Overview
Khadijah bint Khuwaylid رضي الله عنها stands at the very beginning of Islamic history — not merely chronologically, but in every dimension of spiritual and moral precedence. She was the first person to accept the message of the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ, the first to pray alongside him, and the first member of this ummah to receive the salam of Allah conveyed through the angel Jibreel عليه السلام. Long before revelation descended, the people of Makkah had already recognised her exceptional character, calling her al-Tahira — the Pure One. The Prophet ﷺ himself declared her among those women who achieved perfection in faith and character, ranking her alongside Maryam bint Imran among the greatest women who ever lived. For twenty-five years she was his only companion in marriage, his shelter in fear, his treasury in poverty, and the one human being whose reassurance could reach him when no other voice could.
Early Life
Khadijah رضي الله عنها was born in Makkah in approximately 555 CE, fifteen years before the Prophet ﷺ. She came from the clan of Banu Asad within the broader tribe of Quraysh. Her full lineage is Khadijah bint Khuwaylid ibn Asad ibn Abd al-Uzza ibn Qusay ibn Kilab — tracing back to Qusay ibn Kilab, the same ancestor from whom the Prophet’s ﷺ own lineage descends before diverging.
Her father, Khuwaylid ibn Asad, was a chief of Banu Asad and a man of considerable standing. He was among those who stood ready to defend the Ka’ba at the time of Abraha’s campaign, alongside Abd al-Muttalib, the Prophet’s ﷺ grandfather. Khuwaylid and Abd al-Muttalib also travelled together to Yemen to congratulate Sayf ibn Dhi Yazan after he expelled the Abyssinian forces and assumed rulership there. Khuwaylid died during the Battle of al-Fijar before the advent of Islam. Khadijah’s mother was Fatima bint Za’ida — after whom the Prophet’s ﷺ daughter Fatima رضي الله عنها would later be named, as Fatima bint Za’ida was also the paternal grandmother of the Prophet ﷺ through her son Abdullah.
Her siblings included al-Awwam — whose son Zubayr ibn al-Awwam رضي الله عنه, one of the Ten Promised Paradise, was thus her nephew — and Hizam, whose son Hakim ibn Hizam رضي الله عنه would become an important narrator of early Makkan history. Her sister Hala bint Khuwaylid was the mother of al-As, who later married Zaynab, the daughter of Khadijah and the Prophet ﷺ. Her cousin Waraqah ibn Nawfal, the son of her father’s elder brother Nawfal, was some twenty-five years her senior and functioned almost as an uncle figure; it was he who would later officiate her marriage to the Prophet ﷺ and recognise the significance of the first revelation.
The name Khadijah is remarkable in itself. Unlike most names circulating in pre-Islamic Arabia — which were recycled across generations — Khadijah appears to be entirely unique to her. Linguistically it means premature, and the tradition records that she was indeed born before her due date. Some scholars have reflected that this was fitting: she was, in every sense, a woman ahead of her time.
She grew up to be, by universal acclaim, the most elegant and refined woman of Makkah — beautiful, literate, sharp in intellect, and impeccable in character. Crucially, like the Prophet ﷺ and Abu Bakr رضي الله عنه, she never worshipped idols. The influence of her cousin Waraqah, who had long inclined toward Abrahamic monotheism, likely contributed to this disposition. She was known among the Makkans as al-Tahira — the Pure One — a title earned not by religious profession but by the quality of her conduct. According to the narration of Urwa ibn al-Zubayr, Khadijah رضي الله عنها was known to have never backbited, never lied, and never hurt or upset anyone. Wealth, beauty, and social prominence did not produce in her the arrogance they so often do; they deepened her generosity and humility instead.
She married first a man named Abu Hala ibn Zurara al-Tamimi, with whom she had two sons: Hala and Hind. Her son Hind ibn Abi Hala رضي الله عنه lived to see the era of Islam and left one of the most celebrated physical and moral descriptions of the Prophet ﷺ, preserved in the books of Shama’il. He narrated from Ibn Abbas, al-Hasan, al-Husayn, and his own son Hind, and lived until 36 AH. After Abu Hala passed away, Khadijah رضي الله عنها married a man named Atiyah , with whom she had at least one daughter also named Hind, and possibly a son named Abd al-Uzza — the latter name being a reference to her grandfather rather than any approval of idolatry. This second husband also died, leaving her widowed for a second time at the age of only twenty-five.
