Khadijah & Muhammad’s Life: Love Into Action

Time passed, and the young man of twenty-five whom Khadijah married became a father of four daughters, adopted father to Zaid ibn Haarith– and increasingly sorrowful.

Khadijah and Muhammad (Peace be upon him) were both witness to the raging violence of their society. Horrified, they held their daughters tightly as they saw others around them bury infant girls alive; with aching hearts, they watched women being abused, wars declared over petty tribalism, racism and classism used as excuses to enslave and torture those unable to defend themselves.

Though they did whatever they could to fight against the overwhelming oppression around them, they both felt a devastating weight on their consciences.

Entrusting in Khadijah’s efficient management of her business, Muhammad began to withdraw from society and seek solitude. Outside of the city’s vicious constraints, he ascended to the mountain that would later be known as Jabal Noor (the Mountain of Light), and began to seclude himself in the cave of Hiraa’.

Tears running down his cheeks silently, Muhammad (Peace be upon him) turned to his Lord in anguish, seeking a salve to his broken heart.

Khadijah understood exactly what her husband was going through. She herself had spent time with scholarly relatives like Waraqah ibn Nawfal, questioning the bizarre ritual worship of idols, unsatisfied with polytheism and feeling her heart yearning towards Allah alone.

She too was sickened by the crimes committed on a daily basis by her own people; she too felt that there was something deeply wrong with the society in which she lived.

Wordlessly, Khadijah packed food, drink, and clothing and pressed them into her husband’s hands. She knew how desperately he needed the solitude of Hiraa’; indeed, there were times when she entrusted her children with the other adults in her household, and accompanied him.

Together, in a silence that held more love than any words ever could, Muhammad and Khadijah would worship their Lord, surrendering themselves to His Divine Wisdom.

Nonetheless, as a mother and a businesswoman, Khadijah  was aware of her other responsibilities and returned home. Ensuring that her husband was comfortable, she turned her attention to raising her daughters.

Zaynab, Ruqayyah, Umm Kulthum, and Fatimah were girls who embodied the best of their parents’ qualities: intelligence, compassion, excellence of character, and a purity of faith. Khadijah was determined to nurture her daughters into women of integrity, able to make their own decisions without being pressured or swayed by popular opinion.

Khadijah was a woman who was so much more than ‘just’ a wife or a mother. To her, there was no contradiction in running her company and ensuring its success, and in being a supportive wife and involved mother. Instead, the same principles, determination, and values that had made her such a prominent businesswoman were the same ones that guided her through marriage and motherhood.

Caring for her husband did not make her somehow weak or diminutive; financially supporting him did not make him inferior in her eyes, but was a choice she made freely and out of fierce love for the man whom she recognized as unlike any other she had ever met.

Loving Muhammad (Peace be upon him) was the greatest thing that had ever happened to Khadijah– and he felt the same way about her. They supported each other in what was important to them, and they actively encouraged each other to seek out and do what was right. Together, they were the best version of themselves, not just towards each other but to all those around them.

In a partnership of minds and hearts, Khadijah and Muhammad  embodied what it meant to transform love into action… and for those actions to have the power to change the world.

Life After the Revelation

The first few days and months after the initial Revelation were full of wonder and awe for Prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon him) and Khadijah. Eyes sparkling, hearts filled with faith, Khadijah and Muhammad (Peace be upon him) woke up every morning with renewed purpose, a sense of clarity and inner peace.

However, they also knew that they could not keep this incredible message of beauty and spiritual revolution to themselves. “Yaa ayyuhal mudaththir! Qum fa anthir!” The Words of Allah were a clear command: “O you who covers himself, arise and warn!” (Qur’an 74:1-2)

Prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon him) and Khadijah knew that they had a great task ahead of them. Nonetheless, they also knew that they needed to be careful – though simple, the message of Islam was also one that would be extremely difficult for their society to accept.

Belief in Allah alone, worshiping Him alone and without partners, was what every soul inclined towards, but the people of Makkah – and indeed, all of Arabia, and the world at large – had been so spiritually corrupted that they would react with anger and violence in response.

The logical thing to do, then, would be to first approach those whom they knew would most recognize the truth of the message. Even in the spiritual wasteland that was Makkah, there were individuals who stood apart as those who found themselves averse to idol-worship. Of those people were, of course, their own family –their children.

Prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon him) and Khadijah gathered their daughters and spoke to them quietly of what had occurred – would they believe their father and worship their Lord with true sincerity and faith?

Without hesitation, Zaynab, Ruqayyah, Umm Kulthum, and even young Fatimah declared their belief in Allah as their only God, and Muhammad as His Messenger. Having grown up witnessing the excellence of their father’s character, and knowing within themselves that the idol worship around them was something they could never accept, they immediately accepted Islam.

Ali ibn Abi Talib and Zaid ibn al-Haarith, also members of Prophet Muhammad’s household, were also of the first people to say the shahaadah (Testimony of Faith). They too had grown up watching him and Khadijah, whether it was when they would seek solitude for worship in the cave of Hiraa, or when they spent their daily lives trying to improve the world around them.The message that Muhammad (Peace be upon him) came with was clear, simple, and rang true: how could they deny it?

Thus began the time of the ‘secret’ da’wah – when Prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon him) and Khadijah, began to speak to those closest to them about the radically beautiful message of Tawheed (oneness of God).

In small, quiet gatherings in their homes, the first group of believers submitted themselves to their Lord, seeking His pleasure and living in obedience to Him. Abu Bakr, Lubabah bint al-Haarith, Bilal ibn Rabah, Sumayyah bint Khabbaab – these were just some of the earliest believers, those whose hearts were already inclined towards the truth, who found inward serenity and strength in their belief in Allah alone.

Meanwhile, , the great angel Jibreel) himself came to Muhammad (Peace be upon him) to teach him: to reveal the Divine Guidance, to provide spiritual comfort, to purify himself physically and to rise, bow, and prostrate in the most perfect form of worship ever to be taught to humankind… and the first person to hear the words of Allah being recited in the voice of His Messenger, with his strength and faith, with his beauty and conviction, was Khadijah