Biography: Life of Khadija

Alexis Happy
History 134
24 April 2016

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Khadija was the first wife of the prophet of Islam, Muhammad. An alternative name for
Khadija was Khadjah bint al-Khuwaylid. Muhammad and Khadija met while Khadija was a
businesswoman and the widow of a successful merchant. After hiring Muhammad to work for
her, Khadija soon felt that Muhammad would make a good husband, so she asked him to marry
her. Khadija was about fifteen years older than Muhammad, and it was believed that
Muhammad was 25 and Khadija was 40 when they had married. Muhammad and Khadija had
six children together, so it may be believed that Khadija and Muhammad were much younger
than earlier thought. Khadija was a very loyal wife to Muhammad, and Muhammad was a very
loyal husband to Khadija. Surprisingly for the time period that most men had multiple wives,
Muhammads only wife was Khadija. [1]
Born in 565 AD, Khadija was the daughter of Khuwaylid, her father, and Fatima, her
mother. Khadija and her family had belonged to the Banu Hashim clan, specifically the Banu
Asad tribe. Since Khadija was the daughter of Khuwaylid, as successful businessman, she ended
up taking up an interest in business, which she learned from her father Khuwaylid. Khuwaylid
teaching Khadija how to become a successful businesswoman led to great wealth in her later
years. Khadija was so wealthy that when she was married to Muhammad, they lived in a three
story house, the same house that her mother, Fatima, was born in. By 585 AD, Khadaija was left
alone from the death of her two parents, Khuwaylid and Fatima. [2]
Widowed three times, Khadija started to second guess herself. Khadija did not like the
thought of being widowed that many times. Hind ibn Zarah was Khadijas first husband. Ateeq
ibn Aaith was Khadijas second husband. Both Hind ibn Zarah and Banu Ateeq ibn Aaith
belonged to Banu Makhzoom, but Hind ibn Zarah also belonged to the Banu Adiyy. From
Khadijas first husband, Hind ibn Zarah, Khadija gave birth to one son, whom Khadija and Hind

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ibn Zarah named after Hind ibn Zarah. Hind was both Khadijas and Hind ibn Zarahs first
child. Khadijas and Hind ibn Zarahs son Hind became what was known as a sahabis, which
was defined as a companion of the Holy Prophet. Hind ibn Zarahs and Khadijas son Hind
fought on the side of Imam Ali ibn Abu Talib during the Battle of Camel. Hind ended up dying
in what historians believe was Basra. Described as a man that was outspoken, generous,
cautious, and righteous, Hind was a son that both Hind ibn Zarah and Khadija were proud of.
Although Hind was Khadijas first son, Hind has the most known information about him.
Khadijahs two other sons, at-Tahir and Halah, are not very well known to historians. There is
some controversy pertaining to Khadijas daughters. Some sources claim that Khadijas three
daughters, Zainab, Ruqayya, and Ummo Kulthoom, were also the daughters of Khadijas second
husband, Aeeq ibn Aaith, while other sources claim that these were the daughters of the
prophet, Muhammad. [3]
Khadija came from a place that it was common to worship greater beings and idols, but
she, herself, did not believe in anything, which was a very uncommon practice. Many of
Khadijas relatives adopted the Christian faith. As a businesswoman, Khadija decided to employ
her distant cousin, Muhammad. When Khadija hired Muhammad, Muhammad held the titles of
as-Sadiq and al-Amin, which are translated to the truthful and the trustworthy. Back in this time
period, it was very common for people, such as Muhammad, to have little to no business
experience when hired by a professional in business, such as Khadija. Trade was a very common
practice, so Muhammad was hired by his distant cousin Khadija as a trade agent. Muhammad
was 25 years old at this time. Khadija trusted Muhammad so much that she paid him twice as
much as any of her other agents. By Khadija hiring Muhammad to work for her, this allowed
them to grow closer, eventually leading them to marriage. [4] A surprising fact about Khadija and

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Muhammad was that Khadija was the one that asked Muhammad to get married, instead of the
other way around. Marriage during this time period was seen as a necessity. Even though
marriage was seen as a necessity, both Khadija and Muhammad did not need a significant other
to survive. Instead of getting married as a necessity, they actually fell in love, and got married.
Khadija was also known for turning down marriage proposals from other men. Since Khadija
was a very successful businesswoman, this attracted many men. Not only was Khadija rich, but
she also held traits that would have made her the perfect wife for any man. Once Muhammad
and Khadija had gotten married, Khadija became the first Muslim by accepting Muhammad as
the prophet of God. She was willing to give up not being religious to put herself in danger to
support her husband, Muhammad. Khadija was known to be the very first Muslim, the mother of
Islam. [5]
Khadija was known to be a very successful woman for her time, which was very
surprising for the time period that it was taken place in. Not only were most women seen as
inferior, but Khadija was one of the only people that had a husband, Muhammad, that only had
one wife. Khadija and Muhammad had a monogamous marriage. The marriage between
Muhammad and Khadija was seen to be one of the most sacred marriages in all of history. [6]
Even though that Khadija was Muhammads first wife, it was one of the most important things to
Muhammad, which led to the monogamous relationship that they had together. It was a very
uncommon practice to not have more than one wife, but to Muhammad, Khadija was the only
woman for him. Not only was Khadija a great wife, but she was also self-sufficient, due to her
businesswoman traits. Khadija was a great woman for her time, which led to the marriage of
Khadija to her prophet husband, Muhammad. It is no wonder that they got married over love
instead of as a survival tactic.

