Asalamu alaikum warahmatoAllahi wabaraktoho
Quran Weekly. Welcome back to the SuperStars
Series. The Prophet (SAWS) said that there
is no doubt that Khadija radiyaAllahu ta'ala
'anha was the best woman of her times. And
she, along with her daughter, are amongst
the four women that perfected their faith. SubhanAllah!
So think about that.
This woman Khadija radiyaAllahu ta'ala 'anha
before the revelation of salaah, before the
revelation of siyaam, before the revelation
of zakaah or hajj, before the revelation of
most of the rules and legislation, Khadija
radiyaAllahu ta'ala 'anha managed to perfect
her iman. And you might wonder how is that
even possible? Because the Prophet (SAWS)
is the one who told us that
"أكمل المؤمنين إيماناً"
['akmal al mu'mineen eeman]-
the most perfect of the believers in their faith
are the ones "أحسنهم أخلاقا" ['ahsanahom akhlaaq] are the ones who have the best character.
And Khadija radiyaAllahu ta'ala 'anha even
before Islam was known as "الطاهرة" [al-taahirah]
- the pure woman. And subhanAllah you see
the marriage between her and the Prophet (SAWS).
She is the daughter of 2 royal people, Khuwaylid
and Fatima, and she was a rich woman, very
wealthy business woman. She had been married
before to some of the leaders of Quraish but
she became a widow both times and subhanAllah
she wants to marry the Prophet (SAWS) who
is 15 years younger than her. Why? Because
she started to ask around about his character.
She asked Maysara, she asked Nafisah. She
wanted to know what the Prophet's (SAWS) character
was like because she had seen so much honesty
and truthfulness from him. And that was her
reason for pursuing him in accordance with
the command that would come later on,
"إذا أتاكم من ترضون دينه وخلقه فزوجوه"
 ['itha 'ataakom man tardawn deenaho wa khuluqaho fazawwijooh]
if someone comes to you with good religion and good character
then you marry that person then you marry
that person. Do not reject that person. And
subhanAllah at that time you didn't have the
revelation yet. You just had good character.
Ald that's why the Prophet (SAWS) was pursued
by her and that's why rasool Allah (SAWS) accepted
this woman for marriage who was 15 years older
than him and was a widow 2 times and had a
son, Handab ibn Abi Hala, and all that baggage
that would keep people away from a divorcee
or a widowed woman today. But subhanAllah
they came together for character and that
is why there is not a single narrated fight
or argument between the Prophet (SAWS) and
Khadija radiyaAllah ta'ala 'anha. But rather
their marriage was praised by all of the people
of Mecca.
Now when RasoolAllah (SAWS) had bestowed upon
him the love for isolation and seclusion and
the Prophet (SAWS) started to go to Hira and
started to contemplate. And subhanAllah for
anyone who has been to Mecca you can see that
Hira is an hour's climb at least and that
is with all the stairs and things of that
sort nowadays. But imagine what it was like
for the Prophet (SAWS) at that time to climb
up there. And Khadija radiayAllah ta'ala 'anha,
she didn't say to the Prophet "Why are you
staying away from home? why are you spending
weeks up there? and sometimes over a month?"
In fact, she supported the Prophet (SAWS)
in trying to find guidance and trying to find
those answers and she herself radiyaAllahu
ta'ala 'anha, think about this. By the time
the Prophet (SAWS) is 40, she is 55 now. She
is climbing up that mountain to take food
to the Prophet (SAWS) and to comfort the Prophet
(SAWS). And then when the Prophet (SAWS) comes
down from Hira and he comes to Khadija radiyaAllahu
ta'ala 'anha with the famous words of "زملوني
دثروني" [zammilooni dathirooni]- embrace
me, cover me up, seeking comfort in Khadija
radiyaAllah ta'ala 'anha, she didn't say to
the Prophet (SAWS), "maybe you shouldn't be
going out there so long. Maybe you should
stay home more often. Maybe you shouldn't
have been out there in the first place." Or,
"you know I think you're getting a little
crazy on us." She didn't say, "I think that
it must be some demons or something like that."
Rather, she would re-assure the Prophet (SAWS).
She supported him emotionally and religiously
here. Think about this. She says to the Prophet (SAWS)
, "والله لا يخزيك الله أبدا"  
[wallahi la yukhzeek Allah 'abada]
Allah (SWT) will never disgrace you. Why
did she say that Allah will never disgrace you?
