You are on page 1of 7

There are two more incident pre-prophethood and then we will begin with the star

t of prophethood. As mentioned we have very little for the first 40 years of the
life of the Prophet PBUH.
The first incident is the Prophet PBUH's marriage to Khadija bint Khuwaylid RA.
Now how did this come about? As we said before the Prophet PBUH was a shepard. A
nd he would find people who owned flock, take them and get some wages. It so hap
pened that Khadija's older sister had a flock - a herd of camels. And she hired
the prophet PBUH to take care and graze the flock outside of Mecca. She hired tw
o people - the prophet PBUH and another young man. Now, after the prophet PBUH h
ad finished the grazing they had to go back into town to collect the wages. The
young man with the prophet PBUH said "now that we are done, let's go and ask our
wages". So the prophet PBUH said "why don't you go on my behalf because I am to
o shy to go". So the person came to Khadija's sister and it so happened that Kha
dija was in the house at the time. Khadija asked "where is Muhammad?" and the yo
ung man said "he was too shy to come and ask it from you". So at this Khadija's
older sister said "I have not seen any man who is more shy, hounourable, noble a
nd chaste in his interactions than Muhammad (PBUH)". And its narrated this is th
e first time Khadija heard of the prophet PBUH in such a manner and something en
tered her heart for the him.
Eventually later on in the year Khadija had to send her own caravan to Syria. Sh
e owned alot of wealth - she had been married twice and her second husband was a
wealthy merchant and the two of them did not have any children. Khadija had son
s from the first marriage but not the second. Now in Jaheleya times woman did no
t inherit but in this marriage her (second) husband did not leave any sons nor d
id he have any siblings so it became a rare opportunity wherein Khadija inherite
d a small fortune (after her second husband died). And over the course of the ne
xt few years she kept on investing. She would order some goods to be purchased,
send them to Syria, Yemen and then sell them in Mecca etc. But because she is a
women she cannot go herself so she had to hire a businessman. Now in those days
you wouldn't hire a person by a wage. You would make it percentage profit. For e
xample "30% profit is yours, 70% is mine". This is legitimate in Islam. So she w
ould engage in this percentage and of course because she is sending a man who is
interested in his own best interests, usually the person would steal, lie and c
heat. Thus she never managed to get the type of wealth she deserved or felt that
she earned. So when she heard the praise of the prophet PBUH she decided to cho
ose him. Note though he was just a shepard not a businessman with no experiance
of trade, but because of his honesty she decided to overlook this. And also the
lack of age - the prophet PBUH was just around 24/25. And indeed it's human natu
re when a man is decent and elequent with a woman automatically he must be noble
and the rest of his features must be good. So she decided the prophet PBUH must
be a man who is trustworthy and she wanted to use him for her caravan.
So Khadija, who was well known as the richest lady in Mecca, sent a message to t
he prophet PBUH through her servant. She was also single at the time and this wa
s generally rare as nearly everyone was married at the time. A lot of men tried
to married her because of her substantial wealth and the fact that Jaheleya law
dictates the wealth would be transferred to the husband, but Khadija turned all
of them down. So she sent a message to the prophet PBUH asking him to take care
of her caravan. The prophet PBUH went to Abu Talib and said "Oh my uncle Khadija
has sent me such and such an offer - what did you think?". This shows us that t
he prophet PBUH was a very respectable young man - that he didn't just say yes b
ut got permission and asked his uncle for advice. And so Abu Talib said "oh my n
ephew she is well known to be the richest women, Allah has blessed you with this
opportunity, do not say no to her". And so the prophet PBUH said yes and Khadij
a agreed to give the prophet PBUH 50% of the profits as she felt a good incentiv
e would lead to the prophet PBUH doing a better job. And so the prophet PBUH acc
epted and Khadija sent one of her servants along and the prophet PBUH took the c
aravan to the city of Bosra (not Busra of Iraq or Bourasa). Bosra is a small tow

n outside of Damascus by ~100km and was the typical and most convinient location
to do all the buying and selling for arabs. And Bosra had a huge marketplace ju
st for this: many different people from all around used to go there for trade Yemenies, egyptians all went there. So Bosra is well known to be a town of econo
mic transactions (and to this day there are ruins of the marketplace). As a side
note Umar RA conquered Bosra and he built one of the first masjids ever built i
n Bosra - its one of the oldest mosques in the world.
