The Promised: Truth and Support

The Promised: Truth and Support

Khadijah bint Khuwaylid, A glimpse of her Life

Sometimes, you cross people’s path and the memory of that person is forever engrained within you. The beauty of their manners and the beauty of their character is something that you constantly remember. One such women whose beauty radiates from her character is Khadijah (R) the daughter of Khuwaylid. Her lineage traced back and connected with the Prophet’s, salla Allahu alayhi wasalam, a couple generations back.

She was elite amongst her society. She was the daughter of the chiefton of the time- Khuwaylid. She was a very successful women for her time, running her own business which in the Pre-Islamic, Jahilliyah times, was a pretty big deal. It was a man’s world back then and so for her to be a business woman and have wealth was a pretty surprising thing. The way she ran her business was that she would hire men to go trade in various other places such as Al-Shaam or Hijaz and they would bring the profits back to her. However, many of these men would cheat her and keep some of the profit to themselves and there was really no way she could figure out how much they were keeping. At the time, they didn’t have budget keeping or account keeping software to maintain financial records. Thus, many of the times the profit wasn’t all that great.  Then, she heard of a man who was known to be ‘As-Saddiq Al-Ameen’ –the honest and the trustworthy. She offers him a job as a trader to go to other places and trade on her behalf and sends one of her slaves with this man who was no other than Muhammed (sws). Her slave, Maysarah, travels with Muhammad (sws) and notices how amazing this man is. He is amazed by his honesty, his character, and his dealings with the people.  When they return back, Maysarah tells Khadijah about the journey and about the amazing nature of Muhammed (sws) and everything that had taken place on the trip. Before this point, Khadijah was already impressed with the man Muhammad (sws), but after this, it was something greater. Never had Khadijah made a profit more than when Muhammad (sws) came back. His character was something else. After Maysarah’s account she starts to feel something for him and love starts to grow within her for this amazing man. She sends her cousin to inquire and see if Muhammad (sws) is interested in marriage. Khadiijah’s cousin asks Muhammad (sws) if he is interested in marriage and if he would be willing to marry a lady that was beautiful and from a noble family and Muhammad (sws) questioned who? Upon the cousin’s reply that it was Khadijah, he replied that he would as long as she was willing too.

In this proposal, an important lesson to highlight is the difference in status of Khadijah and Muhammed (sws)  and how it was insignificant when it came to Khadijah’s choice. She was elite, she was ‘something’ in her society, she had rejected many proposals already, her father had a very high standing. Usually when you see a celebrity on tv, it seems like any normal human being could never stand a chance to even get to talk with them for two seconds but the character of Khadija was such that her wealth had not gotten to her head. She was still kind and the fact that Muhammed  (sws) worked for her and the fact that he used to be a shepherd did not matter to her. It didn’t make a difference. She wasn’t awed by anything superficial from him but rather she was in awe of his character. In Islam, we are told how important good character is and how heavy our manners will weigh on the scale and thus when we search for our other half, we must search for a good, pious character over anything else.

The marriage of Muhammad (sws) and Khadija was set. And for the next few years, nothing really major occurs in the Prophet’s life. During this time, Khadija and Muhammad (sws) have six children, three of the sons which passed away at an early age. These years are a time where the family is being established and a marriage is being strengthened. One day however, while Muhammed  (sws) was up in the Cave of Hira, as was common of him to do to go and meditate, a life-changing event occurs. Most Muslims know the basics of the story where Angel Jibreel, comes and squeezes the Prophet (sws), telling him to read. However, the Prophet, may peace and blessings be upon him was illiterate and he was so frightened, the Angel squeezed him so hard that he thought he was going to die. At this point the first ayahs of the Qur’an were revealed. This event shook the Prophet (sws) and he came back frightened and just shook up. The first person he runs to is not his immediate family or his ‘bros’ or anything- he runs back to his wife, back to his best friend –Khadijah.

He runs back to her and says “Zambiluni, Zambiluni”, “Cover me, Cover me”. She wraps him and waits until he calms down. Then tells her what just took place. Upon this, she doesn’t just ward him off or you know when we hear something out of the ordinary, we don’t really give comfort but rather make it seem insignificant, but this woman comforts the Prophet (sws). She soothes him and tells him that Allah would never abandon him, and would protect him. She reminded him that he took care of people, relieved people’s burdens, fed the needy, that he was a good man. You see her giving support and comforting words at a moment when the Prophet’s (sws)  life was about to change. And you see this support throughout the life of the Messenger of Allah.

