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The first wife of the Prophet and one of the first Muslims; she was the first person to support Islam with her wealth and her trust.
She was born in 556 at Mecca. Her father Khuwaylid b. Asad was among the notables of Quraysh; her mother was Fâtima bint Zâ'ida. Both lines join the Prophet's lineage through Qusayy and Lu'ayy b. Ghâlib. Before Islam she was called Tâhira (the pure) for her virtue.
Before the Prophet she had two marriages: first to Abû Hâla Hind b. Zurâra, then to 'Atîq b. 'Âbid al-Makhzûmî. After her second husband's death she formed trading partnerships with people she trusted; she made her proposal to the Prophet upon what she had heard of his integrity and character.
When they married she was forty and the Prophet about twenty-five. The dower was 500 dirhams (in one report 400), or according to some sources twenty camels. The marriage was contracted through the negotiation of her uncle 'Amr b. Asad with Abû Tâlib.
When the Prophet returned trembling from Hira after his encounter with Gabriel, it was Khadîja who reassured him: she said, "By God, God will never disgrace you", and enumerated his care for his kin, his truthfulness and his help to the needy. She then took him to her cousin Waraqa b. Nawfal, a Christian scholar, who confirmed that the one who had come was Gabriel and that he was a prophet. Khadîja thereupon said, "I testify that you are the Messenger of God."
She is one of the first three Muslims, together with the Prophet and 'Alî b. Abî Tâlib. During the roughly three years (617-620) in which Quraysh besieged the Muslims in the quarter of Abû Tâlib she endured the hardship alongside him and spent her wealth for the cause of Islam.
Her children were: Qâsim (who lived only two years; the Prophet took the kunya Abû'l-Qâsim from him), Zaynab, Ruqayya, Umm Kulthûm and Fâtima; also Tayyib and Tâhir, who died before the prophetic mission — some sources count these two as the same child.
She died on 10 Ramadan (19 April 620), about three years before the emigration. About a month after her death the Prophet's uncle Abû Tâlib also died; that year came to be called the year of sorrow (senetü'l-hüzn).
Her Circle of Influence — The Prophet took no other wife during her lifetime, and after her death he never forgot her. The source relates that Gabriel brought her greetings from God and from himself and gave her the good tidings of a palace of pearl in Paradise. The Prophet's words about her are summed up thus: she believed when people disbelieved; she confirmed him when people denied him; she supported him with her wealth when no one gave; and God granted him children through her. It is related that when her sister Hâla asked leave to enter, the Prophet was moved because her voice resembled Khadîja's.
Her Tomb and Complex — She was buried in the Hajûn cemetery (later known as Jannat al-Mu'allâ). The shrine erected over her grave by Süleyman the Magnificent was demolished in 1926, when Mecca came under Saudi administration.
Differing Scholarly Views
Her age at marriage is disputed. Some sources say twenty-eight, others thirty-seven; the source finds about forty more reliable, given that she had seven children before Islam.
There is a weak report in the account of the marriage. Some accounts say that her father was made drunk before the contract; the source records this as a report the scholars do not find reliable. The atlas does not erase the report but writes of its weakness.
🔴 An account the source sets aside. The account of her addressing the idols after the death of her children has no documentary basis, and the source assesses it as an account reflecting Western influence. The atlas conveys this assessment as it stands.
The number and identity of the children of her two previous marriages are given in variant reports.
Tayyib and Tâhir. Some sources take these two names to belong to the same child.
Sources
- TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi (DİA) — M. Yaşar Kandemir · vol. 16, pp. 465-466, entry “HATİCE”
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