Khadija-tul-kubra the Wife of the Holy Prophet

Chapter 19 : Khadija and Islam

Today, Islam is the greatest force in the world. Its enemies cannot do it any harm. It is like a mighty oak which the storms of the world cannot uproot. Yet there was a time when this mighty oak was a tiny sapling, and desperately needed someone to protect it from the hurricanes of idolatry and polytheism which threatened to uproot it.

Muslims may forget it but Islam cannot forget that in its infancy, it were Abu Talib and Khadija who protected it. They made Islam invulnerable. Abu Talib protected the sapling of Islam from the tempests of misbelieve and heathenism; and Khadija irrigated it with her wealth. She did not let the sapling of Islam die from draught. In fact, she didn't even let it wilt from neglect. Protecting Islam was, for Abu Talib and Khadija, their foremost duty. Islam was their first love, and it was a love which they passed on, as their "legacy" to their children. If they - Abu Talib and Khadija - had protected the tree of Islam from its enemies in the lifetime of Muhammed Mustafa, and had "irrigated" it with vast quantities of gold and silver, their children and their grandchildren protected it, from its enemies after his death, and irrigated it with their blood. Their blood was the most sacrosanct blood in all creation. After all, it was the blood of Muhammed Mustafa himself - the Last and the Greatest of all Messengers of Allah, and the Chief of all Apostles and Prophets.

Khadija was an "eye-witness" of the birth of Islam. She nursed it through its infancy, through its most difficult, and through its most formative years. Islam was given shape and design in her home. If any home can be called the cradle of Islam, it was her home. She "reared" Islam. If any home can be called the "axis" of Islam, it was her home; Islam revolved around her home. Her home was the "home" of Quran Majid the Book of Allah, and the religious and political code of Islam.

It was in her home that Gabriel was bringing Revelations from Heaven for ten years.

Khadija has collected more "firsts" in the history of nascent Islam than anyone else. She was the first wife of the last messenger of Allah. She was the first Believer. She was the very first mortal to declare that the Creator was only One, and that Muhammed was His messenger. Next to her husband, she was the very first individual who heard the Voice of Revelation. She was the first person who offered prayers to Allah with her husband. Whenever he went into the presence of Allah, she was his constant companion. She was the first Mother of Believers. She was the only wife of Muhammed Mustafa who did not have to co-exist with a co-wife. All the love, all the affection and all the friendship of her husband, were hers and hers alone exclusively!

When Muhammed Mustafa proclaimed his mission as the messenger of Allah, and told the Arabs not to worship idols, and called upon them to rally under the banner of Tauheed, a tidal wave of sorrows broke upon him. The polytheists began to thirst for his blood. They invented new and ingenious ways of tormenting him, and they made many attempts to stifle his voice forever. In those times of stress and distress, Khadija was a bastion of strength for him. It was only because of her and Abu Talib that the polytheists could not disrupt his work of preaching and propagating Islam. She made, in this manner, a most important contribution to the survival and propagation of Islam.

Khadija set basic standards that spell domestic peace, harmony, happiness and fulfillment, and she upheld and reflected them in her life. She demonstrated that the key to a family's strength and happiness is the degree of emotional closeness between its members. She spelled out the rights and duties of husbands and wives. The standards set by her, became the "blueprint" for family life in Islam. Muhammed Mustafa and Khadija spent twenty-five years together, and in those years, they formulated the "laws" that make a marriage successful and a life happy. Since then, even in temporal terms, the rest of the world has not been able to find better laws. Islam incorporated the same laws in its own programme.

Khadija turned the abstractions of idealism into reality. Her life with Muhammed is concrete evidence of that fact. What she gave to the world was not merely a set of principles or theoretical ideas but an experience, rich in moments of pure enchantment with Islam, and subtle rhythms of love for Allah and His Messenger.

As mentioned earlier, the pagan Arabs had a sense of honor gone all awry. It was their "sense of honor" which impelled them to kill their daughters. Islam of course put an end to this barbaric and horrendous practice by making it at once a sin against Allah, and a crime against humanity. Besides putting an end to female infanticide, Islam also gave dignity, honor and rights to women, and it guaranteed those rights.

Allah Ta'ala wished to demonstrate th;lt the laws of Islam were all practicable. To demonstrate the practicability of those laws, and to show the Islamic "Design of Life," He chose the house of His slaves, Muhammed and Khadija. Without Khadija, the laws of Islam would have remained meaningless. In fact, it is even possible that Muhammed Mustafa could not have promulgated those laws without her.