And she started to mention because you
uphold the ties of kinship, you're good to
you neighbors, and generous to them, you treat
the orphans well, you take up the cause of
the one who has been wronged. In essence what
is she saying to the Prophet (SAWS)? She is
saying Allah (SWT) loves you for the same
reasons that I love you and the same reasons
that I pursued you for marriage. Again, good
khuluq is good eman. Good character is good
eman. She recognized those things in the Prophet
(SAWS) and look at the way that this wife
speaks about her husband.How beautiful that
a spouse will speak about her spouse or a
spouse would speak about his spouse in that
beautiful manner. This is how I see you. And
not only did she support him emotionally here,
she said to the Prophet (SAWS) let's go to
Waraqah ibn Nawfal, let's go to my cousin
who is a Biblical scholar and let's see what
he has to say. She's the one reassuring him
(SAWS) and taking him over to Waraqah who
would reveal to the Prophet (SAWS) that this
was his first encounter with Jibreel (AS).
Think about this.
And then 'Ali radiyaAllah ta'ala 'anhu who
was raised in that household he recalls the
nights where rasoolAllalh (SAWS) would wake
up and pray. And Khadija radiyaAllah ta'ala
'anha would wake up and stand right next to
the Prophet (SAWS) and also pray. I mean that's
incredible. She didn't say to the Prophet
(SAWS) I don't know what this journey is that
you're going on right now, but I'm not going
to stand up and pray but I'll let you stand
up and pray. She stood up and prayed with
him (SAWS). So she gave him emotional support.
She gave him religious support. When the Prophet
(SAWS) called to his people and the people
rejected him she didn't say, "we were doing
good in society, we had high status, and now
our reputation is being tarnished," because
she is the "pure woman" and he is the "most
trustworthy" (SAWS). She stood by his side
and reassured him and telling him that Allah
(SWT) will bring victory to you and honor
you. And then she even went to the length
of financially supporting the Prophet's (SAWS)
call and mission and purpose. And this woman
who lived her life like a queen would support
the Prophet (SAWS) with everything that she
had. And subhanAllah even when times got so
tough in the boycott on Bani Hashim and Bani
Muttalib and this woman who lived her whole
life in luxury is now not even able to eat.
And she's in her 60's. And the only one who
is delivering food is Hakeem ibn Hizaam (RA).
the nephew of Khadija radiyaAllahu ta'ala
'anha. He would sneak food to her and some
nourishment to her and to the Prophet (SAWS).
And Abu Jahal caught him and even stopped
that route. And this woman never says to the
Prophet (SAWS), "Look at where we are? Look
at what's happened to us?" But rather she
stands by him with all loyalty and she says
to the Prophet (SAWS) that she's by his side
all the time.
And that's why when the Prophet (SAWS) lost
her as a result of not being able to eat and
drink properly, this woman was eating leaves
radiyaAllahu ta'ala 'anha. And the Prophet
(SAWS) loses her. Some sources say 3 days,
some says 3 weeks, and in a matter of weeks
after he loses his uncle Abu Taalib. When
the Prophet (SAWS) loses her, he was devastated
(SAWS). She was 65 years old whenever she
died. And the Prophet (SAWS) was still a very
youthful 50 year old man. He could have married
many young women right away and thsi was his
opening right? But the Prophet (SAWS) always
remembered the loyalty that she had towards
him adnt he Prophet (SAWS) only showed her
the greatest loyalty. And that's why 'Aishah
radiyaAllah ta'ala 'anha says, "I never was
jealous of any of the wives of the Prophet
(SAWS) except for Khadija. And I've never
even seen her before. I've never seen Khadija
radiyaAllah ta'ala 'anha before." But because
the Prophet (SAWS) was obviously so moved
every time any mention of her was made. If
the Propeht (SAWS) heard the voice of her
sister calling upon him, he would say, Allahumma
Hala. Oh Allah it's Hala! And he would run
because he remembered the voice of Khadija
radiyaAllah ta'ala 'anha. She says, "the Prophet
(SAWS) never slaughtered a goat or a sheep
except that he sent some of it to Khadija
radiyaAllah ta'ala 'anha. And anytime she
was mentioned it would be visible on the Prophet's
(SAWS) face that he was moved. And he would
send gifts to her friends out of his loyalty
to her (SAWS). And she says, "one time i got
jealous and I said to the Prophet (SAWS) ' should
you have gotten over now this old woman of
QUraish that Allah (SWT) has replaced with
something better?" And the Prophet (SAWS)
became so angry, " And he says I swear by
Allah , Allah did not give me something better
than her." And he started to mention all of
the forms of loyalty
"آمنت بي إذ كفر بي الناس"
 ['aamanat bi 'ithkafar bi alnaas] - 
she believed in me when no one else believed in me.