So Khadija sent her servant Maysara with the prophet PBUH and when they returned
Maysara told Khadija of his care, concern and honesty of the prophet PBUH in hi
s dealings and transactions. Its been narrated that there was always a cloud abo
ve the prophet PBUH but this is again something that's not authentic as it was b
efore prophethood. And the prophet PBUH made double or triple the profit anyone
else made before. And this is of course for two reasons: firstly he is being hon
est and second because whatever he does has baraqah and Allah will bless it. Ind
eed go back when the prophet PBUH when a baby with Halima - everything got baraq
ah. So there is no question whatever the prophet PBUH is doing it will have extr
a blessings. So the caravan came back with 'multiple' profits. This thus increas
es the emotions has for the prophet PBUH. And note there is nothing wrong with f
eeling such emotions - she is single and the prophet PBUH was a young, handsome
and respectable man. Indeed first she is hearing the prophet PBUH being praised,
then the honesty, then the baraqah etc. And thus there is nothing wrong with he
r desire now to marry the prophet PBUH and indeed what lady would not want to ma
rry the prophet PBUH. The details differ about how the proposal came about but t
hey agree that Khadija was the one who instigated it and arranged it. Normally t
he man proposes however if the women expresses an interest this is permissable (
with certain guidelines). So in one version Khadija told her friend or an older
lady called 'Nafeesa' about marrying the prophet PBUH. And she went to the proph
et PBUH and said "Oh Muhammad why don't you get married?" But the prophet PBUH s
aid "Who will marry me? I am a orphan". Then Nafeesa said "what if Khadija wante
d to marry you?" The prophet PBUH was quiet and then said "Why would she want me
?" Notice he didn't say "No" but rather being humble. And so Nafeesa went back a
nd told Khadija and the matter went to the next stage.
Ibn Ishaaq said this marraige occured 3 months after he returned from Bosra. So
for 3 months there was this back and forth. The second version to the story whic
h is not authentic is that Khadija's father opposed the marriage and so he was c
aused to become drunk, and it was made to appear that the marriage had taken pla
ce so when he became sober he couldn't say no. But this is contradictory as Ibn
Hajar and others say Khadija's father had died which makes sense as if he was al
ive he would taken the money - so straight away this version is not true.
The more authentic version is that her uncle Amr ibn Assad did the nikah and Abu
Talib came with the prophet PBUH and Abu Talib performed the khutbah which is r
ecorded in the early books. That he started by praising Allah, and then talked a
bout the lineage and the blessings of the Quraysh, that they are the caretakers
of the ka'bah and are people of Mecca etc and that "my nephew is the one who is
no comparison with any other young man in his manners, nobility and lineage. And
he has proposed to your noble lady with a maher of 12 ookiya (nuggets of silver
- modest amount ~ $400)". And then Khadija's uncle stood up and said "we cannot
refuse we accept the proposal".
Khadija had been married twice before. Her first marriage gave her a son named H
ala. And Hala eventually accepted Islam and lived a noble life amongside the pro
phet PBUH. So the question is how old was Khadija when she married the prophet P
BUH? The common opinion is that she was 40 years old. This is the opinion of one
of the classical scholars of Islam Al-Waaqidi. And she died when she was 65. Be
cause everyone agrees they were married for 25 years and that the prophet PBUH w
as 25 years old when he was married. However, there are more authentic reports t
hat her age was not 40. Academically speaking there are two problems with this a

ge:
1. Al Waaqidi is not of the scholarly calibre as other scholars who report a dif
ferent age. So we have Al-Bayhaqee and Ibn Kathir and others who report that she
died when she was around 50 years old i.e. in her fifties. Thus this changes ev
erything as it implies she was around 25-35 when she was married. Another early
authority, Hishaam Al Qalbee says Khadija married when she was 28 years old. And
we have from Al Haakim that Ibn IShaaq says she was 28 years old. Thus this age
appears to be more valid for two reasons:
1. The people reporting she was 28 are more in quantity and in quality in terms
of knowledge. Ibn Ishaaq is THE authority when it comes to seerah. So did Ibn Ka
thir, Al Bayhaqee etc.