One of the greatest blessings that Muhammed Mustafa and Khadija received from Allah Ta'ala was their daughter, Fatima Zahra. As noted before, Fatima was born after the death of her brothers, Qasim and Abdullah. She was only five years old when her mother died. After the death of her mother, Muhammed Mustafa, the messenger of Allah, became both a father and a mother for her. In bringing up his daughter, the Messenger of Allah was demonstrating the applicability of the laws of Islam. Since he is the model for all Muslims, they have to imitate him in all his deeds. He bestowed the utmost love upon, and showed the greatest respect to his daughter.

Both in Makka and in Medina, many important persons, such as princes and leaders of powerful tribes, came to see the messenger of Allah. He never rose from the ground to greet any of them. But if he heard that his daughter, Fatima Zahra, was coming to see him, he rose from the floor, went forward to greet her, escorted her back, and gave her the place of honor to sit. He did not show so much esteem and regard to anyone at any time in his life - man or woman!

SUCH IS THE BOUNTY OF ALLAH, WHICH HE BESTOWS ON WHOM HE WILL: AND ALLAH IS THE LORD OF THE HIGHEST BOUNTY. (Quran Majid. Chapter 62; verse 4)

Allah Ta'ala bestowed His Bounty upon Fatima Zahra, the daughter of His friend and His messenger, Muhammed Mustafa.

It was Khadija's only daughter, Fatima Zahra, who became the recipient of the accolades of Heaven in the 76th chapter of Quran Majid - Sura Dahr. In fact, the whole chapter is "dedicated" to her and to her family comprising her husband, Ali ibn Abi Talib; her children, Hasan and Husain; and her maid, Fizza. She also became the "exegesis" of the 108th Chapter of Quran Majid - Sura Kauthar (=Abundance). Allah Ta'ala gave Khadija a son-in-law like Ali ibn Abi Talib who became the Lion of Allah; "the Right Arm of Islam;" and the shield and buckler of Muhammed Mustafa; and He gave her grandsons like Hasan and Husain who became the Riders of the Shoulders of the Messenger of Allah, and "the Princes of the Youth of Heaven."

Without a doubt, Islam means the practice of the house of Khadija; and without a doubt, Quran Majid is the "dialect" of her family. Her daughter, Fatima Zahra, and her grand-children, Hasan and Husain, grew up "speaking" Quran Majid. She has the same relationship to Islam and Quran Majid that light has to the eyes, lustre to a pearl; and fragrance to a rose.

Even the most eloquent of languages fails adequately to express or fittingly to commend, Khadija's merits. But Allah Ta'ala has promised His reward to his loving slaves like Khadija in the following verses of His Book: THOSE WHO HAVE FAITH AND DO RIGHTEOUS DEEDS, - THEY ARE THE BEST OF CREATURES. THEIR REWARD IS WITH ALLAH: GARDENS OF ETERNITY, BENEATH WHICH RIVERS FLOW; THEY WILL DWELL THEREIN FOR EVER; ALLAH WELL PLEASED WITH THEM, AND THEY WITH HIM: ALL THIS FOR SUCH AS FEAR THEIR LORD AND CHERISHER. (Chapter 98; verses 7, 8)

Chapter 20 : Khadija and the Muslim Historians

In their history books, the highest tribute that most of the Muslim historians have paid to Khadija, is that she strengthened Islam with her wealth. They pay this tribute and then they pass on to other matters. It is true that it was Khadija's wealth that made Islam viable; but it is only a partial truth. There is little, if any, acknowledgement by the historians of what Khadija's support - material and moral - did for Islam and the Muslims. Far from acknowledging her great services, many of them have either distorted truth or have strangled truth or have cooked up stories of their own, and have dished them out as historical "facts."

Not all the history of the early days of Islam is factual; some of it is "synthetic." This synthetic history was written for or was dictated by special interest groups. Many fairy tales found their way into the history of Islam in this manner and Truth was quietly given a burial.

Spinning fairy tales, putting them into circulation and burying truth was a conspiracy in which the leaders of the prayer-congregations, orators of the pulpits in the mosques, teachers in schools, professors in colleges, doctors of law, judges of the courts, courtiers of the kings, sultans and caliphs; and the kings, sultans and caliphs themselves, all had a hand. The historian had little choice in the matter. Even if he was a man of integrity and principle, he dared not challenge the party line. If he did, he could imperil his own life. If he wrote factual history, his wife could become a widow, and his children could become orphans. He, therefore, adopted the "pragmatic" course. He ditched the truth, and wrote spurious history.

