Khadijah bint Khuwaylid

She believed before anyone, spent everything, and received salam from her Lord and a house of qasab in Jannah.

The account

Khadijah bint Khuwaylid ran her own caravans in a city that buried daughters. She hired the young Muhammad ﷺ for trade, read his character, and proposed. For twenty-five years she was his only wife and the mother of every child of his except Ibrahim. When he came down from Hira trembling, she wrapped him and argued from evidence: Allah would never disgrace a man who keeps ties, carries the weak, earns for the destitute, honors the guest, and helps bear the calamities that strike in the cause of truth. Then she took him to Waraqah. She was the first human being to believe.

Her wealth absorbed the boycott years; her certainty absorbed the doubt. In the Year of Sorrow she died, and Makkah's roof over the message fell with her. Years later the Prophet ﷺ would still send gifts to her friends, and when her sister's voice reached him at the door his heart shook. Jibril came to him once with word from heaven: give Khadijah salam from her Lord, and give her glad tidings of a house in Jannah of qasab, in which there is no noise and no fatigue.

The facts

RankFirst to believe
Marriage25 years, his only wife
Greeted byHer Lord, through Jibril
In JannahA house of qasab

The narrations

Give Khadijah glad tidings of a house in Jannah of qasab, in which there is no noise and no fatigue.

Bukhari 3820 · Muslim 2432

Read beside it

The words

Lights that name it

The first Muslim was a businesswoman of fortyKhadijah bint Khuwaylid · Makkah, c. 610 CE

On the Path

People beside it

Places

Cave of Hira · Jabal an-NurWhere the sky first spokeغار حراء · جبل النور

BeforeAli ibn Abi Talib AfterAisha bint Abi Bakr

On the Companions page The Path