2. The prophet PBUH and Khadija had at least 6 children, maybe more. And a woman
in her 40s - it would be very difficut to do this. But for a women at 28 this i
s very reasonable and makes a lot more sense. Academically it seems to be the mo
re correct opinion.
Some of the points we can derive before the prohpethood:
1. It shows the importance of honesty and good ettiquete. Its appreciated by all
in humanity. Because the prophet PBUH was honest as a shepard, shy as a worker
at a minor job, that shyness and honesty upgraded his position and pay rank. Bec
ause he was honest, trustworthy etc automatically opportunities were created tha
t raised in his ranks. Indeed Khadija overlooked his lack of experiance.
2. It shows the intellegance and status of Khadija. Because she saw the prophet
PBUH as being an ideal and perfect husband. This shows the permissability of not
just natural feelings of desire but persuing it in the right manner. It's not h
araam to be in love - it's what you do with this desire.
3. Also, the prophet PBUH needed support and comfort for his future mission. And
so Allah chose for him a women that would give him this. The fact is men need a
loving and supporting women in their lives. In private they need this comfort o
therwise its difficult to be successful. And Allah chose Khadija to be this.
The blessings of Khadija are just too numerous to mention:
- She was the first to believe in the prophet PBUH.
- She comforted him as soon as revelation began.
- She took the prophet PBUH to see Waraka ibn Nawfal.
- She was the only one in which Jibraeel would come in the household (Jibraeel w
ould not go in the house of any other wife). And one time the prophet PBUH told
Khadija "here is Jibraeel and he is sending Allah's salaam upon you and is givin
g you the glad tidings of a house in Jannah where there will be no noise or stru
ggling". So Khadija responded in such an intellgant way: "Allah is salaam; and m
ay salaam be upon Jibraeel and you the prophet PBUH". You don't say 'Jazak'Allah
oh Allah' - we don't give jazaa or send salaam to Allah. Allah is salaam.
Aisha RA who was the most famous wife of the prophet PBUH in the Madinah phase s
aid "I was never more jealous than anyone but Khadija RA". This is even though t
he prophet PBUH married nine wives. "I never felt the amount of jealousy I did f
or Khadija RA even though I never saw her because I knew how much the prophet PB
UH loved her". And once when the prophet PBUH was talking about Khadija, Aisha h
ad enough and said some things she shouldn't have said - "For how long are you g
oing to mention an old toothless lady etc when Allah has given you a young ferti
le ground". Then the prophet PBUH got irritated and so he told Aisha "Know by Al
lah, Allah did not give me better than her. She was the first to believe in me w
hen everyone rejected me. And she gave me her money when everyone abandoned me.

And she supported me when the community left me. And Allah blessed me with child
ren only through her". And after this Aisha learnt her lesson and said "I never
mentioned her again". And one of the reasons why Aisha got jealous is that whene
ver the prophet PBUH got gifts or money he would sent part to Mecca to Khadija's
friends. And once Khadija's older sister came to Madinah and Aisha was in the h
ouse, and when the sister was walking outside the door, the prophet PBUH demenou
r's changed. And when she asked permission to enter Aisha could see the paleness
on the face of the prophet PBUH. This was because the memories of Khadija were
so strong. When Khadija passed away one of the sahaba said "we did not see him s
mile for months". And we can go on and on with regards to her blessings.