Maulana Shibli Numani, the dean of the Indian historians of Islam, writes in his Life of the Prophet. Volume I (Azamgarh, India, 1976), that during the reign of the caliph Muawiya (d. A.D. 680), and the later Umayyads, thousands and tens of thousands of Hadith (1) were churned out by hadith manufacturing factories, and were put into circulation. "Historians" on the payroll of the government, strung together "fact" after "fact," and incorporated them in their history books. And for 90 years, the names of Ali ibn Abi Talib, and other members of the Bani Hashim were cursed from every pulpit in the Muslim world - from Sind in India to Spain in Europe. Children were born, they grew up, and they died, hearing these curses and never knowing the truth.

In A D. 750, the Abbasis seized the caliphate, and they exterminated the Umayyads. But they were no less rabid in their animosity to the family of Muhammed Mustafa than were the Umayyads. In fact, some of them outdid the Umayyads in persecuting his children and their supporters. The one characteristic that both dynasties shared, was their built-in animosity to the family and the children of Muhammed Mustafa.

Edward Gibbon

The persecutors of Mohammed usurped the inheritance of his children; and the champions of idolatry became the supreme heads of his religion and empire. (The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire) (1) A Hadith is the memorial of an alleged act and/or saying of the Prophet of Islam, as transmitted by a chain of informants.

Robert Payn

...Again and again we shall find Muhammadans mercilessly destroying the living descendants of Muhammad. (p. 84-85). For 350 years, the descendants of Abu Sufyan and those who claimed descent from Abbas had made war on the descendants of Muhammad's flesh. (p. 193) Throughout all the centuries of Islam, a strange fate had hovered over the descendants of Muhammad. It was as though that part of the world which eagerly accepted the Messenger of God, had turned forever against his living descendants. (p. 306) (The Holy Sword, 1959)

The campaign of the Abbasi caliphs against the members of the family of the Prophet, or his children, also lasted as long as their caliphate - 500 years. It was during their caliphate that the histories of Islam were written, and Hadith were collected, edited and were published. Some half-hearted attempts were perhaps made by a few conscientious scholars at separating facts from bunk and junk, and at salvaging Truth from the contexture of lies but with little success. Many of the books of history and Hadith are saddled forever with "facts" or "hadith" (= a statement of the Prophet) which were planted in them.

History, it has been rightly said, is the propaganda of the victorious party. The victorious parties, in the history of Islam, were, first the Umayyads and then the Abbasis which succeedcd, in the words of Gibbon, in "usurping the inheritance of the children of Mohammed." Once thcy had thc instruments of power in their hands, they were free to write or to manipulate the history of the early days of Islam as they liked. Since most of the books of the history of Islam were "inspircd" by what the Communists call "the ruling circles," I shall identify their authors as the "court historians." Thcse historians foisted upon their readers the following three myths vis-a-vis the life of Hadhret Khadija, may Allah be pleased with her and bless her.

1. She was forty years old when she and Muhammed Mustafa were married.

2. She was married twice before she and Muhammed Mustafa were married.

3. She and Muhammed Mustafa had six children - two boys and four daughters.

We shall discuss these myths point by point.

1. Thte Age of Khtadija

Most of the Muslim historians have stated that Khadija was 40-years old when she married Muhammed Mustafa. So many historians have repeated this figure that now it is believed as a gospel truth. Yet this figure is open to question on the following grounds: No historian knows the year in which Khadija was born. The figure "40" is only an estimate, and it is an over-estimate. Whereas it is true that Khadija was older than Muhammed Mustafa, she was not 15 years older as claimed by most of the historians, but only a few years older than him.

Arabia is a very hot country, and Arab girls reach maturity much more rapidly than girls do in cold or temperate climates. Hadhrat Ayesha is said to have been married when she was only eleven years old. Other Arab girls were also married quite early. In a country like Arabia, a woman could not spend forty years of her life waiting to be married. At forty, the best years of a woman's life are already behind her - in Arabia or in any other country. But even if she marries at forty, she cannot entertain any hope of having children. Even in cold and temperate zones, a woman, in most cases, is past her child-bearing age at 40. In Arabia, this happens, probably, much earlier.

