Jeff Gushman

HIST 134

Module 13 Paper

Dr. Alec Thomson

The Life of Khadija

Khadija was the first wife of the prophet of Islam, Muhammad. However, we could start

the story there and say plenty about her. But that is not where the story began. Khadija had lived

an entire life, and a pretty successful one, prior to her meeting Muhammad. Today we remember

Khadija as someone who was a true feminist of her time, the wife of Muhammad, and the mother

of Islam.

Khadija came from a fairly successful family. Her grandfather was a prominent member

of his tribe. Her father was a successful merchant. This is a trade that Khadija would learn and

master as well. Khadija was married two times in her young life prior to her marriage to

Muhammad. She was widowed both times, and was left with children from both marriages.

Burdened with having to support three children and no husband to help her, she took to her

fathers trade of being a merchant. Khadija became very successful in this field. One of her

nicknames was Khadija the Great, demonstrating how revered she was in this profession. She

personally did not travel in caravans, she employed others to do this.

It is important to realize what a true feminist of her time Khadija was before even

meeting Muhammad. Being a woman in the male dominated field of being a merchant is quite

significant. The job was considered a dangerous one. She not only was in this industry, she
dominated it. Her trade routes were larger than all other trade routes in her tribe combined. It is

clear that Khadija shattered the proverbial glass ceilings of her time.

During this period of working as a businesswoman, one of the men she hired was named

Muhammad. The year was 595, and Khadija needed someone who was experienced in a certain

area of the trade. Muhammads uncle was also well respected in the business. Ultimately,

Muhammad would do very well for Khadija, and his reputation as a gentleman and shrewd

businessman got back to Khadija. There was also talk of him being chosen by God, and

ultimately Khadija had a prophetic dream about him. She sent for him to ask him for his hand in

marriage. This was also very unusual for the time period.

Khadija and Muhammad would be married for 25 years and bear six children. Ultimately

Khadija would be the true love of Muhammads life. She was the only wife that he was

monogamous with (it was common practice for a man to have many wives in these times). His

later wives would talk of jealousy of Khadija posthumously. They claimed that they could not

compete with Muhammads love for her, even after her death.

Khadija would become the first convert to Islam. History tells us that as soon as

Muhammad reported to her what had happened with the angel Gabriel, she converted to Islam. A

parallel can be drawn to her swift and easy conversion to the faith, and how easy it still is today

to convert to Islam. Indeed there was no Quran to follow at this time period, as it had not yet

been revealed to her husband Muhammad, but she did promise to follow his words as the

prophet.
 As the first convert to Islam, and the Mother of Believers, Khadija worked hard to

advance the faith. She was very supportive of her husbands prophecy. She was also a wealthy

woman from her merchant work, and she used that wealth to further advance the Muslim cause.

In some instances, she used the money to get Muslims that were held captive out of captivity by

paying a ransom.

Khadija would hold her place of prominence until the tenth year of Muhammads

prophecy, or about 620 AD. In the years following her death, Muhammad would face greater

opposition from nonbelievers. It seems Khadija was a security blanket of sorts for him. Indeed

she is still revered and well respected as a powerful woman, the wife of a prophet, and the

mother of a religion.
 Works Cited

Blackburn, Yasmina. 7 Remarkable Things about Khadija, the Wife of the Prophet of

Islam. Huffington Post. Web. 21 Apr 2015. Accessed 23 Apr 2017.

Huffington Post is a well respected online publication. Yasmina Blackburn is a prominent

Muslim journalist.

Khadija. Encyclopedia Britannica. Web. 15 Jun 2015. Accessed 23 Apr 2017.

The Encyclopedia Britannica is a long established encyclopedic resource for academia.

Al-Jibouri, Yasin T. Khadija, Daughter of Khuwaylid, Wife of Prophet Muhammad. Al-

Islam.org. Web. Accessed 23 Apr 2017.

Al-Islam.org contains articles written by and about the Muslim faith that are well thought

out and researched.

Lady Khadija, the First Believer and Helper of Islam. IslamicOccasions.com. Web. 17

Nov 2016. Accessed Apr 23 2017.

IslamicOccasions.org is another scholarly resource for Muslim authors and texts.