Bibi Khadija (as): Mother of the Believers

Khadija was the first and most beloved wife of the
Holy Prophet and she literally lived and died for
Islam. Thus, it may come as a surprise to some to
hear that the Holy Prophet had said “Islam did not
rise except through the sword of Ali and the wealth of
Khadija.” Before Islam, Khadija was known as the
Princess of Makkah, but when the sun of Islam rose
above the horizon, Allah was pleased to honour
her as the Princess of Islam. In a period where the
Arabs used to look down upon women. Khadija
had earned the title of al-Tahira, the Pure One.

This was due to her impeccable personality and
virtuous character as well as her honorable descent.
Not only did she used to feed and clothe the
poor but she also assisted her relatives financially.
One particular quality in Khadija which surpassed
all her other qualities was that she, unlike the people
of the time, never believed in nor worshipped
idols and I always believed in the oneness of God.
However, the only quality we seem to remember
of her is her wealth. Indeed she was very wealthy
and it has been narrated that when Banu Quraish’s
trade caravans gathered to embark upon their
lengthy and strenuous journey to either Syria or
Yemen, Khadija’s caravan would equal the caravans
of all the other traders of Quraish put together.

In the year 595 AD Prophet Muhammad (saw), at
the age of 25, and Bibi Khadija (as) 40 at the time,
married. Abu Talib (as) read the Nikah on behalf of
the Prophet whilst Khadija’s cousin Waqara bin
Noufal read it on her behalf. Hazrat Abu Talib (as)
paid the mehr for his nephew and fed the people of
Mecca for 3 days in celebration, whilst Khadija (as)
fed the people too. However it was Abu Talib, the
uncle of the Prophet and father of Imam Ali (as),
who delivered the marriage sermon saying:

“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.”

During their marriage, when the Prophet used to
meditate in the cave of Hira on Jabel Noor, it was
Bibi Khadija (as) who would climb up there to give
him his food and necessaries. And it was none
other than Khadija who became the first women to
accept Islam as taught by the Holy Prophet (saw).
After the Prophet narrated his experience to
Khadija, she said, "By Allah, Allah shall never subject
you to any indignity, for you always maintain your ties
with those of your kin, and you are always generous in
giving; you are diligent, and you seek what others regard
as unattainable; you cool the eyes of your guest,
and you lend your support to those who seek justice
and redress. Stay firm, O cousin, for by Allah I know
that He will not deal with you except most beautifully,
and I testify that you are the awaited Prophet in this
nation, and your time, if Allah wills, has come.”

Hence Khadija did not hesitate to embrace Islam at
all and after her acceptance of the prophethood
she remained at his side and supported him
throughout his mission to spread Islam.


The Holy Prophet (pbuh) and Bibi Khadija (a.s)
were married for 24 years and it was a marriage full
of love, compassion, and virtue. This was so evident
even after the death of Khadija that Aisha, the
youngest wife of the Prophet, had said “I never felt
jealous of any of the wives of the Prophet (pbuh) as I
did of Khadija, although she died before he married me,
because of what I heard him say about her and I felt
extremely jealous and said to him: But she was only an
old woman with red eyes, and Allah has compensated
you with a better and younger wife.” This caused the
Prophet (pbuh) to be very angry, and he said, “No,
indeed; He has not compensated me with someone
better than her. She believed in me when all others
disbelieved; she held me truthful when others called me
a liar; she sheltered me when others abandoned me;
she comforted me when others shunned me; and Allah
granted me children by her while depriving me of children
by other women.”

Among Khadija’s merits was the fact Allah (swt)
ordered Jibraeel to convey His regards to her.
Jibraeel came to the Prophet (saw) and said: “O
Allah's Messenger, Khadija 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 pipes of gold and jewels in Paradise wherein
there is no noise and no toil.” Khadija replied, "Allah is
the Peace, and He is the source of all peace, and upon
Gabriel be peace."

Abu Muhammad Ordoni mentions in his book
“Fatima the Gracious”: “As for Lady Khadijah, she
was a beautiful, tall, light skinned woman, considered
noble among her people; she was wise in decisionmaking,
enjoyed a great deal of intelligence and sharp
discernment. She bestowed her brilliant insight of economical
principles, especially in the export and import
field, on the trade market. This was Khadijah the human,
the woman, and the wife; on the other hand, she
granted thousands of dinars to her husband to use as
he saw fit. Thus, Khadijah's financial support had a
great role in strengthening Islam during its prime days,
when it was still in the formation stage and critically
needed material aid. Allah foreordained Khadijah's
property to help Islam and fulfill its goals.”

Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) said regarding Khadija,
“No property has ever been so useful to me as Khadijah's.”
Whilst this property was used none other
than to free slaves, help the needy, support the
poor and rescue his financially inflicted companions.
He also paved the way for those who wished to
immigrate; all this through Khadija's wealth. Furthermore,
Khadija fed the poor Muslims, day after
day, so that no one among them ever went hungry,
and she provided shelter to them. For her, charity
was nothing new but the size and scope of the
commitment were; she spent money prodigiously
on the poor and the homeless Muslims of Mecca.
The support that Khadija gave to the Muslim community
in Makka, was indispensable for the survival
of Islam. Her support to the Muslim community
guaranteed its survival when it was in a state of
blockade. In this sense, she was a maker of history
the history of Islam.

It is for these reasons Allah (swt) has honored her
in the Quran as the Mother of the Believers. In
Surah Ahzab: “The Prophet is closer to the believers
than their own selves, and his wives are their mothers”
(33:6). Although the verse claims all wives of
the Prophet are the Mothers of Believers, between
them and Khadija there is a basic difference. All the
wives married in Madinah received earnings from
the Bavt-ul-Mal, the Public Treasury. Some of the
wives even claimed special privileges and demanded
special bonuses from him. They even had the audacity
to claim that the earnings paid to them was
insufficient for their needs, and they could not buy
enough food to eat from it.

Khadija, on the other hand, never asked her husband
for anything. Far from asking him to bring
anything for her, she made her own purse a public
treasury for the Muslims. In Makkah there was no
Public Treasury, and it was the boundless generosity
and the unlimited wealth of Khadija that saved
the community of the faithful from starving. She
was so considerate of the welfare of the followers
of her husband that she didn't withhold even the
last coin that was in her possession, and spent it on
them. It is reported that by the time she died, her
entire wealth had already been spent to promote
Islam; she left not a single gold dinar nor a single
silver dirham, nor anything more or less.

Therefore, in conclusion it is no surprise that Bibi
Khadija (a.s) is of one of the four women promised
paradise and amongst the four perfect women who
could measure up to the high standards of true
greatness and perfection set by Islam.