Khadijah bint Khuwaylid

Khadijah was a noble and wealthy woman of Quraysh, known for her intelligence and integrity. She was a successful merchant who hired the young Muhammad to manage her trade caravan to Syria. Impressed by his honesty and the reports of his exceptional character, she proposed marriage through her friend Nafisah bint Munabbih. They married when he was twenty-five and she was forty. When the first revelation came in the Cave of Hira, and the Prophet returned home trembling, Khadijah's response was one of the most remarkable moments in the Seerah. She said: 'Never! By Allah, Allah will never disgrace you. You keep good relations with your kin, you bear the burden of the weak, you help the poor and the destitute, you serve your guests generously, and you assist those afflicted by calamity.' She then took him to her cousin Waraqah ibn Nawfal for confirmation. She spent her entire fortune supporting the Prophet and the early Muslims. During the three-year boycott in the valley of Abu Talib, she endured the severe hardship alongside the Prophet despite her age and previous comfort. Jibril came to the Prophet and said: 'O Messenger of Allah, Khadijah is coming to you with a vessel of food and drink. When she arrives, convey to her the salam from her Lord and from me, and give her the good tidings of a house in Paradise made of qasab (hollow pearls), in which there is neither noise nor fatigue.' The Prophet said: 'She believed in me when no one else did. She accepted Islam when people rejected me. She supported me with her wealth when people deprived me. And Allah granted me children through her.' She passed away in the 10th year of prophethood, and the Prophet never forgot her. Aisha said: 'I was never jealous of any of the Prophet's wives as I was of Khadijah, though I never saw her. The Prophet would frequently mention her and would send gifts to her friends.'