Marriage to Khadijah bint Khuwaylid

# The Marriage of the Prophet ﷺ to Khadijah

The Most Important Marriage in Islamic History

The marriage between Muhammad ibn Abdullah ﷺ and Khadijah bint Khuwaylid stands as the most significant marriage in Islamic history — not merely because of the stature of the two people involved, but because of what it made possible. For twenty-five years, Khadijah was the Prophet's wife, companion, and the first believer in his message. Her support during the most vulnerable years of the prophetic mission was, by the Prophet's ﷺ own testimony, among the most important gifts he ever received from Allah.

The Proposal

Khadijah bint Khuwaylid was approximately forty years old at the time of the marriage — a successful businesswoman, twice widowed, of the Banu Asad clan of Quraysh. She had observed the Prophet ﷺ indirectly through his conduct of her trading caravan to Syria and directly through the report of her servant Maysarah. Maysarah had described not only his commercial competence but also signs she took as extraordinary — a monk's statement, a cloud of angels — and his general character throughout a long and demanding journey.

Khadijah initiated the proposal through her close friend Nafisah bint Munabbih, who approached the Prophet ﷺ and asked whether he had considered marriage. When the Prophet ﷺ said he lacked the means, Nafisah indicated that if someone wealthy and of good character proposed to him, would he accept? The Prophet ﷺ asked who this person was. Nafisah told him: Khadijah. He asked to consult with his family.

After consulting with his uncles — the accounts differ on which uncle was most directly involved, with both Abu Talib and Hamzah mentioned in various sources — the proposal was accepted. Abu Talib is reported to have given the traditional marriage speech (khutbat al-nikah) on the Prophet's behalf, eloquently affirming his nephew's lineage, character, and fitness for this union.

The Marriage

The mahr (marriage gift) provided by the Prophet ﷺ was twelve ounces of gold in some accounts, or twenty young camels in others — provided with assistance from his uncle Abu Talib, since the Prophet ﷺ himself had limited personal wealth. Khadijah's family, represented by her father Khuwaylid ibn Asad (or her uncle Amr ibn Asad in some accounts), gave her in marriage. The wedding was attended by the leaders of Quraysh.

The Prophet ﷺ was approximately twenty-five years old. Khadijah was approximately forty — though some accounts give her age as twenty-eight, others as forty-four or forty-five. The majority scholarly view, based on the ages of their children and the duration of the marriage, places her at approximately forty at the time of the marriage.

The Marriage Itself: Twenty-Five Years

The Prophet ﷺ and Khadijah lived together for twenty-five years — until her death in the tenth year of prophethood. During the entire period of this marriage, the Prophet ﷺ took no other wife. This was not a legal requirement — polygamy was practiced freely in pre-Islamic Arabia and was later permitted in Islam — but a reflection of the unique bond between them and the completeness of his devotion to her.

Their children together were: two sons who died in infancy, al-Qasim and Abdullah (the latter called al-Tahir and al-Tayyib), and four daughters: Zaynab, Ruqayyah, Umm Kulthum, and Fatimah. Of these, all the daughters grew to adulthood, and Fatimah became the most beloved and the one who carried the prophetic lineage forward.

The First Believer

When the Prophet ﷺ received the first revelation in Cave Hira and returned home trembling and terrified, it was Khadijah who wrapped him in a cloak, calmed him, and immediately declared her belief. Her response to his account — "By Allah, Allah will never humiliate you. You maintain family ties, you speak the truth, you bear others' burdens, you help the destitute, you are generous to guests, and you help in every righteous cause" — was simultaneously a declaration of faith and a comprehensive testimony of his character.

She then took him to her cousin Waraqah ibn Nawfal, an elderly Christian scholar who had extensive knowledge of the previous scriptures. Waraqah confirmed that what the Prophet ﷺ had experienced in the cave was the same revelation that had come to Moses. He predicted that the Prophet would be driven out of his city by his people. He said: "If I live to see that day, I will support you with all my strength."

Khadijah's immediate and unconditional faith — before any other human being, male or female — was foundational to the early mission. The Prophet ﷺ would say in later years: "She believed in me when people called me a liar. She supported me with her wealth when people withheld from me. Allah provided me children through her when none others gave me children." (Ahmad)

The Prophet's Love and Grief

The Prophet ﷺ continued to speak of Khadijah throughout the rest of his life with deep love and gratitude. His later wife Aisha reported: "I was never jealous of any of the Prophet's wives as I was jealous of Khadijah — though I had never seen her — because of how often the Prophet mentioned her." When a woman claiming to be Khadijah's old friend came to the Prophet's ﷺ house, he received her with extraordinary warmth and gifts, explaining that loyalty to Khadijah's friends was loyalty to Khadijah herself.

When Khadijah died in the tenth year of prophethood — during the Year of Sorrow — the Prophet ﷺ grieved deeply. Jibril brought him greetings from Allah for her and the tidings of a house for her in Paradise made of pearl, with no noise and no fatigue. The Prophet ﷺ conveyed these tidings to her before she died. She was buried in the cemetery of al-Hajun above Mecca, and the Prophet ﷺ is reported to have personally descended into her grave to place her there.

Sources: Ibn Hisham, al-Sira al-Nabawiyya; Ibn Sa'd, al-Tabaqat al-Kubra; al-Bukhari, Sahih al-Bukhari (Kitab Manaqib al-Ansar); Muslim, Sahih Muslim (Kitab Fadail al-Sahabah); Ahmad ibn Hanbal, Musnad Ahmad; Ibn Kathir, al-Bidayah wan-Nihayah