Khadija spent many years of her life in the single state. As noted before, she received many offers of marriage from the lords and princes of Arabia but she turned them down. They could not impress her with their wealth. If they were rich, she was immeasurably richer than the richest of them. And in such personal qualities as the qualities of head, hand and heart, all of them were like the dust of her feet. Anyone trying to impress her with his wealth or power would be naive, if not foolish, indeed. Therefore, she marked time until the man who really impressed her - Muhammed Mustafa - came along, and she married him.

2. Alleged Marriages of Khadija

Khadija was never married before she married Muhammed Mustafa. Her marriage with Muhammed was her first and last marriage. The same historians who have claimed that Khadija was married twice before she married Muhammed, have reported that all the lords of Quraysh and the princes of the Arabs, sought her hand in marriage but she didn't condescend to consider any of them for a matrimonial alliance. If she had been married twice before, she ought to have had no hesitation in marrying a third time.

3. Khadija's Children

It is alleged by the court historians of the Umayyads that Khadija and Muhammed had six children, and they give their names as follows:

1. Qasim
2. Abdullah
3. Zaynab
4. Rukayya
5. Umm Kulthum
6. Fatima Zahra

Muhammed Mustafa and Khadija were the parents of three and not six children. They were:

1. Qasim
2. Abdullah
3. Fatima Zahra

Out of these three children, the first two - Qasim and Abdullah - were boys, and both of them died in their infancy, as noted before. The third and their last child was their daughter - Fatima Zahra. Who were the other three girls, viz., Zaynab, Rukayya and Umm Kulthum? This question is answered later in this chapter.

All these three claims have gained currency as "facts" but are, nevertheless fairy-tales. The "patina" of age has made them"respectable" so that most of the Muslims believe them to be true. But these are not by any means, the only tales which, formost Muslims, have acquired the status of facts. There are many other fables which have "graduated" as facts.

Following examples will show that this can happen even when there is no deliberate intent to twist facts or to mangle truth. 1. Many Muslims believe that the character designated in verses 83, 86 and 94 of the 18th chapter of Quran Majid (Kahf or the Cave) as Zul-Qarnain, was Alexander the Great of Macedonia. Even Abdullah Yusuf Ali shares this view. He says: "Personally, I have not the least doubt that Zul-Qarnain is meant to be Alexander the Great, the historic Alexander, and not the legendary Alexander..."

And yet, Zul-Qarnain might have been anyone but Alexander the Great. Zul-Qarnain was one of the chosen ones of Allah; perhaps he was a prophet. Alexander, on the other hand, was a heathen. He worshipped the gods and goddesses not only of Greece but also of Egypt, Babylon and Persia.

Harold Lamb

Alexander had bowed down to strange deities - not only to Zeus, but Ammon-Re of the Egyptian desert, Marduk of the towers of Babylon, and Ahura, tutelary of the tombs of Persepolis. (Alexander of Macedon, New York, 1946) Alexander committed many crimes including the murder of two of his oldest friends and most loyal generals, Cleitus and Parmenion. And he engineered the murder of his own father, Philip. R D. Milns

There can be little doubt that Alexander became king by becoming a parricide. (Alexander the Great, New York, 1969)

In his wars, Alexander killed hundreds of thousands of innocent men and women - unnecessarily. Perhaps he was overcome by lust for blood. A modern historian says that before his death, he had become insane. And recent research has disclosed that he died an "alcoholic megalomaniac."

2. The real name of Hadhret Abdul Muttalib, the grandfather of Muhammed Mustafa, the Apostle of Allah, was Shaiba. As a young lad, he once rode pillion with his uncle, Muttalib, from Yathrib (Medina) into Makka. The bystanders who saw him, said: "O look! Muttalib has bought a new slave for himsel£" Muttalib bridled at the remark, and said: "Curse on you. He is not my slave. He is the son of my brother, Hashim." But the name "Abdul Muttalibn - nthe slave of Muttalib" stuck to the boy. He is known to history only by a fake name - Abdul Muttalib. His real name - Shaiba - is forgotten.

3. This example is from the story of Joseph (Prophet Yusuf).

The following verse occurs in the 12th chapter of Quran Majid (Sura Yusuf): THEY SAID: "TRULY JOSEPH AND HIS BROTHER ARE LOVED MORE BY OUR FATHER THAN WE: BUT WE ARE A GOODLY BODY. REALLY OUR FATHER IS OBVIOUSLY WANDERING (IN HIS MIND)!

