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Hikmah Noor
Figure 3 of 12MakkahKhadija✆

Khadija — Mother of the Believers

First believer, employer turned wife, financier of early Islam — who wrapped the trembling Prophet ﷺ after Hira and was greeted by Allah with a house of pearls.

Also searched as: khadija story • hazrat khadija first muslim • ummul momineen khadija • year of sorrow

خَيْرُ نِسَائِهَاKHADIJANOBLE FIGURE

Emblematic words

خَيْرُ نِسَائِهَا

Transliteration

Khayru nisa’iha.

Story

The full story

Khadija — Makkah’s noble merchant widow — hired Muhammad ﷺ for her Syrian trade on his reputation for truth, then proposed through intermediaries, marrying him at twenty-five to her forty. Every child except Ibrahim came from her.

When he returned from Hira trembling “cover me,” she wrapped him, listened, and believed instantly — the first believer. She took him to Waraqah, who confirmed the Namus of Moses. Her faith steadied revelation’s first hours.

Through boycott, hunger and grief she spent her fortune until nothing remained, dying in the Year of Sorrow — the Prophet named the year for her and Abu Talib, and never ceased remembering her: she believed when people disbelieved, affirmed when they denied, spent when they withheld.

Allah greeted her through Jibril with glad tidings of a palace of pearls, no noise nor fatigue within (Bukhari/Muslim) — and she is counted among the four best women of Paradise.

Narrated from the Quran, seerah and hadith collections without invented details.

Timeline

The life in order

  1. 1The proposal: reputation hired, character married.
  2. 2The wrapping: first believer steadies revelation’s dawn.
  3. 3The spending: fortune emptied through boycott years.
  4. 4The greeting: a pearl palace from Allah via Jibril.
  5. 5The Sorrow: the year named for her loss.

Reflect

Lessons

  • ✦Believe first, spend wholly: Khadija’s two verbs.
  • ✦Wrap the trembling: steadiness is a form of revelation-service.
  • ✦Remember the dead devotedly: he never stopped mentioning her.

References: Sahih al-Bukhari and Sahih Muslim (Khadija’s virtues, the pearl palace); Ibn Hisham’s Seerah

For the companions around them, see the 24 Sahaba →

FAQ

Frequently asked questions

Who was Khadija?

First believer, employer turned wife, financier of early Islam — who wrapped the trembling Prophet ﷺ after Hira and was greeted by Allah with a house of pearls.

What are the lessons from Khadija’s life?

1. Believe first, spend wholly: Khadija’s two verbs. 2. Wrap the trembling: steadiness is a form of revelation-service. 3. Remember the dead devotedly: he never stopped mentioning her.

Where is this story sourced from?

References: Sahih al-Bukhari and Sahih Muslim (Khadija’s virtues, the pearl palace); Ibn Hisham’s Seerah. Consult scholars for deeper rulings.

Women

More figures

All 12 figures
صَبْرًا آلَ يَاسِرٍSUMAYYAHNOBLE FIGURE4. Sumayyah — The First MartyrAn elderly Abyssinian woman, among the first seven Muslims — tortured to death for refusing to recant, the first martyr of Islam, promised Paradise mid-torture.طهFATIMA KNOBLE FIGURE5. Fatima bint al-Khattab — The Reciter Who Converted UmarUmar’s sister, early believer with husband Sa’id — whose recitation of Ta-Ha, heard through a door, broke the fiercest opponent into Islam’s strength.أُمِّي بَعْدَ أُمِّيUMM AYMANNOBLE FIGURE6. Umm Ayman — The Second MotherAbyssinian nurse of the Prophet ﷺ from his birth — who led him home orphaned, migrated twice, watered warriors at Uhud, and was called “my mother after my mother.”وَاصْطَفَاكِ عَلَى نِسَاءِ الْعَالَمِينَMARYAMNOBLE FIGURE1. Maryam — Chosen Above All WomenGuarded her chastity, withdrew in devotion, endured labour alone — then vindicated by her infant’s speech. The only woman named in the Quran, with a surah bearing her name.