A wealthy caravan merchant from Mecca, Khadija bint Khuwaylid was the first wife of the prophet Muhammad and the very first person to embrace Islam. Her fortune and moral support were decisive in the early days of his preaching.
Khadija(557 — 619)
Khadija bint Khuwaylid
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Frequently asked questions
Key Facts
- Born around 555 in Mecca, into the Banu Asad clan of the Quraysh tribe
- A wealthy widow running a caravan trade, she hired Muhammad to manage her business affairs around 595
- She married Muhammad around 595, giving him both material and emotional stability
- Around 610, after the first Revelation, she was the first person to acknowledge Muhammad's mission and convert to Islam
- Died in 619, the “year of sorrow” (ʿām al-ḥuzn), shortly before the Hijra
Works & Achievements
Khadija built one of the most prosperous trading enterprises in Mecca, employing men to lead her caravans.
According to tradition, she was the very first person to believe in Muhammad's message and to comfort him.
Her fortune allowed the first Muslims to survive in the face of the Quraysh's hostility and throughout the boycott.
Through her daughter Fatima, Khadija is the origin of the Ahl al-Bayt lineage, venerated by Muslims.
She gave this slave to Muhammad, who freed him and treated him like a son — a defining gesture of Islam's early days.
She spent her last possessions to help the Banu Hashim, besieged in the ravine of Abu Talib.
Anecdotes
A prosperous businesswoman of Mecca, Khadija employed men to lead her caravans. Impressed by Muhammad's honesty when he returned from a trading journey to Syria, it was she who had marriage proposed to him through her friend Nafisa. She was about forty years old, he twenty-five.
When Muhammad came down trembling from the cave of Hira after his first vision, he asked to be wrapped in a cloak. Khadija reassured him with these famous words: “Never will God bring you to disgrace, for you honor the ties of kinship and you help the destitute.” She was thus his very first supporter.
Islamic tradition regards Khadija as the very first person to embrace Islam: no man, no woman, no child is said to have believed before her. For this she is called Khadija al-Kubra, “Khadija the Great.”
Anxious, Khadija took her husband to her own cousin Waraqa ibn Nawfal, an aged scholar who had become a Christian and who read the Scriptures. In Muhammad's account Waraqa recognized the coming of a great messenger and the warning of trials to come.
The year 619 has remained in Muslim memory as “the year of sorrow” (ʿām al-ḥuzn): it was then that Khadija died, shortly after Abu Talib, the Prophet's protective uncle. Just before, during the boycott imposed on the Banu Hashim clan, she had spent her entire fortune to support her people despite the hunger.
Primary Sources
“No, by God! God will never disgrace you. You keep the ties of kinship, you bear the burden of the weak, you give to the poor, you honor the guest, and you help those struck by misfortune.”
“O Messenger of God, here comes Khadija... convey to her the greeting of her Lord and give her the good news of a dwelling in Paradise made of pearls, where there will be neither noise nor weariness.”
“Khadija believed in him and bore witness to the truth of what came to him from God; thus God lightened for His Prophet the weight of his trial.”
“She believed in me when people denied me, she supported me with her wealth when people deprived me.”
Key Places
Merchant city of Arabia where Khadija was born, lived, ran her trade and died, near the sanctuary of the Kaaba.
Cavity in the mountain near Mecca where Muhammad received the first revelation, which Khadija welcomed with faith.
Valley in Mecca where the Banu Hashim were confined during the boycott; there Khadija shared in the hardships.
Great market of Syria, the terminus of Khadija's trade caravans, where Muhammad traveled on her behalf.
Burial place of Khadija in 619, venerated by believers as a memorial.
Typical Objects
Long convoys of camels loaded with goods that Khadija sent to Syria and Yemen, the foundation of her fortune.
Symbols of her wealth as a merchant, which later enabled her to finance the early days of Islam.
The cloth with which she covered Muhammad when he returned trembling from the cave of Hira, a gesture of comfort that has remained famous.
Instruments of Meccan trade, used to weigh the gold, fabrics, and goods being exchanged.
Goods typical of Mecca's caravan trade, which she bought and resold at a profit.
Ornaments of a wealthy woman of Quraysh, a sign of her social rank among the city's notables.
School Curriculum
Vocabulary & Tags
Key Vocabulary
Tags
Daily Life
Morning
At daybreak, Khadija saw to her business affairs: she received her trading agents, organized the loading of caravans, and made sure her commerce ran smoothly—a rare thing for a woman of her time.
Afternoon
The afternoon was spent in her home near the Kaaba, managing the household, receiving relatives, and overseeing accounts and goods with the help of servants.
Evening
The evening brought the family together around the meal; hospitality was a sacred duty, and travelers and relatives were gladly welcomed to share food and stories.
Food
People ate dates, barley bread, camel's and goat's milk, sometimes mutton and honey. Water came from the city's wells, including that of Zamzam.
Clothing
Khadija wore long, loose robes that covered the body and a veil over her head; as a wealthy woman, she had fine fabrics as well as jewelry that marked her rank.
Housing
She lived in a house of stone and mud brick in Mecca, arranged around an inner courtyard, sheltered from the desert heat and close to the sanctuary.
Historical Timeline
Period Vocabulary
Liens externes & ressources
Références
Œuvres
Une entreprise caravanière florissante
avant 595
Première profession de foi en l'islam
610
Le soutien financier de la prédication
610-619
Mère de Fatima et de la descendance du Prophète
vers 605-609
Le don de Zayd ibn Haritha
vers 595
Le soutien du clan durant le boycott
616-619