A. Yusuf Ali has explained this verse as follows:

"The ten brothers not only envied and hated their innocent younger brothers Joseph and Benjamin. They despised and dishonored their father as an ignorant old fool - in his dotage. In reality, Jacob had the wisdom to see that his young and innocent sons wanted protection and to perceive Joseph's spiritual greatness. But his wisdom, to them, was folly or madness or imbecility, because it touched their self-love, as truth often does. And they relied on the brute strength of numbers - the ten hefty brethren against old Jacob, the lad Joseph, and the boy Benjamin."

Another verse in the same context reads as follows: THEY SAID: "BY GOD! TRULY THOU ART IN THINE OLD WANDERING MIND." (Chapter 12; verse 85) This verse is explained by the translator as follows:

"They" must be the people around Jacob before the brothers (of Joseph) actually arrived (from Egypt). These same brothers had sedulously cultivated the calumny that their father was an old dotard, and everybody around believed it, even after its authors had given it up. Thus lies die hard once they set a start." (A. Yusuf Ali)

There are many other examples, in both Muslim and non-Muslim history, of mendacity passing for truth. This is precisely what happened in the case of these three canards connected with the story of the life of Khadija; they found general acceptance among the Muslims. Once lies set a start, they refuse to die.

It is also possible that the historians who were collecting material to write the history of the early days of Islam, had access only to those stories which had been skillfully "planted" in the primary sources by the "ruling circles." They were convinced that material obtained through these sources, was authentic, and they incorporated it in their works.

The allegations pertaining to the age, marriage(s), and children of Khadija, were prompted by two reasons, viz; 1. Khadija was the mother of Hadhret Fatima Zahra; and she was the mother-in-law of Ali ibn Abi Talib; and the grandmother of Hasan and Husain. She, therefore, could not escape the animosity that the Umayyads and the Abbasis had nursed against all members of the family of Muhammed Mustafa, especially against Ali, Hasan and Husain. The historians, for the most part, shared this animosity with their paymasters; but if they didn't, they could forfeit their livelihood or even life itself.

They, therefore, had to invent some "fact" or "facts" which would minimize Khadija's importance. In selecting "facts" which they or their forerunners had invented, they considered themselves free to exercise their discretion - or their fantasy. But to make their accounts convincing, they had to be extremely subtle or else their animosity would become too obvious, and the worth of their works of history would become dubious.

2. The mercenary historians wanted to tell their readers that among the wives of the Prophet, there were some who were just as great or perhaps even greater, than Khadija, and that such a wife was Ayesha. They had to glorify Ayesha at the expense of Khadija.

These historians entertained no fear for the thesis which they were trying to develop from any other wife of Muhammed Mustafa but they were not sure if their efforts to show Ayesha as superior to Khadija would be successful. But they were serendipitous people and made the "discovery" that Khadija was forty years old, and was married twice before she married Muhammed. It was a "discovery" which, in their opinion, could militate against Khadija. On the other hand, they asserted that Ayesha was not only very young and beautiful but also was a virgin.

Through the exercise of such arbitrary logic the historians built up their thesis of the superiority of one wife over the other wives. But did the Prophet marry Ayesha for her youth, beauty and virginity? Abbas Mahmud al-Akkad answers this question in his book, Avesha. as follows: "As far as we know, the Messenger of Allah did not marry for children. Generally speaking, he married for two reasons, viz;

1. Some women became utterly helpless after the death of their husbands. They had no next-of-kin to support them. The Apostle married them to provide a home to them.

2. The Apostle wished to break the resistance of the Arab tribes to Islam. One way to do so was, for him to marry the women of those tribes." There was also a third reason for some of the marriages of the Prophet, viz., if he was a teacher for Muslim men, his wives had to be teachers for Muslim women, in all matters of faith and religion. They explained to the Muslim women the meaning of Quran, and they taught them how to apply the laws of Islam in their personal lives.

With the exception of Khadija, the Apostle married all other women for one or more of these reasons. His marriage with Khadija was the only one which rested upon affection, love and friendship; and for him, it fulfilled all the aims of marriage. Khadija also taught the laws of Islam to Muslim women but she did so more by example and less by precept as noted before.

The court historians of the Muslims have been repeating some falsehoods and half-truths for centuries, and through such repetition, they have succeeded in convincing the Muslim umma (=community) that Khadija was widowed twice before her marriage with Muhammed Mustafa.

