Her charity never came to a halt - in life or in death!

Her charity never came to a halt - in life or in death! The name and image of Khadija were etched on the heart of Muhammad Mustafa, and neither the hand of time nor the tantrums of Ayesha could efface them. Hadhrat Ayesha was aware that she could not dissuade Muhammad Mustafa from praising Khadija, and from talking about her. But this knowledge did not put a crimp upon her vis-a-vis her "anti-Khadija" stance.

Abbas Mahmud al-Akkad of Egypt, relates another incident in his book, Avesha, as follows: One day the Messenger of Allah was praising Khadija when Ayesha said: "O Messenger of Allah! Why do you talk all the time about that old woman who had inflamed gums? After all, Allah has given you better wives than her." Muhammad Mustafa said: "No Ayesha! Allah never gave me a better wife than Khadija. She believed in me at a time when other people denied me.

She put all her wealth at my service when other people withheld theirs from me. And what's more, Allah gave me children qpft through Khadija." It appears that Ayesha's hatred of Khadija which she expressed so blatantly, backfired upon her. Her husband told her that Allah gave him children only through Khadija whereas his other wives could not give him any child. To be childless, is a very painful experience for a woman. But if she is told that she is barren, the pain for her becomes a torture.

And if it is her own husband who taunts her for her barrenness, then the pain becomes an agony. But Ayesha could never repress her hatred of Khadija. She herself said once: "I have never been so jealous of any woman as I am of Khadija." She showed her jealousy over and over again, and each time she elicited from the Messenger of Allah the same anger and displeasure. The last child of Muhammad Mustafa and Khadija was their daughter, Fatima Zahra.

She was born in the fifth year of the Proclamation, and eight years before the Migration. Her brothers, Qasim and Abdullah, had died before her. It was the pleasure of Allah that the line of descent of His messenger and friend, Muhammad Mustafa, should begin with his daughter, Fatima Zahra. She was the joy of her father's heart, and the light of his eyes. He cherished her and her children as his greatest treasures.

They were, for him, the epitome of the purest of all joys - both terrestrial and celestial. From time to time, Muhammad Mustafa had to leave Medina on his campaigns.