married Atiq ibn Abid and they had one child. However, there is some disagreement among historians on this issue; some say Atiq was her first husband, while others say Abu Halah was her first husband. Either way, her second marriage, too, did not last long; it was terminated on the grounds of incompatibility. Khadijah then focused her full attention to raising her children and pursuing her business. Although Khadijah was a devoted mother to her children, she was not prepared to live on the wealth she had inherited from her father. She, therefore, developed a shrewd business strategy in order to expand her commercial stakes in and around Makkah. Being very intelligent, honest and upright, she soon became one of the most successful businesswomen of pre-Islamic Makkah, if not, Arabia.
In a patriarchal society, where women were treated like chattels, normally a widow like Khadijah would have found it impossible to establish herself in society, but Khadijah was an unusually gifted lady who defied the socio-cultural taboos of her society by becoming very successful. She traded in all types of goods and merchandise, and in so doing established a thriving import and export business. She recruited her own business managers, who regularly took her merchandise beyond the borders of Arabia and traded in neighbouring countries such as Syria. Her business expanded rapidly because she recruited some of the most honest, fair and trustworthy people to work for her and she also rewarded them handsomely. In a society where employees had no rights and were often treated harshly by their employers, Khadijah became renowned for treating her staff well and paying them on time. Her generosity was such that she often divided the profits in half, giving one half to her managers while retaining the other portion for herself. In a blatantly unfair and unjust pre-Islamic Arabia, Khadijah’s profit-sharing arrangement was too good an offer to be refused by any man who wished to earn a good living in those days.
Khadijah’s willingness to reward her staff handsomely meant she could pick and choose the most able candidates to undertake her business expeditions. Since she was an honest and trustworthy lady, she employed people who possessed similar qualities and attributes. When she was informed about the sublime qualities and attributes of the twenty-five year old Muhammad, the son of Abdullah, she went out of her way to recruit him into her expanding business. The offer of a rewarding job came at the right time for young Muhammad because Abu Talib, his uncle and guardian, was experiencing considerable financial difficulties at the time. Unbeknown to both Muhammad and Khadijah, this was to mark the beginning of a relationship which was destined to last a quarter of a century, and go down in the annals of Islam as a great partnership. Being scrupulously honest, morally upright, unusually intelligent and extremely trustworthy, young Muhammad was invited to assume responsibility for Khadijah’s business affairs. Whenever Muhammad went out on a business expedition, he came back with more profits than Khadijah anticipated, thus proving his commercial acumen. Indeed, he was in a league of his own among Khadijah’s employees. As an intelligent lady, Khadijah always asked one of her aides to accompany Muhammad whenever he went on a business trip and assist him in his endeavours. Maisarah was one such aide who used to go on these business ventures with Muhammad, and on his return he regularly briefed Khadijah about the unique and unassailable qualities of her new business manager.
Impressed by Maisarah’s tales about Muhammad’s unique qualities and attributes, one day Khadijah went to consult her cousin Waraqa ibn Nawfal, a blind man who was well versed in ancient scriptures, about a dream where she saw the sun descending into her courtyard. Waraqa told Khadijah that Muhammad was special. On hearing this, she seriously thought about proposing marriage to him. However, since Khadijah was a very dignified lady, she could not persuade herself to propose directly to Muhammad. Instead, she approached her friend Nafisa who, in turn, spoke to Muhammad on her behalf. When Nafisa took the proposal to Muhammad he accepted the offer after consulting his uncle Abu Talib. By now Muhammad knew Khadijah well; she was an honest, truthful, generous and faithful lady who conducted her affairs in an impeccable manner. Everyone in Makkah respected her for the dignified way she lived her life. One could not find a better woman in all Arabia at the time. Lack of finance aside, there was no other reason for Muhammad to refuse the offer. At the time of their marriage, Muhammad was twenty-five while Khadijah was forty. Notwithstanding the fifteen year age gap, Muhammad and Khadijah were meant for each other. It proved to be an immensely blissful marriage and they were blessed with six beautiful children, fours girls and two boys. The sons died in their infancy, but the daughters survived and they became very loyal and loving children. Theirs was a peaceful and blessed family.
Although Khadijah was a very wealthy lady, she was not materialistic like most of the people in her society. Whenever Muhammad chose to seclude himself on the Mount of Light (jabal al-nur), situated on the outskirts of Makkah, for meditation and spiritual renewal, she would pack enough food and drink for him to last the whole period. One night, while Muhammad was meditating on the Mount of Light, he was visited by archangel jibrail (Gabriel) and the first verses of the Qur’an were revealed to him. Angel jibrail confirmed that he was God’s last Prophet to mankind and that his mission in life was to propagate Islam, a religion and way of life chosen for all humanity by the Creator of the universe. After this terrifying encounter, the Prophet rushed home to Khadijah, completely shaken by the whole experience. He asked her to wrap him up with blankets. When the Prophet eventually regained his composure and related the whole experience to Khadijah, she did not doubt him at all. Khadijah’s unshakeable faith in her husband reassured the Prophet. She not only became the first person to embrace Islam, she also threw all her weight behind her husband and his new mission. From that day on, Khadijah became Muhammad’s greatest supporter and Islam’s foremost benefactor, at a time when the Prophet had no one to turn to for help; but Khadijah stood by him like a pillar and encouraged him to carry out his Divine mission.
Khadijah was fifty-four when her husband became a Prophet and for the next ten years of her life she freely spent all her wealth, and devoted all her time and energy, for the cause of Islam. After the Prophet was commanded by God to proclaim Islam publicly, he became an open target for the Makkan elites who insulted, ridiculed and abused him but Khadijah encouraged, consoled and helped him at every step of the way. Indeed, the first ten years of the Prophet’s mission were fraught with tremendous hardship, distress and suffering for his family and small band of followers, as his adversaries tried all the tricks in the book to dissuade him from propagating Islam. When this did not work, they offered him wealth and agreed to make him their ruler but he rejected all such offers. When every attempt to seduce the Prophet failed, the Makkan elite relentlessly pursued and persecuted him and his followers, inflicting untold misery and hardship on them. It was a difficult and traumatic period for all the Muslims, especially the Prophet and his family.
At such a challenging time in Islamic history, Khadijah’s unflinching help and support for her husband proved critical. Thanks to her reputation and standing in Makkah, coupled with her considerable wealth and commercial pulling-power, the Makkan oligarchy did not dare to compromise the personal safety and security of the Prophet. However, as more and more people continued to embrace Islam, in utter desperation the Prophet’s opponents imposed a total boycott on banu hashim, the Prophet’s tribe. This took place in the seventh year of his Prophethood. It was a particularly hard time for all Muslims, especially the sixty-one year old Khadijah. Having lived all her life surrounded by much wealth and luxury, now for the first time she was forced to endure hardship and starvation for the sake of her faith. Yet she came out of this ordeal stronger in her faith and the support for her husband never wavered for a moment. The Prophet himself acknowledged the pivotal role played by Khadijah in those early days of Islam when he said, ‘…She [Khadijah] had faith in me when everyone, even members of my own family and tribe did not believe me, and accepted that I was truly a Prophet and a Messenger of God. She converted to Islam, spent all her wealth and worldly goods to help me spread this faith, and this too at a time when the entire world seemed to have turned against me and persecuted me. And it is through her that God blessed me with children.’
After the Prophet, it is difficult to find another person who had more devotion, dedication,