Writing on the subject of the marriage of Khadija, the author of Raudhatus-Safa says: The principal hgures of Quraysh wished to marry Khadija and they proposed to her but she did not agree to marry any of them. (Volume 2, page 271). And the author of Raudhatul-Ahbab writes as follows:

All the nobles of Quraysh sought marriage with Khadija but she refused to consider any of them. (Volume 1, page 105). According to the venal historians, at her marriage with Muhammed Mustafa, Khadija was already widowed twice; and she was 40 years old. If this is true, then it means that she was already a middle-aged woman, or perhaps - in a country like Arabia - even past middle-age; and the bloom of youth had long since departed from her. Why were then the lords of Quraysh and the princes of the Arabs so eager to marry her? After all, being rich and powerful as they were, they could have very easily found many young and beautiful women, among them virgins, to marry. Why would they want to marry a widow who was not so young either? It will also not be correct to say that they were lured by Khadija's wealth. They were themselves very rich.

Allama Ali Ahmed Abul Qasim al-Kufi questions the story of the two marriages of Khadija before her marriage with Muhammed Mustafa. He writes in his book, Al-Istiphatha:

Khadija did not marry anyone before she married Muhammed Mustafa. All historians have unanimously stated that everyone of the chiefs of Quraysh proposed marriage to Khadija, but she turned down all those proposals with contempt. At length she married Muhammed Mustafa. This made the ladies of Quraysh very angry with her. They said that when the lords and princes proposed marriage to her, she refused. And yet, when a young man of Bani Hashim who did not have any wealth or power, proposed to her, she accepted. These ladies could not understand why Khadija spurned the requests of the rich and the powerful nobles of Arabia for marriage, and went ahead and married a poor man. This is proof that Khadija did not marry anyone before marrying Muhammed ibn Abdullah.

Some people pose the question that if it is assumed that Khadija was married twice before her marriage with Muhammed, and that she was 40 years old at her last marriage, is there anything reprehensible about it? No! If a man or a woman is married more than once or is 40 years old, there is nothing reprehensible about it. The question is not if it is true or false if Khadija was married more than once or if she was 40 years old at her last marriage. The only question is: is it a historical fact that Khadija was married thrice; or that she was 40 years old at her last marriage. It is not.

If one agrees with the venal historians that Khadija was married thrice, and she was 40 years old at her last marriage, nothing diminishes from her status. She remains sublime. But it is simply not true that she was a 40-year old widow when she married Muhammed Mustafa, and, therefore, it is unethical to interpolate falsehoods in the story of her life, or the life of any other man or woman, for that matter. Every man is entitled to his own opinions but not to his own facts. If a seeker of truth wishes to separate facts from opinions, he can do so with the aid of intellectual and logical analysis. His search for deduction from fixed principles will be a rewarding experience.

Zaynab, Rukayya and Umm Kulthum

Before Khadija married Muhammed Mustafa, there were three girls living in her house in Makka. Their names were Zaynab, Rukayya and Umm Kulthum. They were the daughters of her deceased sister. Their father had died earlier, and when their mother also died, Khadija brought them into her own house. After Khadija's marriage, all three girls stayed with her as her wards. They probably called Khadija their mother and they probably called Muhammed Mustafa their father. And according to Arab usage, they were known as his daughters because they lived in his house, and he was their legal guardian.

Zaynab was the eldest of these three girls. She was married to a man called Abul-As ibn er-Rabi'. In 624 he came with the pagan army of Makka, and fought against Muhammed Mustafa in the battle of Badr. He was captured but he ransomed his freedom, and returned to Makka. Later, he accepted Islam. The other two girls - Rukayya and Umm Kulthum - were married to Utba and Utayba - the sons of Abu Lahab and Umm Jameel. All three girls were married before the dawn of Islam; the husbands of all three, therefore, were idolaters.

After the Proclamation of Islam, Abu Lahab and his wife, Umm Jameel, both arch-enemies of Islam, were made subjects of a curse in chapter 111 of Quran Majid. This aroused their wrath, and they ordered their sons - Utba and Utayba - to divorce their wives and to send them to their home. Both girls - Rukayya and Umm Kulthum - were divorced, and they returned to the house of Khadija. Sometime later, Rukayya was married to Uthman bin Affan, a member of the Umayyad clan of the Quraysh, and a future khalifa of the Muslims. She died in 624 in Medina. After her death, her sister, Umm Kulthum, was also married to Uthman b. Affan.

