By cultural researcher Noura Erfani
To tell the story of Islam’s first light without telling the story of Khadijah (AS) is to describe a house while ignoring its foundation. She was not merely the wife of Prophet Muhammad (S), nor simply the first woman to accept Islam. She was the faith’s first shield, its greatest financier, its emotional anchor, and the spiritual companion of the Messenger of God. Yet, as Imam Khamenei has observed, her true stature has too often been left in the shadows.
When revelation descended, it was Khadijah (AS) who set aside immense wealth, unmatched status, and personal comfort to stand beside the Prophet (S) without hesitation. She could have remained the jewel of Meccan society. Instead, she became the cornerstone of a new civilisation—a journey paved not with silk and gold, but with hunger, sacrifice, and a faith that outshone every worldly crown.
Al-Tahira: The Pure One in the Age of Ignorance
Khadijah (AS) was born into a society the Quran calls jahiliyyah—an age in which daughters were buried alive, women were denied inheritance, and a wife was treated as property. Khadijah (AS) defied it all.
She built a commercial empire, dispatching caravans across Arabia that were said to equal those of all other Quraysh traders combined. Her success earned her the title Sayyidat Quraysh, the Princess of Quraysh. Even more telling was her other name: Al-Tahira, “The Pure One”—a reflection of flawless integrity in a marketplace where bribery and sharp dealing were routine.
Long before Islam arrived, Khadijah (AS) was already living the rights Islam would later enshrine: owning property, conducting trade, and leading with dignity. Wealth did not enslave her; it armed her for goodness. In her independence, she shattered the stereotype of the weak, dependent woman, embodying a third model of womanhood—active in society, modest in conduct, and spiritually elevated.
The First to Believe
When the Prophet (S) descended from the Cave of Hira on Jabal al-Nour, trembling beneath the weight of revelation, it was Khadijah’s heart that became his first sanctuary.
She did not dismiss his experience as a dream. She listened—and she believed. Hers was the conscious conviction of a discerning soul: for fifteen years she had watched his truthfulness as al-Amin, the Trustworthy. A man who had never lied to a human being could not possibly lie about God.
As Imam Khamenei notes, “Her heart was attracted to him, and she began to believe in him… Later on, she stood by her faith.” That certainty gave the Prophet (S) the reassurance he needed when nearly the whole world stood against him.
Everything, “Before the Victory”
People often say simply that Khadijah “spent her wealth” for Islam. The phrase barely scratches the surface. The Quran declares:
“Those of you who spent [their means] and fought before the victory are not equal [to others]. They are greater in rank…”
— (Surah al-Hadid, Chapter 57, The Iron, Verse 10)
Khadijah (AS) was that verse embodied. She gave when the believers were few, mocked, and persecuted—not when Islam’s banner flew high. And she gave not a portion, but all.
Her sacrifice culminated in the three-year boycott in the Valley of Shiʿb Abi Talib. Blockaded and starving, the believers survived because Khadijah (AS) emptied the last of her fortune to feed them, enduring hunger herself until nothing remained but faith. She gave her wealth, her comfort, and finally her life for the mission—a total selflessness Imam Khamenei likens to the legendary generosity of Imam Hassan (AS).
Mother of the Ahl al-Bayt
Khadijah (AS) is remembered as the mother of Fatimah Zahra (SA) and grandmother of the Imams. But her motherhood runs deeper: for years she raised Imam Ali (AS) in her home as her own child. By this measure she was mother not of eleven Imams but of all twelve—the womb and the arms that nurtured the line destined to preserve Islam.
By bringing together the Prophet (S), the vessel of revelation, and the young Ali (AS), the future gate of the city of knowledge, under one roof, Khadijah (AS) curated the very environment where divine knowledge and prophetic character would be passed on. Her home became a spiritual sanctuary, binding Prophethood to Imamate.
This rank is no sectarian claim. The great Sunni scholar Ibn Hajar al-ʿAsqalani, commenting on the verse of purification (Surah al-Ahzab, Chapter 33, The Allies, Verse 33), wrote that “the origin and root of the Ahl al-Bayt is Lady Khadijah al-Kubra,” since Hasan and Hussain (AS) come from Fatimah (SA), Fatimah from Khadijah, and Ali (AS) “was raised and nurtured in Khadijah’s home” (Fath al-Bari).
A Marriage of Love and Mercy
“And of His signs is that He created for you spouses from among yourselves, that you may take comfort in them, and He placed love and mercy between you.”
— (Surah ar-Rum, Chapter 30, The Romans, Verse 21)
Khadijah (AS) and Muhammad (S) were that verse made flesh. It was she—prosperous, courted by Mecca’s elite—who recognised the Prophet’s noble character and initiated the proposal through her friend Nafisa. When he hesitated, citing his modest means, the reply came back that Khadijah (AS) was a woman fully able to provide for herself.
That reversal of convention set the tone for a union built on mutual admiration. For twenty-five years, until her passing, the Prophet (S) took no other wife. Their home was the haven of tranquillity that steadied him for the hardest years of prophethood.
Long after her death, he kept her memory alive: “She believed in me when people disbelieved in me, she affirmed my truth when people denied me, she supported me with her wealth when people deprived me, and Allah granted me children through her when He withheld them from others.” So constant was his remembrance that Aisha said she was never as jealous of any wife as she was of Khadijah—a woman she never met.
A Role Model for Every Age
Khadijah’s life answers every false image of womanhood. Modest yet powerful, wealthy yet humble, wife and mother yet a leader in society, she stands against two ignorances: the ancient ignorance that buried daughters alive, and the modern ignorance that reduces women to commodities. Hers was a third way—purity and independence, rooted in faith and service.
For this, she is counted among the four greatest women in history, alongside Maryam (AS), Asiyah (AS), and Fatimah (SA), and the Prophet (pbuh) conveyed God’s own promise to her: a palace in Paradise “where there will be no noise and no fatigue.”
Her legacy was never passive support. It was active, strategic, and decisive—intellect, influence, and fortune wielded to protect a divine message and build a new world. Her sacrifice was no silent charity. It was a choice that roared louder than any sword.
References:
Bihar al-Anwar, Vol. 16, pp. 21-22
Nahj al-Balaghah, Sermon 192
Fath Al Bari, Vol. 7, p. 169
Bihar al-Anwar, Vol. 16, p. 12
Al-Kafi, Vol. 1, p. 458
Bihar al-Anwar, Vol. 16, p. 12