"وصدقتني إذ كذبني الناس" [wasaddaqatnee
'ith kathabanee alnaas] - and she trusted
me and considered me truthful when other people
belied me and denied me.
"وأنفقت بي إذ حرمني الناس" [w 'anfaqat bi
'ith haramani al naas] - and she spent on
me when no one else would spend on me. 
"ورزقني الله ولدها" [warazaqani Allahu waladaha]
- and Allah (SWT) gave me children from her.
"إذ حرمني أولاد النساء" 
['ith haramani awlaad al nisaa'] - And Allah
(SWT) did not give me children from anyone
else. And subhanAllah in honor of Khadija
radiyaAllahu ta'ala 'anha is that it was only
the children that were given to the Prophet
(SAWS) through her that the lineage of the
Prophet (SAWS) would survive. SubhanAllah!
And when the Prophet (SAWS) saw even in the
battle of Badr, when al-'Aas, who was married
to their daughter, the Prophet and Khadija's
daughter, Zaynab radiyaAllahu ta'ala 'anha,
al-'Aas was married to her before jaahiliyya
and here you had before Islam and here you
had the Prophet (SAWS) capturing his son-in-law
who came to kill him and who came to fight
against and Zaynab sends her necklace, the
necklace that was given to her by her mother
Khadija radiyaAllahu ta'ala 'anha on her wedding
night as ransom for al-'Aas, her husband.
And the Prophet (SAWS) sees that necklace
and it moves him so much that the Prophet
(SAWS) says to the sahaba,"If you will, send
her back her prisoner and send her back this
necklace." Why did he say "if you will?" Because
it wouldn't be fair to the sahaba who had
to observe all of these rules and all of these
laws if the Prophet (SAWS) exercised that
exception just for himself. So he said to
the sahaba, "if you all will...send back her
prisoner, her husband and send back that necklace."
And the Prophet (SAWS) again remembering Khadija
radiyaAllah ta'ala 'anha. Think about this.
Because of her loyalty to the Prophet (SAWS),
Jibreel alayhi alsalam, the one who was sent
with the revelation of the Qur'an is sent
by Allah (SWT) to the Prophet (SAWS) to give
salam; salam not to the Prophet (SAWS) per
se. But to Khadija radiyaAllah ta'ala 'anha.
He says to the Prophet (SAWS) that you wife
KHadija is coming to you right now and Allah
(SWT) and Allah (SWT) sends his salam. And
Jibreel (AS) sends his salam to her. And gives
her the glad tidings of a house in paradise
with no noise and no distress. SubhanAllah
because of what she provided to the Prophet
(SAWS) in this life of silence and tranquility
and contentment and also provided the Prophet
(SAWS) not with stress, but rather she wash
is source of stress relief and it was when
the Prophet (SAWS) lost Khadija radiyaAllah
ta'ala 'anha that the scholars says, "that's
when Allah (SWT) gave the Prophet (SAWS) salaah."
That's when Allah gave the Prophet (SAWS)
those 5 daily prayers. He lost his emotional
support in Khadija radiyaAllahu 'anha and
rasoolAllah tasted the bitterness of this
dunya and that's when Allah (SWT) gave him
salaah. SubhanAllah! To replace that emotional
loss, that emotion devastation of the Prophet
(SAWS). And when rasoolAllah (SAWS) went back
to Mecca, the only one he remembered whenever
they told the Prophet (SAWS), "where would
you like us to place your tent? where would
you like us to have your residence? would
you like to stay in this person's house or
that person's house?" The Prophet (SAWS) said
no, I want to stay in Hijoon, which is where
Khadija radiyaAllahu ta'ala 'anha was buried.
And just as she believed in him, emotionally
supported him and financially supported the
Prophet (SAWS) responded to each one of those
supports with du'a and with love and with
loyalty.
And we take from that woman radiyaAllahu ta'ala
'anha the beautiful character of loyalty and
good manners. We ask Allah to make us like
the Prophet (SAWS) and Khadija radiyaAllah
ta'ala 'anha in all of our affairs but specifically
our marriages. We ask Allah (SWT) to grant
us that concept of loyalty and that great
character. And we ask Allah (SWT) to better
our eman as a result. Allahumma ameen.
jazakomAllahu khayran
Wasalamu alaikum warahmatu Allahi wabarakatohu.