Muhammad Husayn Haykal

He (Muhammad) married Ruqayyah and Umm Kulthum to Utbah and Utaybah, the sons of his uncle, Abu Lahab. These marriages did not last, for soon after the advent of Islam, Abu Lahab ordered his two sons to divorce their wives. It was Uthman that married both of them one after the other. (The Life of Muhammad, Cairo, 1935)

The court historians of the Umayyads, "inspired" by Muawiya bin Abu Sufyan, the founder of the Umayyad dynasty, and his successors, claimed that Rukayya and Umm Kulthum were the daughters of Muhammed Mustafa and Khadija. Since they were married to Uthman - an Umayyad - they called him Dhawin-Nuravn, i.e., "the owner of two lights" - Rukayya and Umm Kulthum. Yet only a little earlier, both of these "lights" had belonged to two idolaters of Makka. Each of these idolaters was, therefore a Dhawin-Nur - the owner of one "light" which he passed on to Uthman. After all, the "light" or the "lights" remained the same; only the ownership changed!

Were these girls the daughters of Muhammed Mustafa and Khadija as claimed by the mercenary historians? The answer to this question should be sought in (A) Quran Majid, and (B) the testimony of history. Their answer, set forth hereunder, is unequivocal: A. The Testimony of Quran Majid

If the light of guidance of the Book of Allah means anything to the Muslims, then these three girls - Zaynab, Rukayya and Umm Kulthum - were not, and could not have been the daughters of the Apostle of God and Khadija. They were orphans. The only connection the three of them had with Muhammed and Khadija, was that at one time they lived in their house. Khadija was a patroness of orphans (and widows) even before her marriage.

If Muhammed Mustafa and Khadija had been the parents of these three girls - Zaynab, Rukayya and Umm Kulthum - they would not have given them in marriage to the worshippers of idols which the husbands of all three of them were. It is true that all three girls were married before the sun of Islam rose above the horizon; but then, Muhammed did not violate any of the imperatives of Quran Majid at any time - before or after he was ordained messenger of Allah. Muhammed never committed a pagan act at any time in his life. And Quran is explicit on the prohibition of the marriage of a Muslim woman to a pagan.

The proscriptive commandment on the marriage of a Muslim woman and a polytheist was revealcd in the following verses of the Book of Allah:

1. DO NOT MARRY (YOUR GIRLS) TO UNBELIEVERS. (Chapter 2; verse 221)

2. BELIEVING WOMEN ARE NOT LAWFUL (WIVES) FOR THE UNBELIEVERS, NOR ARE THE (UNBELIEVERS) LAWFUL (HUSBANDS) FOR THEM. There are other verses in Quran which, without referring specifically to marriage, make it impossible for a Muslim to give his daughter or daughters to an idolater. Some of them are:

1....THE CURSE OF ALLAH IS ON THOSE WITHOUT FAITH. (Chapter 2; verse 89)

2....ALLAH IS AN ENEMY TO THOSE WHO REJECT FAITH. (Chapter 2; verse 98)

3. O YE WHO BELIEVE! TRULY THE PAGANS ARE UNCLEAN. (Chapter 9; verse

No Muslim would be so reckless as to presume that Muhammed Mustafa contravened the prohibitions of Quran by giving his daughters to those men whom Allah has cursed: whose enemy He is, and who are unclean. To a Muslim, the verses of Quran Majid quoted above, prove conclusively that Zaynab, Rukayya and Umm Kulthum, all three, married at one time to the idolaters, were not the daughters of Muhammed Mustafa and Khadija.

A Muslim - any Muslim - even a "marginal" or a "statistical" Muslim - will bridle if it is suggested to him that he give his daughter or daughters in marriage to an idolater or even to a Jew or a Christian. Yet the same Muslim - and the situation reeks with irony - will believe, without so much as a twinge, that his own Prophet, Muhammed Mustafa - the Interpreter and Promulgator of Quran - gave three of his daughters to three idol-worshippers in Makka!

B. The Testimony of History

Muhammed Mustafa was extremely fond of children. He was especially fond of the children of his daughter, Fatima Zahra. Her children - Hasan and Husain - were the pupils of his eyes. He pampered them. They rode on his neck and shoulders even when he was leading public prayers. He even interrupted his speeches to play with them if they came into the mosque. When they were with him, he forgot all the burdens, cares and problems of state and government. They brought to him the happiest moments of his life. And it appeared as if he could not bestow enough encomiums upon them and their mother. It is, therefore, a matter of historical curiosity why he never mentioned Zaynab, Rukayya and Umm Kulthum at any time. The parents give same love to all their children, and do not make any distinction between them. But judging by the traditions and historical literature of the time, the Apostle was not even aware that three women called Zaynab, Rukayya and Umm Kulthum existed.