From that point, Khadijah رضي الله عنها remained unmarried for approximately fifteen years. She had inherited wealth from both parents and both husbands, and she was a supremely capable businesswoman. Her trading caravan alone equalled in value all the other caravans of Quraysh combined; she would dispatch more than eight hundred camels on the trade routes to Syria and Yemen. She became the wealthiest woman among Quraysh, earning the titles Amirat Quraysh (Princess of Quraysh) and Sayyidat Nisa’ al-Quraysh (Leader of the Women of Quraysh). A green silk pavilion was erected above her home — not as a display of wealth, but as a signal to the poor, the orphaned, the widowed, and the sick that they were welcome. She paid the bridal gifts (mahr) for those too poor to marry. At one point she had over four hundred servants. She was, in short, a woman whose every resource was placed in the service of others.
Yet her wealth came with a vulnerability: she was frequently cheated by the traders she employed to manage her caravans on the long routes she herself did not travel. She was searching for someone she could trust.
Entrance into Islam
The path that brought Khadijah رضي الله عنها to the Prophet ﷺ began through commerce. Her sister Hala had employed a young man as a shepherd for some of her sheep and spoke of him to Khadijah when Khadijah was lamenting the dishonesty of her traders. The young man’s name was Muhammad ibn Abdullah. Khadijah made an offer for him to take her caravan to Syria; after some initial hesitation, his uncle and guardian Abu Talib agreed, and the Prophet ﷺ — then twenty-five years old — set out on the journey accompanied by Khadijah’s servant Maysara to watch over things on her behalf.
Maysara returned with an extraordinary account. The Prophet ﷺ had not merely doubled the value of the caravan; he had conducted himself with a nobility and honesty Maysara had never witnessed in a merchant. He refused to swear by the idols al-Lat and al-Uzza when the marketplace custom demanded it. A cloud, Maysara said, had seemed to follow and shade him. The Prophet ﷺ was, moreover, a monotheist — something that resonated deeply with Khadijah herself.
A friend of Khadijah رضي الله عنها named Nafisa noticed the warmth with which Khadijah spoke of Muhammad and suggested that she consider marrying him. Khadijah had spent years turning down proposals from some of the most powerful men in Makkah — including Amr ibn Hisham (later known as Abu Jahl), Abu Sufyan, and Uqba ibn Abi Mu’it — all of whom she rejected despite their wealth and standing. She told the Prophet ﷺ plainly why she chose him: “Inni qad raghbtu fika li husni khuluqika wa sidqi hadithik” — “I desired you for your noble character and your truthful tongue.” Nafisa acted as the intermediary, Abu Talib came with the Prophet ﷺ to accept the proposal, and it was Waraqah ibn Nawfal who conducted the marriage ceremony. Al-Tahira, the Pure One, was married to al-Amin, the Trustworthy One.
Khadijah رضي الله عنها was forty years old; the Prophet ﷺ was twenty-five. It was a union that would prove, in ways neither fully foresaw, to be the foundation upon which the entire prophetic mission would be built.
Fifteen years into their marriage, in the cave of Hira, the angel Jibreel عليه السلام appeared to the Prophet ﷺ and delivered the first words of revelation. The Prophet ﷺ ran back down the mountain, trembling, and burst into their home: “Zammiluni, zammiluni” — “Cover me, hold me, embrace me.” Khadijah رضي الله عنها asked nothing. She held him until the trembling passed. When at last he spoke — “Lakad khashitu ala nafsi”, “I am afraid for myself, I fear I am losing my mind” — she answered with two words that stand among the most consequential utterances in human history:
“Kalla. Abshir.”
“No. Rejoice.”
And then she swore: “Fa wallahi la yukhzeekallahu abadan” — “By Allah, Allah will never disgrace you.” She enumerated the reasons: he maintained family ties, he spoke only truth, he helped the poor, he bore the burdens of others, he honoured guests, he assisted those in hardship. These were not generic words of comfort; scholars have noted that they correspond almost precisely to the description of righteousness that Allah would later reveal in Surah al-Baqarah (2:177). Khadijah was affirming the Prophet’s prophethood before he had affirmed it himself.
She then proposed they go to Waraqah ibn Nawfal. Waraqah, who had studied the earlier scriptures, confirmed that what had come to the Prophet ﷺ was the same revelation that had come to Moses, and declared his wish that he might live to support him when his own people would drive him out.
Khadijah’s declaration of faith — immediate, unqualified, with no hesitation and no conditions — makes her the first Muslim: the first human being to accept the message of Islam.
