ভূমিকা
Lady Khadijah on the Way to a Blessed Life
When Safiya returned home and informed her brothers (the Prophet's
uncles) of the authenticity of the news, happiness mixed with
amazement and astonishment overtook them. Khadijah who refused to marry the princes and lords of the Arabs,
because she deemed them unworthy to marry, chose to be the wife of
a poor man who owned nothing of the ephemeral things of this world,
This was the wonder of wonders!! The Prophet's uncles proceeded towards Khadijah’s house and asked
for her hand from her father (or uncle) who at first rejected them but
Inevitably, an appropriate sum of money had to be presented to
Khadijah as her dowry; how could it be obtained? And who would
This was a difficult question at hand, until Khadijah once again
surprised everyone by giving four thousand dinars as a gift to the
Prophet, and urged him to pay it to her father as her dowry. Although
according to another historical finding, it was Abu Talib who paid the
Even though Khadijah was a woman of high standards who sacrificed
material gains to achieve honor, her father, Khuwaylid, possessed
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contradicting values. This difference between Khadijah and her father
is not rare between parents and their children; in fact, this ideological
difference can also be found between various classes of people,
brothers, spouses, and parents. Khadijah’s payment of the dowry was a unique, amazing and
unforeseen act; for the Arabs were not acquainted with women giving
dowries to their husbands. Thus, it was not unexpected of Abu Jahel to
incite an envious commotion and say:
"O people, we have thus seen men paying dowries to women; we are
not used to women giving dowry to men" In answer to this, Abu Talib
angrily replied: "What is the matter with you? O you wicked man! Men
like Muhammad are to be given gifts and grants, but your likes give
gifts that people always reject."
or he said: "If it was a man like my nephew then the greatest dowries
are to be granted to him, but men like you cannot get married save by
The blessed wedding took place in the best possible way, the
Messenger moved in with Lady Khadijah who felt that she was going
through the happiest period of her life, because she had reached her
best wishes and sweetest dreams. Khadijah gave birth to several children of whom only four daughters
survived: Zaynab, Umme Kulthum, Ruqayyah, and Fatima-Zahra who
was the youngest and most exalted of them all.
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