Farewell first lady of Islam

Salaam friends; we offer you condolences on a day of grief. Today is that sad day in the annals of Islamic history when the First Lady of Islam, Omm al-Momineen or the Mother of all True Believers, Hazrat Khadija (peace upon her) passed away from the mortal world, leaving in profound grief, her beloved husband, Prophet Mohammad (blessings of God upon him and his progeny).

For your information, in Islamic terminology, based on God's revelation in the holy Qur'an, Omm al-Momineen or Mother of Believers is the title used for any of the several women who had the honour of being the wife of the Messenger of Mercy (blessings of God upon him and his progeny). According to the exegetes of the Heavenly Scripture, the Almighty by designating the wives of the Prophet as "Mothers" to Muslims, made them unlawful for any other man after the passing away of the Prophet, so as to preserve the dignity of their conjugal bond with the Seal of Messengers. The exegetes add that the reason behind this Divine Revelation was the secret desire of a companion of the Prophet called Talha ibn Obaidollah to marry a certain wife of the Prophet, if he passes away, since that particular lady in whom he was interested, happened to be the sister of the wife of his bosom friend, Zubair ibn Awaam.

Glory to God for thwarting the designs of the ill-wishers by promoting the wives of the Prophet to the status of Mothers of Believers, so that they would be unlawful for marriage to others after him! Yet, despite God's commandment for use of this honourific title, the fact is that only one of the nine women the middle-aged Prophet had taken as wives in the last ten years of his life in Medina, out of social necessity (to break the customs of the Days of Ignorance), could become the physical mother of the Prophet's offspring. She was Maria the Egyptian who gave birth to Ibrahim, who, however died in infancy.

Perhaps, for non-Muslims, unfamiliar with details about the Prophet's life, the questions might arise: Did he ever marry in youth, and if so, with whom, and was there any issue from this union?

It is here that the significance of the 10^th of Ramadhan comes to the fore. It is the day on which the Prophet became a widower at the age of 51 years with the departure from the mortal world of the First Lady of Islam, who for over a quarter century was his one and only wife, and the only one who guaranteed the continuation of his progeny.

Today is thus that sad day in history on which the weeping Prophet laid the Mother of all True Believers, Khadija bint Khuwailed (peace upon her), in grave in the gorge outside Mecca where his uncle Abu Taleb had taken the persecuted neo-Muslim community under his protection during three tortuous years of the socio-economic siege imposed by the Arab pagans.

It is the day, when the Prophet’s only surviving child, daughter Fatema Zahra (peace upon her) became an orphan.

It is thus the day of bereavement for all Saadaat (plural of Seyyed) or the descendants of Hazrat Fatema and Imam Ali ibn Abu Taleb (peace upon them), who have multiplied and spread today all over the world.

It is the day on which the Prophet was a picture of grief at the passing away of his beloved wife who had spent all her proverbial wealth for the food, clothing and shelter of the persecuted Muslims to the extent that except for a few meagre household items, nothing remained as inheritance for her only surviving child, daughter Hazrat Fatema (peace upon her).

Khadija (peace upon her), was a distant cousin of the Prophet from the Bani Asad branch of the family. She had married him when he was 25 year old, while she was a few years older and had remained a spotlessly pure virgin, earning the reputation of Tahera or the Pure in the society of Arabia.

Unlike the other marriages of the Prophet later in life, this was the only union that was sealed in the celestial heavens, since this wedlock had a purpose behind. It was to give humanity an Infallible line of divinely-guided leaders, the last of whom is the awaited Saviour of mankind, Imam Mahdi (may God hasten his reappearance to cleanse the world of all vestiges of corruption and oppression by establishing the global government of peace, prosperity and justice).

She was the Prophet’s only wife whom God had saluted through His archangel. It is written that once Gabriel descended to the Prophet of Islam and said: “O Muhammad! Khadijah is coming in your presence; convey salutations of Allah to her and give her glad tidings that Allah has made a house for her in Paradise wherein there is neither grief nor sorrow.”

Accordingly, the Prophet of Islam conveyed to her the Almighty’s greetings and the First Lady of Islam thanked God Almighty, glorified Him as the Source of all peace, serenity, and salutations, and prostrated to Him out of gratitude.

Thus, in this hour of grief, the widowed Prophet was soothed by his loving uncle and guardian since childhood, Abu Taleb, who over a quarter century earlier had solemnized the nuptials of this made-for-each-other-pair, and who like Khadija and the other members of the Hashemite-Asad clan was a monotheist untainted by the worship of idols. It is worth noting that Abu Taleb also passed away the next Ramadhan on the 7^th before completion of one full year of the departure of the Prophet’s wife, and hence this year is known as “Aam al-Hozn” or Year of Profound Grief in Islamic history for the Prophet.

It is interesting to note that the Almighty chose the son of Abu Taleb, that is, Imam Ali (AS), to marry the daughter of Khadija, that is, Hazrat Fatema (peace upon her) so that these two pure persons would be the progenitors of the Prophet's progeny, the Ahl al-Bait, whose unsullied purity God Himself vouches in ayah 33 of Surah Roum with the words:

"Allah desires to keep away uncleanness from you Ahl al-Bayt and preserve you thoroughly purified."

Thus, in view of these undeniable facts, Islam and all true Muslims will forever remain indebted to the sacrifices of the Mother of all True Believers (Omm al-Momineen), whose memory the Prophet used to cherish all his life despite taking as wives nine women out of social necessity in the last ten years of his life. Once, when one of his spouses tried to speak of herself as a better one, the Prophet reprimanded her, by saying:

"By God, the Almighty did not grant me a better wife than her. She believed in me when the people used to mock at me and she acknowledged me when the people denied me. She shared her wealth and property with me and she bore me children which I was not destined to have through other women."

But how did the Muslims treat the children of the Prophet and Khadija?

The sad answer is that they showed ingratitude, and by ignoring even the Divine Commandment of love for the Ahl al-Bayt, they deprived them of not just their political rule of the Islamic state, but seized from Hazrat Fatema (peace upon her), her patrimony of Fadak. The tragedy is that these so-called Muslims also cruelly martyred Hazrat Khadija's grandson, Imam Husain (AS) in Karbala, along with his children and companions.

Hence God Almighty has decreed the reappearance of the Immaculate Khadija's Infallible Descendant, Imam Mahdi (AS) in the end times the fill the world with peace, prosperity, and justice.

To end this radio programme, we cite a famous statement of the Prophet – also mentioned by our Sunni brethren – calling Khadija (peace upon her) as one of the four most perfectly virtuous ladies of all time – the other three being: Mary the Mother of Jesus, Asiya bint Muzahim, the monotheist wife of the tyrant Pharaoh, and last but the greatest of them all, Hazrat Fatema Zahra (peace upon them).

AS/SS