Lesson 01
Khadija Bint Kuwayalid
The lineage of Khadija RA was Khadija bint Khuwaylid bin Asad ibn ‘Abdul-‘Uzza, (555-620 CE). Khadija’s grandfather, Asad ibn ‘Abdul-‘Uzza, was the progenitor of the Asad clan. Khadija’s father, who died around 585 AD, was a chief and belonged to the Abd al-Uzza clan. Like many other Quraishis, he was a merchant, a successful businessman, whose vast wealth and business talents were inherited by Khadija.
Khadija’s mother, who died around 575 AD, was Fatima, daughter of Za’ida ibn al-Asam of Banu Amir ibn Lu’ayy ibn Ghalib, also a distant relative of Prophet Muhammad SAW.
“Khadija, here is (Angel) Gabriel. He commanded me to say salaam (peace) to you and to give you the glad of tiding of a home of pearl in Paradise in which there will be no toil or hardship.” She replied, “Allah is the Giver of salaam. Peace be upon Gabriel and peace and mercy of Allah be upon you.”
[Muslim]
“Sufficient for you, from the women of the worlds are, Maryam bint Ibrahim [the mother of Jesus], Khadija bint Khuwaylid, Fatimah bint Muhammad and ‘Asiyah, the wife of Fir’awn (Pharaoh).” [Sahih: Reported by Anas in Ahmad, At-Tirmidhi. Declared authentic by al- Albani]
Regarding the marriage of the Prophet SAW to Khadija, and her virtues, Bukhari has narrated a hadith from ‘Aa’ishah, who said: “I never felt jealous of any of the wives of the Prophet SAW as I did of Khadija, although she died before he married me, because of what I heard him say about her.”
Bukhari (3815)
She married young, to a merchant named Abu Hallah, she remained happy with him and gave birth to 2 children. A few years later Abu Hallah became ill and died, and Khadija was overcome with grief at the loss of her husband. Later she married Ateeq ibn Aziz a rich merchant, and they lived happily together but he too passed away during his business trip to Syria, leaving her a widow once more. Several respected and influential men of the Quraish tried to seek her hand in marriage, but after the loss of her second husband she resolved that she would not marry again and decided to live an independent life. Shortly after the death of her husband, her father passed away. This was a great loss to Khadija, and she now took it upon herself to run the business herself.
She was free, conducting the affairs of her life and shouldering her huge responsibilities all by herself.
She was a wealthy woman who had wide commercial holdings. It is said that when the Quraysh’s trade caravans gathered to embark upon their summer journey to Syria or winter journey to Yemen, Khadija’s caravan equaled the caravans of all other traders of the Quraysh put together. She was accustomed to feeding and clothing the poor,
assisting her relatives financially, and providing marriage portions for poor relations.
This is in addition to her being elegantly beautiful, intelligent, confident, famous, having a high image, and pure-mannered, a quality that made her the most sought-after woman in Makkah.