Life During the Prophethood
The Years of Preparation
Before revelation descended, Khadijah رضي الله عنها and the Prophet ﷺ had built a household of remarkable depth and warmth. Their marriage produced six children: the Prophet ﷺ named the boys and Khadijah named the girls. These were Qasim and Abdullah among the sons, and Zaynab, Ruqayya, Umm Kulthum, and Fatima among the daughters. Other people also lived under their roof: the children Khadijah had brought from her previous marriages, Ali ibn Abi Talib رضي الله عنه (whom the Prophet ﷺ took into his household to relieve the poverty of his uncle Abu Talib, as Hamza took Ja’far), and Zayd ibn al-Haritha رضي الله عنه — who had been captured and enslaved, then purchased by Hakim ibn Hizam and gifted to Khadijah, who in turn gifted him to the Prophet ﷺ. The Prophet ﷺ freed Zayd immediately and adopted him as a son; he became known as Hibb Rasulillah ﷺ, the beloved of the Messenger of Allah.
In these fifteen years before revelation, theirs was a household full of life, and by all accounts a marriage of genuine love. The couple had only a single recorded argument: the Prophet ﷺ refused to attend a gathering of family members where idols would be present, and Khadijah — wanting him to maintain family relations — pressed him to go. He replied, “I will never worship al-Lat, I will never worship al-Uzza”, and she relented. That, according to the sources, was their one dispute in fifteen years.
Khadijah رضي الله عنها expressed her love through constant generosity. When she encountered Halima al-Sa’diyya, the woman who had nursed the Prophet ﷺ as an infant, she saw how tenderly the Prophet ﷺ regarded her and gifted Halima forty sheep on the spot. This was her consistent pattern: anyone who had cared for the Prophet ﷺ in his vulnerable years received her generosity in kind.
During this period the Prophet ﷺ also won universal trust among Quraysh: when the tribes fell into dispute over which of them would have the honour of repositioning the Black Stone during the renovation of the Ka’ba, they agreed to accept the judgement of whoever next walked through the gate. When the Prophet ﷺ entered, the cry went up from every quarter: “Al-Amin!” — the Trustworthy One. He resolved the dispute with characteristic wisdom, having all the tribes lift the stone together on a cloth. Khadijah’s standing in Makkah was inseparable from this moment; his position in the assembly of chiefs was in part made possible by his marriage to her.
The Prophet ﷺ’s Seclusion and the First Revelation
In the years immediately before revelation, the Prophet ﷺ developed an intense love for solitude and worship, climbing the mountain of Hira — an arduous ascent of approximately an hour even by today’s paved path — and remaining in the cave there sometimes for days, sometimes for weeks, and sometimes an entire month. Women of Makkah began to taunt Khadijah: why was her husband abandoning her for a mountain? She was fifty-four or fifty-five years old at this time and answered no one’s mockery.
Instead, she climbed the mountain herself. She carried food, water, and blankets to the Prophet ﷺ so that he would never need to descend to resupply. She made this climb — steep, pathless, exposed to heat and darkness — regularly, without complaint and without being asked. It was an act of pure, unsolicited devotion from a woman who had given birth to six children and was no longer young, sustained entirely by her certainty that what her husband was seeking was real and worthy of support.
After the first encounter with Jibreel عليه السلام and Khadijah’s response, Jibreel did not return for a period. The Prophet ﷺ experienced a time of waiting and uncertainty, during which he once saw Jibreel عليه السلام seated on a throne between the heavens and the earth, filling the entire horizon in his true angelic form — a sight so overwhelming that the Prophet ﷺ ran home again and called once more to be held. It was while he was in Khadijah’s arms that Surah al-Muddathir was revealed:
“O you who is wrapped up — arise and warn, and your Lord magnify, and keep pure your garments, and abandon the idols.”
Revelation came to the Prophet ﷺ in the arms of Khadijah رضي الله عنها. At that moment the Prophet ﷺ told her: “You are the first one I am calling to this message.” She replied: “And I am the first to accept it.”
Confirmation of Jibreel’s Nature
During the period when the Prophet ﷺ was seeing Jibreel عليه السلام in human form but had not yet received the full weight of prophethood, Khadijah رضي الله عنها devised a remarkable test of her own insight. She asked the Prophet ﷺ to alert her the next time he saw this figure. When he did, she asked him to sit on her right — and asked whether he could still see the visitor. He said yes. She asked him to move to her left — still yes. She then took the Prophet ﷺ into her embrace, holding him close, and removed her khimar. She asked: “Do you see him now?” The Prophet ﷺ replied: “No.”
