Mourning a distinguished Lady of the Islamic world

In the tenth year of Be’that, three years prior to Hijrah (the migration), in the month of Ramadan, mother of the Faithful, Khadija (s.a.), a faithful and sacrificing lady, passed away after living sixty five years of her blessed life. As per Sheikh Mufeed (r.a.), this painful incident took place on the tenth of Ramadan.[1] The holy Prophet (p.b.u.h.) buried her with his own hands in the holy city of Mecca. His holiness (p.b.u.h.) was so deeply aggrieved by her death that he named that year ‘The Year of Sorrow’.

Khadija’s family, the purest of all families

Khadija (s.a.) belonged to the purest and most dignified of all families in the Arabian Peninsula both from the side of her father and mother, as well as her paternal and maternal grandparents.

Her distinguished qualities

It was the will of Allah (s.w.t.) that this unique lady from the house of prophethood and the mother of eleven shining stars of Imamate and Guardianship, possessed extraordinary and genius intellect, etiquettes, wisdom, insight and cognizance.

She was a great example of excellence, genius, understanding and insight, such that the likes of her can be rarely found among the men and women of any era. Among her distinguishing attributes was her chastity, nobility, purity, generosity, sincerity, affection and loyalty.

A great example of serving husband

For a man, especially someone who is responsible for performing great activities outside the house and for the society, one who possesses great motives, one who is a target of war and Jihad, against whom the enemies are conspiring and who is being attacked by his opponents, for such a man, it is only a sensible, understanding and loving wife who can provide peacefulness and tranquillity for the heart and soul, who can maintain his stability and steadfastness, and put away his weariness and sorrows.

If a man is engaged in fighting the enemies outside the house, and is entangled by the wild attacks of enemies, the mockeries, accusations and injuries given by people, and at the same time, inside the house, he has to face a wife who is foolish, ill-natured, fearful, weak and taunting, who prevents him from his work and from reaching his motive, who accuses him and forces him to quit the war and surrender to the enemies, one who becomes tired and unhappy that his husband is frequently being mocked and abused by the ignorant people, one who does not wish to resolve the problems of her husband, certainly the difficulties and problems of such a man will become two-fold.

Doubtlessly, the difficulties and miseries of such a man will constantly increase; because not only his wife refuses to help him solve his problems, but with her illogical actions and behaviour, like accusations and objections, she has increased the problems hundred times more.

The Holy Prophet (peace be upon him and his progeny), the deliverer of the greatest heavenly message, was commanded by Allah to face the infidels, who voluntarily utilized all their power and strength, like their virile warriors, their abusing and insulting poets, rogues and hooligans, men and women, familiar and strange, to stand against the motives of his holiness, and to harm, humiliate and insult him as well as few of his supporters to every possible extent. They used to obstruct his path with thorns and stones; insult him while he offered his prayers, and discontinue their terms with him and his supporters.

With the existence of these many enemies, obstacles and problems, if against these opponents, the holy Prophet (p.b.u.h.) would have arrived home and faced his wife with a resentful and questioning face, that too a wife who was the chief of all the women of Quraish and the owner of such wealth and personality, and she would have asked him, out of sympathy, compassion or objection to lift his hand from his mission and does not make him a target of all these insults and mockeries, then he would have been entangled in such a strange and difficult situation!!

But the divine grace opened the doors of Khadija’s heart towards the acceptance of the reality of Islamic invitation, enlightened her heart and filled it with cognizance and wisdom, to such an extent that the Holy Prophet (p.b.u.h.) never had to face such an unfortunate situation upon entering his house.

Welcoming the divine invitation

Dr. Bint al-Shati says: “Did a spouse other than Khadija have the potential to accept, with strong faith and open arms, love and affection, the historic invitation of her husband when he arrived from the cave of Hira, without having the slightest of doubt in her heart regarding his truthfulness and the faith that Allah (s.w.t.) will not leave him alone?

Could someone other than Khadija, who had lived in such comfort, luxuries, bounties and honour, neglect her royal life, her abundant wealth, dignity and richness, with absolute satisfaction and happiness, to stand alongside her husband in the most miserable moments of life and to support him on the path of achieving his motives in whose truth she had complete faith against dreadful afflictions and difficulties? Absolutely not. It was only Khadija (s.a.), other women are not like her, but if they share her level and position”.[2]

Best among all women of the world.

The holy Prophet (p.b.u.h.) could never forget Khadija (s.a.) even after her demise and always remembered her attributes and qualities. His holiness used to be kind and merciful towards all the near and dear ones of Khadija. It is narrated from Ayesha that: “The holy Prophet (peace be upon him) never left the house without remembering Khadija and without praising her for her nobility and virtue. On one of those days, my zeal overpowered me and I said: O Messenger of Allah! Why do you talk all the time about that old woman? After all, Allah has given you better wives than her”.

Allah’s Messenger (p.b.u.h.) became so angry that the front hairs of his head started jolting; then he said: No! By Allah, He never gave me a better wife than Khadija. She believed in me at a time when other people denied me. She put all her wealth at my service when other people withheld theirs from me. And Allah gave me children through Khadija and deprived others from this.”[3]

Anas bin Malik narrates that Allah’s Messenger (peace be upon him and his progeny) said: “the bests among the women of this world are Maryam (the daughter of Imran), Aasiya (the daughter of Muzahim), Khadija (the daughter of Khuwaylid) and Fatima (the daughter of Mohammad peace be upon him)”.[4]

In Sahih Bukhari and Sahih Muslim, Aisha is reported to have said: “Allah’s Messenger peace be upon him gave Khadija the good-tidings of such a house in heaven where there shall be no uproar, pains and sufferings”.[5]

Today, it is our duty to propagate the attributes and qualities of her highness in the entire world and introduce her to the people as a great role model for the service of Islam, the Prophet and marital relationship; and we must try to imitate her ways and walk on her path.