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Notes
1. "Khadijah: Wife of Muhammad." Encyclopaedia Britannica: School and Library
Subscribers. Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc, 15 June 2015. Web. 24 Apr. 2016.
Basic information about Khadija and Muhammad which included vaguely their history,
their marriage, and how many children they had.
2. "Khadijah, Daughter of Khuwaylid, Wife of Prophet Muhammad." Al-Islam.org. N.p.,
n.d. Web. 24 Apr. 2016.
Family life of Khadija when she was young, touching on her future life. The death of her
parents later left her as an orphan.
3. "Khadijah, Daughter of Khuwaylid, Wife of Prophet Muhammad." Al-Islam.org. N.p.,
n.d. Web. 24 Apr. 2016.
Being widowed three times for Khadijah was not easy. It was explained who Khadijahs
husbands and children were.
4. "Khadijah, Daughter of Khuwaylid, Wife of Prophet Muhammad." Al-Islam.org. N.p.,
n.d. Web. 24 Apr. 2016.
Khadijah was never the religious type, until she hired her distant cousin, Muhammad, to
work for her. By marrying him, this led to her eventually becoming religious.
5. Blackburn, Yasmina. "7 Remarkable Things About Khadija, Wife of the Prophet of
Islam." HuffPost Religion. TheHuffingtonPost.com, Inc., 21 Apr. 2015. Web. 24
Apr. 2016.
After turning down many marriage proposals, Khadija was the one that asked her
husband, Muhammad, to marry her instead of the other way around. She also became
known as the first Muslim.
6. "Stories of the Sahaba: Khadija (RA)." The Islamic Bulletin. The Islamic Bulletin, n.d.

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Web. 24 Apr. 2016.
Khadija was a very successful woman for her time, which led to being happily married to
her husband, Muhammad. It was very strange in this time period to get married for love,
and not as a necessity.

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Bibliography
Blackburn, Yasmina. "7 Remarkable Things About Khadija, Wife of the Prophet of Islam."
HuffPost Religion. TheHuffingtonPost.com, Inc., 21 Apr. 2015. Web. 24 Apr. 2016.
<http://www.huffingtonpost.com/yasmina-blackburn/7-remarkable-thingsabout_b_7097606.html>
HuffPost Religion provided information pertaining to Khadija and Muhammad. This
source provided information which stated that Khadija was the very first Muslim, in
addition to facts about her marriage with Muhammad. HuffPost Religion focused in on
the Islamic side of Khadija, and how she came to be that way.
"Khadijah, Daughter of Khuwaylid, Wife of Prophet Muhammad." Al-Islam.org. N.p., n.d. Web.
24 Apr. 2016.
<http://www.al-islam.org/articles/khadijah-daughter-khuwaylid-wife-prophetmuhammad-yasin-t-al-jibouri>
Khadijah came from a wealthy family, which led to her success in being a successful
businesswoman. Khadijah was also widowed three times and had multiple children with
her husbands. Al-Islam.org allowed the gathering of accurate information pertaining to
Khadijahs personal life.
"Khadijah: Wife of Muhammad." Encyclopaedia Britannica: School and Library Subscribers.
Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc, 15 June 2015. Web. 24 Apr. 2016.
<http://www.britannica.com/biography/Khadijah>
Encyclopaedia Britannica provided many pieces of basic information pertaining to
Khadijah and her life. This source provided a quick summary, which other sources were

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able to expand upon. Encyclopaedia Britannica provided basic information from
Khadijahs birth, to her death.
"Stories of the Sahaba: Khadija (RA)." The Islamic Bulletin. The Islamic Bulletin, n.d. Web. 24
Apr. 2016.
<http://www.islamicbulletin.org/newsletters/issue_25/sahabah.aspx>
This source from the Islamic Bulletin provided information for the history of Khadijas
marriage to Muhammad. Since Khadija and Muhammad got married for love instead of
as a necessity, it was considered a very sacred marriage. Since this was considered to be
one of the most sacred marriages, there is a summary provided.