خديجة
Khadīja
Person
The first wife of the Prophet and the first person to accept Islam.
What it means
Khadija bint Khuwaylid was a respected businesswoman of Mecca who employed Muhammad as her agent, and later proposed marriage to him. When he came back trembling from the cave of Hira, she consoled him: “You keep ties of kin, bear the burdens of the weak, help the poor and support those struck by calamity” (Sahih al-Bukhari). She believed first, spent her wealth for the cause, and died in 619, the “year of sorrow”. Gabriel sent her greetings from her Lord, according to Sahih al-Bukhari.
What the sources say
The Prophet married no other woman while she lived. Aisha said she was never as jealous of anyone as of Khadija, from the Prophet’s frequent praise of her (Sahih al-Bukhari).