This also shows the prophet PBUH was not a lustful man. Rather he married someon
e with nobility even though she was twice divorced with children. And he remaine
d faithful to her until she passed away. And then one after the other he married
in his fiftes. So the prophet PBUH is remaining loyal to her which shows he was
not a man who was lustful and that he could control his desires. This also demo
nstrates tat all of the children of the prophet PBUH were through Khadija. We sa
id there were at least six. The first child was Al-Qasim (hence the prophet PBUH
's kunya was Abu Qasim). And it was said that he was born in the days of Jaheley
a and he had reached the age where the boys could ride on the camel and then he
passed away. That's all we know. And then the prophet PBUH had Zaynab, Ruqayyah,
Umm Kulthum and Fatima. And then his final son with Khadija, Abdullah. Some peo
ple add two more but the stronger position is that Abdullah had two nicknames At
-tahir and At-tayyub i.e. the names of the supposed two extra children. Abdullah
died in Islam in infancy - the four daughters all lived to maturity and married
; three of them died in his own life time. Only Fatima outlived him. When the pr
ophet PBUH was on his deathbed, he told Fatima something and she cried. Then he
saw her crying he called her and whispered something in her ear and she laughed.
Months later Aisha asked "can you tell me what the prophet PBUH told you?" Fati
ma said "My father told me he is about to die and I couldn't bear but cry. But t
hen he told me "you will be the first of my family to meet me" so I laughed". An
d Fatima only lived a few months after the prophet PBUH.
Its interesting to comment that subhan'Allah the prophet PBUH is facing problems
after problems. Indeed there is no greater difficulty than losing parents and c
hildren. The prophet PBUH had to go through both. Our prophet PBUH is multiple t
imes oprhaned. And then multiple times lost children; first Al Qasim, then Abdul
lah and then Ibrahim (who was born of his maid servant). So its as if Allah is g
iving him the most difficult tragedies such that Allah is telling him you will b
e tested and face hardships - and its because through these trials ones relation
ship with Allah is established. Also living through these trails develops the up
most patience and the prophet PBUH needed this to fulfill his mission. Also Alla
h tested him through these hardships so the prophet PBUH's heart becomes soft. S
o that when he goes older he can bear his own trails and develop mercy. And even
though Allah trailed him, Allah did not trial him beyond his capacity. Allah ga
ve him both daughters and sons to give him a taste of fatherhood and silence tho
se who mocked him. Indeed if he didn't have any children people could have said
many things. And subhan'Allah when the prophet PBUH lost his sons; when Abdullah
died, how crude and callous Abu Jahal was when he cheered for joy, that he is s
o happy the prophet PBUH's progeny has cut off. And he is screaming this through
Mecca. Can you imagine the pain of losing a son, and on top of that your worst
enemy is running through Mecca telling everyone joyfully? Subhan'Allah from this
we see the significance of Surah Kawthar, and these three short ayahs were so b
eloved to the prophet PBUH. "Indeed, We have granted you, [O Muhammad], al-Kawth
ar. So pray to your Lord and sacrifice [to Him alone].Indeed, your enemy is the
one cut off." Allah is saying that we have given you plenty so do not worry we h
ave taken away one thing but given you al Kawthar - all the heavans. Pray to All
ah and those who oppose you will be the ones who are cut off from all good. And
indeed the only people who say Abu Jahal and Abu Lahab are those who hate and de
spise them. Look at how Allah has kept His promise and disgraced the enemies of

the prophet PBUH. What legacy is this?


There are also wisdoms that the prophet PBUH was not allowed to have sons. Ibrah
im lived for around 18 months. And indeed this is the most loved and tender age
of a child. And so Allah gave the prophet PBUH the blessing of being a father of
a child at this age. But then Allah took Ibrahim away from him and of course th
e prophet PBUH cried alot and grieved. In Ibn Maja the prophet PBUH said "had Ib
rahim lived, he would have been a prophet". That is, its not possible that the s
on of Muhammad is not a prohet. But the prophet PBUH was the last prophet. So th
is is theological - Allah had to seal the prophets so its clear why the prophet
PBUH had no sons. The prophet PBUH knew this. And indeed look at what the ummah
has done with the sons of the prophet PBUH's daughters. What groups were formed
exaggarating the status of the prophet PBUH's grandsons. Imagine now what people
would have done with a direct son and lineage of the prophet PBUH. If there was
a male progeny the ummah would have made him God/prophet on Earth. So it was a
mercy and blessing by Allah.