When the Prophet (sws)  received his mission to spread the message, she didn’t hesitate one bit. Khadijah was the first person to become Muslim. She stood by his side no matter what. In the beginning when it seemed like everyone he knew turned on him, salla Allahu alayhi wasalam, Khadija (R) stood by him. Three years before the Hijrah took place, after twenty five years of marriage, Khadijah (R) passes away. The Prophet of Allah (sws), sat by her bedside as she breathed her last and was so upset and grieved at the loss of his beloved, of his best friend that the year was known as the Year of Sorrow in his life (also due to the passing of his Uncle, Abu Talib). The profound pain that he felt at the passing of Khadija (R) was unbelievable and even years later he would remember her and talk about her. He would go visit her relatives and stay in touch with her friends. “Only the love of the Most Beloved (Allah) could heal the pain of losing his most beloved in this dunya (Khadijah ).”

May Allah give us the ability to follow the example of Khadija, who supported and cared for and comforted our beloved Nabi in his most difficult times. May Allah help us become more supportive and caring towards others and disattach us from the luxuries from this dunya and attach us to the path of the Akhirah.

Khadija- The First Muslim

Khadija was the first Muslim. This in itself is a lesson for us all, and we should take from her steadfastness to truth. When she saw and heard the truth, she accepted the truth, believed in the truth and stuck with the truth. We as Muslims need to do the same.

When we see or hear the truth, we need to accept the truth but in order to accept the truth, we have to admit that we were wrong. Today, knowledge is everywhere, a click away, of course we need to use caution, but we can go through fifty youtube videos, hundreds of blogs, and know that “such and such” is haram but we will still be, “Wellll…..” and sometimes we will even convince ourselves that although we know what we are doing is wrong, we are right. Our brains and intellect is so powerful but it can either work for us or against us. So first, we need to accept the truth.

Accepting the truth is one thing, but we need to believe in it. And although this seems like the same thing, it is not. We need to walk the talk. We can talk a lot, but what do our actions say? Many people say that they would die for the Prophet (sws) but if someone were to ask who is willing to live for the Prophet (sws), the room will be emptied. Islam isn’t about dying, it is about living. Being a Muslim, is not about risking your life, but living the life. We say that we accept the truth, but do we believe enough to follow what we have accepted?  

Lastly, we need to stick to the truth. Being a Muslim is not a Ramadan feeling or an Iman high. Of course throughout our lives, our iman is going to waiver, it is going to be like a “baby rollercoaster”, it should not be some super coaster that starts in the stars and plunges to the depths of the ocean. We should not go from a sheikh to a gangster on a daily basis, this is not Islam. When we accept and believe in truth, we need to stick with this truth through thick and thin. Sometimes we can believe full heartedly in every word of truth, but once we hear some crazy fatwah that works in our manner, we suddenly change our beliefs. We can’t pray all five prayers for for one month, Ramadan, and then go back to praying nothing in hopes of living to the next Ramadan to make up for the missed prayers. This is not basketball of football, we don’t have a season off as Muslims, and it is longer than a baseball season, it is an everyday thing, from the day you are born, to the day you enter Jannah, inshaallah.  

We need to accept, believe, and stick with it.

Khadija and her support

            There was no one that loved the Khadija more than the Prophet (sws) peace be upon him. They both showed a sense of support to one another. In one narration when the Prophet (sws) used to go up to the cave and mediate and sit for weeks all by himself. Khadija used to climb up to the cave and bring him food, and water. She never complained to him that he was away for too long. She supported the Prophet peace be upon him and looked after him.  When the revelation came to the Prophet peace be upon him she knew that people would want to drive him out and treat him harshly. Khadija bought slaves to protect the Prophet peace be upon him and she supported the Prophet peace be upon him through thick and thin. she never left his side. Even after her death the Prophet (sws) still remembered her. Her memory always lingered on for years to come until his death..

            We should always look at this beautiful couple as an example in our everyday lives. Khadija never left the side of the Prophet peace be upon him even though they lived harshly or because of how much people hated the Prophet peace be upon him. Nowadays, we lack support to one another. Everything is about competition and jelousy. We bring each other down and when someone is trying to do good we bring out their past and their faults. We never let go! We keep brining each other down. Support is so important to one another especially when it comes to close family and friends. We all say “we love each other” but really where is the love in the support to one another?     

 

            We should take this example of Khadija and the Prophet peace be upon him. They showed infinite love to one another and they loved and supported each other for the sake of Allah; not for the sake of competition or jealousy. When you want to support someone it should be coming from the heart. Support equals “ I will be there for you, I will help you every step of the way”. The love of brotherhood and sisterhood has fallen down stream. The lack of support and help for one another has lost its real meaning.

 We need to rebuild our love and support for our Ummah because this is the only way we will succeed.