Khadijah رضي الله عنها said immediately: “Uthbut — fa’innahu malakun wa laysa bi shaytaan.” “Be firm. This is an angel, not a devil.” Her reasoning was precise: a devil would not depart out of modesty, but an angel possesses haya’ — shyness and decorum — and would withdraw upon perceiving intimacy. Jibreel عليه السلام would give his salam from outside. By her own deduction, guided by wisdom and natural goodness, she distinguished the angelic from the demonic and reassured the Prophet ﷺ in the midst of his uncertainty.
The Da’wah and the Boycott
From the moment the da’wah began, Khadijah رضي الله عنها gave everything she had. She sold her clothing and goods and spent the proceeds on the cause of the Prophet ﷺ. She prayed with him, performed tawaf with him, and stood in qiyam beside him through the nights.
The greatest test came with the Qurayshi boycott against Banu Hashim and Banu Muttalib. Khadijah رضي الله عنها was a member of neither tribe and was under no compulsion to enter the confined area where the boycotted clans were being starved into submission. She had the option of remaining in the comfort of her home. She refused it. She chose to enter the boycott voluntarily and to remain there with the Prophet ﷺ.
More than that: she used her connection to her nephew Hakim ibn Hizam رضي الله عنه to secretly smuggle food into the besieged quarter, where people were reduced to eating grass and leather. Whatever food Khadijah managed to bring in, she distributed to others. She herself ate grass. A woman who had spent her entire life in elegance and abundance, now frail, ageing, and bone-thin — and never, by any account, once complaining, once saying why is this happening to me, once laying any blame on the Prophet ﷺ whose mission had brought this upon her.
A narration recorded by Ibn Sunni relates that Jibreel عليه السلام once met Khadijah رضي الله عنها in the street during this period, appearing in the form of a man, and asked about her situation and the Prophet ﷺ. She responded with nothing but praise of the Prophet ﷺ and gratitude to Allah. This was who she was: even in her darkest hour, only goodness came from her.
The Salam of Allah and Her Final Days
During the last days of Khadijah’s life, as recorded in Sahih al-Bukhari from Abu Hurairah رضي الله عنه, Jibreel عليه السلام came to the Prophet ﷺ and said: “O Messenger of Allah, Khadijah is coming to you carrying a dish of food. When she arrives, convey to her the salam of her Lord.” He added: “Wa minni al-salam” — “And my salam also.” And he gave her glad tidings of a palace in Paradise built of qasab — pearls — in which there would be no noise (la sakhab) and no fatigue (la nasab).
Imam Suheili observed that the pearl palace was a fitting recompense for a woman who had given away all her pearls and jewellery for the sake of Allah — and that the absence of noise and fatigue was a recompense for one who had never once raised her voice at the Prophet ﷺ or wearied him, and who had endured years of harassment from the people of Makkah without complaint. Ibn Hajar noted that Jibreel’s coming with this message was itself a sign that Khadijah’s time was near.
When Khadijah رضي الله عنها walked in carrying the dish and the Prophet ﷺ delivered the message, she smiled and replied: “InnAllaha huwa al-salam” — “Allah is the source of all peace.” She sent her salam to Jibreel, and then added the Prophet ﷺ into her greeting: “Wa alayka anta ya Rasulallah al-salamu wa rahmatullah.” “And upon you, O Messenger of Allah, peace and the mercy of Allah.”
Life After the Prophet ﷺ
Khadijah رضي الله عنها did not live to see the Hijra, the battles, or the triumph of Islam. She died in Makkah in the year 620 CE — the tenth year of the prophethood — just three days after the death of Abu Talib, the Prophet’s ﷺ uncle and protector. This year became known in Islamic history as ‘Am al-Huzn, the Year of Grief. The Prophet ﷺ lost in the span of days both the man who had shielded him in public and the woman who had sustained him in private.
She was buried in Jannat al-Mu’alla in Makkah. The Prophet ﷺ led her funeral prayers himself.
Legacy
Khadijah رضي الله عنها did not narrate hadith in large numbers herself, but her impact on the transmission of the prophetic legacy was decisive in another way: she created the conditions under which the Prophet ﷺ could receive revelation and build his mission. Her son Hind ibn Abi Hala — from her first marriage — provided one of the most detailed and celebrated physical and moral descriptions of the Prophet ﷺ preserved in the books of Shama’il, narrating from Ibn Abbas, al-Hasan, al-Husayn, and others, and living until 36 AH. Her daughter Fatima رضي الله عنها carried forward the prophetic line. Her nephew Hakim ibn Hizam رضي الله عنه became one of the principal narrators of the Makkan seerah and of Khadijah’s own history.
