Khadija, the princess of
Arabia, and Muhammed Mustafa were married in A.D. 595.
Fifteen years later, Muhammed was chosen by Allah to be
His messenger. As God's messenger, his duty was to
promulgate Islam in the world. From that moment, every
thing changed for Khadija. She made her entire fortune an
endowment for Islam. That endowment could not have come
at a more opportune time for Islam. Khadija told her
husband that all her vast wealth was his, and he could
spend it just as he wished.
Khadija's generosity had a glowing spontaneity.
Muhammed Mustafa "invested" Khadija's wealth in
Islam. There has never been a better
"investment" in the entire history of mankind.
This "investment" was a guarantee that Islam's
march would not be halted or even be retarded because of
any lack of material means and support. It was an
investment that, to this day, is paying enormous
"dividendsn, and will pay "dividends" for
every generation of the Muslims, to the end of time
itself.
But material wealth was not the only investment that
Khadija made in Islam. She also invested her time,
talent, energy, spirit and heart in Islam - an investment
otherwise known as commitment. She knew her spouse's
dreams and hopes, and she .shared them all with him.
Khadija's intent in supporting Islam was so transparent
that Allah Ta'ala was pleased to call her wealth His Own
in the following verse of Quran Majid:
AND HE FOUND THEE IN NEED,
AND MADE THEE INDEPENDENT.
(Chapter 93; verse 8)
Translator's Note
"The holy Prophet inherited no wealth and was poor.
The true, pure, and sincere love of Khadija not only
raised him above want, but made him independent of
worldly needs in his later life, enabling him to devote
his whole time to the service of Allah." (A. Yusuf
Ali)
Allah Ta'ala made His slave, Muhammed, rich with the
wealth of Khadija.
Khadija and the Two Migrations to
Abyssinia
Two groups of Muslims left Makka in the
years 615 and 616 to escape persecution by the Quraysh
and they sought sanctuary in Abyssinia. The total number
of men and women in both groups was about one hundred.
With a few exceptions like Uthman and Zubayr, the rest of
the refugees in these two groups were too poor to bear
the expenses of travel to Abyssinia. Who equipped their
caravans and paid their expenses so they were able to
travel? The historians have not answered this question.
But it is most probable that Khadija equipped the
caravans and financed the emigration of the Muslims from
Makka to Abyssinia. In Makka, she alone had the resources
with which to underwrite emigration of Muslims on such a
scale.