The last incident of the ka'bah was when the prophet PBUH was around 35 years ol
d, so after 10 years of marriage with Khadija. The rebulding of the ka'bah. It w
as damaged by a fire and a flood. A women was cooking close to the ka'bah - in t
hose days the houses were 5, 10 feet away from the ka'bah. In our times the ka'b
ah is seperated from places by hundreds of feet. Back then we didn't have 10,000
s people coming to do tawaaf. Even in the recent 70s there were houses just outs
ide Safa and Marawa. This is how small the haram was. We had to walk outside the
ka'bah area and re-enter the safa and marawa area. So a lady was cooking and on
e of the embers sparked and it set the cloth of the ka'bah ablaze. And the kab'a
h was thus damaged and weakened but not destroyed. Later on a massive flood came
into Mecca. As Mecca is in the basin of alot of mountains it is prone to floods
once every 10 years or so. In 1947/1948 people were swimming for tawaaf as the
ka'bah is flooded. In our times there are now gutters and measures in place to s
top this. So in that year a massive flood happened and the flood destroyed the r
oof and some of the walls of the ka'bah. And so they decided they needed to rebu
ild the entire ka'bah as the structure was more or less gone.
When the ka'bah was destroyed there was news of a sale going on. The ceaser of R
ome had sent supplies to one of the cities of Yemen to rebuild a church destroye
d by the persians. So he got the best wood, marble etc to build that church alon
g with the best craftsmen and sent all the material on a ship. But of course All
ah is the best of planners and Allah made it so that a wind off the coast caused
the ship to crash and it was damaged but it made it to Judah. And all of the ca
rgo - the most expensive marble, wood etc is now in Judah - subhan'Allah its ama
zing when you think about it. Note Arabia didnt have such building material or c
raftsmen at all. So the people of the ship decided to sell the material they had
to raise enough money to go back to Rome. So when the Quraysh heard about this,
they gathered all of their wealth, went to Judah and purchased all of this merc
handise, along with hiring the craftsmen, who was someone that had been educated
in the palaces of Ceaser. They bring all of the goods back to Mecca. Now they a
re wondering shall we destroy the house of Allah? According to one report in Ibn
Ishaaq a large snake came out of the well of zamzam and whenever they approache
d the ka'bah the snake hissed at them. So while they are debating Allah sent a b
ig bird to pick up the snake and remove it. So they took this as a sign that the
y should approach the ka'bah but of course they are still scared. Finally Al Wal
id ibn al-Mughira (who is the nobleman mentioned in the Qu'ran and became an ene
my of the prohpet PBUH). So Al Walid ibn al-Mughira said "I will do it" and he
took the axe and broke down one of the wall of the ka'bah. Word got around of wh
at happened and the inhabitants of Mecca decided to use Al Walid ibn al-Mughira
as a 'litmus test'. They thought if he survives the night we will join him the n
ext day. If something happens, then good riddance. So they basically didn't help
him but the next morning Al Walid ibn al-Mughira woke up just fine, and its nar
rated in one report in Ibn Ishaaq that when he lifted the he and said "Oh Allah

don't get angry we are just trying to help rebuild the ka'bah". So the next day
everyone helped him tear the ka'bah down and rebuild it. They divided all of the
subtribes of the Quraysh into four groups. Each group gets one wall. The Banu '
Abd Munaf, the great subtribe of the Quraysh - the branch that contains the Banu
Hashim, was given the most prestigue i.e. the side of the wall. And they are th
e most prestigious as they had Abdul Muttalib, the great legand of Quraysh. The
second most prestigious was the Banu Makhzum, Abu Jahal is from them, and they g
et the second furthest wall.
