[Moses] had said...

[Moses] had said: ‘O how I wish I could be present when Muhammad is delegated with Prophethood to support his mission and to assist him!'‘ It was only natural for Khadija to receive her share of the harassment meted to him by none other than those who, not long ago, used to call him al-Sadiq, al-Amin . Khadija did not hesitate at all to embrace Islam.

Yahya ibn ‘Afeef is quoted saying that he once came, during the period of jahiliyya (before the advent of Islam), to Mecca to be hosted by al-’Abbas ibn ‘Abdul-Muttalib, one of the Prophet's uncles mentioned above. “When the sun started rising,’ says he, “I saw a man who came out of a place not far from us, faced the Ka’ba and started performing his prayers. He hardly started before being joined by a young boy who stood on his right side, then by a woman who stood behind them.

When he bowed down, the young boy and the woman bowed, and when he stood up straight, they, too, did likewise. When he prostrated, they, too, prostrated.’ Then he expressed his amazement at that, saying to al-’Abbas: “This is quite strange, O ‘Abbas!’ “Is it, really?’ retorted al-’Abbas. “Do you know who he is?’ al-’Abbas asked his guest who answered in the negative. “He is Muhammad ibn ‘Abdullah, my nephew. Do you know who the young boy is?’ asked he again. “No, indeed,’ answered the guest.

“He is Ali son of Abu Talib. Do you know who the woman is?’ The answer came again in the negative, to which al-’Abbas said, “She is Khadija daughter of Khuwaylid, my nephew's wife.’ This incident is included in the books of both Imam Ahmad and al-Tirmithi, each detailing it in his own Sahih .

And she bore patiently in the face of persecution to which her revered husband and his small band of believers were exposed at the hands of the polytheists and aristocrats of Quraish, sacrificing her vast wealth to promote Islam, seeking Allah's Pleasure.

Among Khadija's merits was her being one of the four most perfect of all women of mankind, the other three being: Fatima daughter of Muhammad, Maryam bint ‘Omran (Mary daughter of Amram), mother of Christ and niece of prophet Zakariyya, and ‘Asiya daughter of Muzahim, wife of Pharaoh. Prophet Zakariyya, as the reader knows, was the father of Yahya (John the Baptist), the latter being only a few months older than Prophet Jesus.