For the Messenger of Allah, the years in Makka following the Proclamation of Islam, were fraught with perils. Every day brought new perils and new challenges to him. And yet, Rukayya and Umm Kulthum are never mentioned as giving any service to their father at any time. On the other hand, his daughter, Fatima Zahra, helped him, both in Makka and Medina, in various emergencies. Both Rukayya and Umm Kulthum were many years older than Fatima. They ought to have comforted their father whenever he was oppressed by the infidels in Makka or was wounded in battles in Medina. But they never did.

The truth made manifest both by the prohibitions of the Book of Allah, and by the logic of history, is that Rukayya and Umm Kulthum were not the daughters of Muhammed Mustafa and Khadija.

The subject of the age, the alleged marriages and the number of children of Khadija, is not one on which the faith of a Muslim depends; it does not. But a Muslim must uphold historical integrity. Khadija was the benefactress of Islam and the Muslims. The least that the Muslims can do to acknowledge their gratitude to her, is not to twist facts into pretzels still less to fabricate "facts" of their own; and to distort plain truths into conundrums. Truth must be upheld at all costs whether it benefits or hurts friends or foes.

A man may be eager to show his loyalty to his heroes, and the cult of hero worship may prompt him to glorify them. But if he is a Muslim, he must not do so at the expense of truth. If he does, he will merit the displeasure of Allah Who says in His Book:

1. AND COVER NOT TRUTH WITH FALSEHOOD, NOR CONCEAL THE TRUTH WHEN YE KNOW (WHAT IT IS). (Chapter 2; verse 42)

2....WHO IS MORE UNJUST THAN THOSE WHO CONCEAL THE TESTIMONY THEY HAVE FROM ALLAH? BUT ALLAH IS NOT UNMINDFUL OF WHAT YE DO!

3. THOSE WHO CONCEAL THE CLEAR (SIGNS) WE HAVE SENT DOWN, AND THE GUIDANCE, AFTER WE HAVE MADE IT CLEAR FOR THE PEOPLE IN THE BOOK, - ON THEM SHALL BE ALLAH'S CURSE, AND THE CURSE OF THOSE ENTITLED TO CURSE, (Chapter 2; verse 159)

4. CONCEAL NOT EVIDENCE; FOR WHOEVER CONCEALS IT, - HIS HEART IS TAINTED WITH SIN. AND ALLAH KNOWETH ALL THAT YE DO. (Chapter 2; verse

Allah has commanded Muslims to acknowledge and to express their gratitude for the bounties He has given them. BUT THE BOUNTY OF THY LORD REHEARSE AND PROCLAIM (Chapter 93; verse 11)

If Muslims are sincere in expressing their gratitude to Khadija, they should spike the falsehoods vis-a-vis the story of her life. These falsehoods have been in circulation for much too long. There is no better way for the Muslims to "rehearse and to proclaim" the bounty of the Lord than by giving their loyalty to Truth - to Absolute Truth. By giving their loyalty to Truth, they will also win the pleasure of Allah Ta'ala. Khadija was the favorite slave of Allah, and the first wife of His friend and messenger, Muhammed Mustafa. She was unique; she was incomparable, and she was a "special" in the sight of Allah Who sent His greetings and salutations to her through the Archangel Gabriel!

May Allah bless His slave, Khadija.

The following verses of Quran Majid are addressed to those sincere and loving slaves of Allah who put His pleasure ahead of their own pleasure, and who seek His pleasure in selfless service to His Creation. Khadija was one of the foremost of those slaves of Allah.

(To the soul of the righteous will be said:)

"O THOU SOUL, IN (COMPLETE) REST AND SATISFACTION! COME BACK THOU TO THY LORD, WELL-PLEASED (THYSELF), AND WELL-PLEASED UNTO HIM! ENTER THOU, THEN, AMONG MY DEVOTEES! YEA, ENTER THOU MY HEAVEN!" (Chapter 89, verses 27-30)

May Allah bless Khadija and may He elevate her to the highest ranks in the hierarchy of His true and faithful friends. May Allah bless Muhammed Mustafa, and his Ahlel-Bayt. Through him mankind received the Blessing of Light of Islam.