Now Banu 'Abd Munaf and the Banu Makhzum are both raising the corner that has th
e black stone. So when they get there trouble occurs because they are rivals and
so they both said "the black stone is mine etc". Then the other tribes said "wh
y should you get the privallege?". And the fighting/anger between them reached s
uch a level that construction of the ka'bah stopped for five days - because they
needed to resolve who puts the black stone in. The Banu Makhzum secretly put to
gether an agreement with the other tribes that they would fight to death to put
the black stone in. And they dipped their hands in blood as a promise/signature
to make a pact. Look at this Jaheleya - you will kill yourself and leave your wi
fe and children just for the pride and honour of putting the black stone in. So
they were almost about to reach into a big fight until Abu Umayr ibn Mughira, th
e oldest person in Mecca, said "there will be no bloodshed, let's just give the
stone over to the next person who walks through the 'big door'". Now this meant
that it's the luck of the draw - whoever walked in would obviously choose his ow
n tribe so whoever walks in, whatever tribe he belongs to will basically win. An
d we all know that the prophet PBUH walked in, but what is amazing that when the
prophet PBUH walked in, all the tribes became happy because each tribe thought
that "Muhammad likes me so much he will choose my tribe". Even the Banu Makzoom
etc, they felt such a liking to the prophet PBUH and all were overjoyed that the
y felt the prophet PBUH will choose them. Subhan'Allah this shows the beautiful
character of the prophet PBUH. And 50 years later, in a hadith its narrated that
'Amr ibn al-'As said "The prophet PBUH was so gentle and nice to me that I knew
he loved me the most, so one day I asked the prophet PBUH "who do you love the
most?". And the prophet PBUH said instantly "Aisha RA". Then 'Amr ibn al-'As sai
d "No no I meant amongst the men?". Then the prophet PBUH said "her father". The
n 'Amr said "after him?", and the prophet PBUH said "Umar". And he kept on askin
g until he got the point. But this shows the way the prophet PBUH dealt with peo
ple - this is subhan'Allah amazing. And its the same in the times of Jaheleya. A
nd we all know that the prophet PBUH said "bring me a sheet/garment and let ever
y subtribe send your representative and we will all put the black stone." They c
hanged the structure of the ka'bah and Allah willed this change to be permenant:
1. Either the marble or wood, they didn't have enough of it; so they used the ex
pensive stuff for the foundations. But they realised they couldn't build it as i
t was originally i.e. a rectangle. So they built a square instead and to mark th
e other two corners with two posts. It was not their desire to make it permenant
but of course Allah willed it would be.
2. The ka'bah was not as high as it became (of course now its much much higher t
han it used to be). According to early reports the ka'bah was just the height of
around 15 feet (the height of when you sit on a camel). But they doubled this h
eight and this began the concept of making it even taller.
3. They made the door of the ka'bah in the middle of the wall because they wante
d to be elite and have access to who can go in and who can't. So only those of t
he tribe can go into the ka'bah - and to this day the door is high and in the ce
nter.
4. They built a water spout (logically this was a neccesity) and to this day we
have a water spout.

The prophet PBUH, when he conquered Mecca 20 years after this, said to Aisha RA
"were it not for the fact that your people are new to Islam, I would have rebuil
t the ka'bah in its original structure of Ibrahim AS, and made the door accessib
le to everybody". But doing this might cause problems to the new muslims. In the
time of the early ummayad dynasty, one group led my Abdullah ibn Zubair broke a
way and founded his own mini caliphate in Mecca. This was in the time of Hajjaj
ibn Yusuf (the most tyrant ruler ever seen in the ummah). So when this hadith re
ached him, he destroyed the kab'ah, made it into a rectangle shape and lowered t
he door. Then Hajjaj ibn Yusuf overtook Mecca again by through catapults into ka
'bah - and it destroyed the ka'bah itself. And then he crucified Abdullah ibn Zu
bair, a companian, the son of a companian etc. in front of the kabah. Look at ho
w evil this Hajjaj was. Anyway Hajjaj then rebuilt the ka'bah as it was before i
.e. square shaped, with a raised door etc. In the time of Imam Malik the khalifa
asked Imam Malik "shall we rebuilt the ka'bah as it was built by Ibrahim AS?".
Imam Maliks told him "No, I don't want the ka'bah to become a toy that kings com
e along and do what they want with it". So from the time of Hajjaj ibn Yusuf it'
s remained as the Jaheleya's built it, in a square shape with a raised door.
Notice how everything is planned by Allah - they have no marbles or wood etc but
Allah sent them material from the palace of the Ceaser, and Ceaser himself is f
inancing the building of the ka'bah when he though he is building a church. Subh
an'Allah.

You might also like