The Prophet ﷺ never ceased to honour her memory after her death. He continued to spend on her friends, to remember her with love, and to speak of her virtues until the end of his life. When Aisha رضي الله عنها asked whether he still thought of Khadijah — an old woman who had died — the Prophet ﷺ defended her with a passion that made clear she held a place in his heart no one else could occupy.
Firsts & Distinctions
- First Muslim: The first person to accept Islam and bear witness to the prophethood of Muhammad ﷺ — without hesitation, without condition.
- First to perform wudu and prayer with the Prophet ﷺ: She stood beside him at the very beginning of Islamic worship.
- First to perform tawaf with the Prophet ﷺ.
- First to perform qiyam al-layl with the Prophet ﷺ.
- First person in this ummah to receive the salam of Allah, conveyed through Jibreel عليه السلام: “Convey to her the salam of her Lord.”
- First to receive the salam of Jibreel عليه السلام directly and personally.
- First to be given glad tidings of a specific palace in Paradise — a palace of pearls, with no noise and no fatigue.
- The woman in whose arms Surah al-Muddathir was revealed — the revelation that commissioned the Prophet ﷺ to begin his public call.
- Declared by the Prophet ﷺ among the greatest women in all of human history, alongside Maryam bint Imran.
- Declared by the Prophet ﷺ among those who achieved perfection (kamal) of faith and character.
- The only Qurayshi woman to bear the name Khadijah before her — the name itself was unique to her in the historical record.
- Known as al-Tahira (the Pure One) by her people even before the advent of Islam.
- Her caravan equalled in size the combined caravans of all Quraysh.
- The Prophet ﷺ remained monogamous throughout their twenty-five year marriage — his only such marriage.
Key Lessons
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Character is the highest criterion. Khadijah رضي الله عنها turned down proposals from the most powerful men in Makkah and chose a poor young shepherd on the basis of his akhlaq and sidq — his character and his truthfulness. She was living the prophetic principle before the Prophet ﷺ had articulated it.
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The right word at the right moment changes everything. When the Prophet ﷺ came home trembling and afraid he had lost his mind, Khadijah said “Kalla. Abshir.” Two words. The capacity to steady another person’s soul in their most frightened moment is among the greatest gifts a human being can offer.
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Sacrifice is proportionate to love. A woman who owned caravans worth the wealth of an entire city chose to eat grass in a besieged quarter she had no obligation to enter. The measure of Khadijah’s love was not what it cost her, but that the cost never entered into her calculations.
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Wealth is a trust, not an entitlement. Khadijah رضي الله عنها was perhaps the richest individual in Makkah, yet she identified herself with the poor, the orphaned, and the sick — and eventually gave everything she had for the message of Islam.
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True support means believing in someone before they believe in themselves. Khadijah reiterated her faith in the Prophet ﷺ at the precise moments when his own certainty wavered. She believed he was upon the truth before he had received confirmation of it. This is the highest form of tasdiq — to affirm without requiring proof.
Family
Khadijah رضي الله عنها came from a distinguished lineage within Banu Asad of Quraysh. Her father Khuwaylid ibn Asad was a tribal chief; her mother was Fatima bint Za’ida, after whom the Prophet’s ﷺ daughter Fatima رضي الله عنها was named. Her senior cousin Waraqah ibn Nawfal, a Christian scholar who had studied the earlier scriptures, conducted her marriage to the Prophet ﷺ and recognised the significance of the first revelation.
Her brothers included al-Awwam — father of Zubayr ibn al-Awwam رضي الله عنه, one of the Ten Promised Paradise, who was thus Khadijah’s nephew — and Hizam, father of Hakim ibn Hizam رضي الله عنه, another important early figure in the seerah. Her sister Hala bint Khuwaylid was the mother of al-As, who married the Prophet’s ﷺ daughter Zaynab. Another sister, also named Hala, was the one who first recommended the young Muhammad to Khadijah as someone honest and trustworthy.
From her first husband, Abu Hala ibn Zurara al-Tamimi, she had two sons: Hala and Hind. Hind ibn Abi Hala’s famous description of the Prophet ﷺ is preserved in the books of Shama’il. From her second husband, Atiyah <!–