Khadijah al-Kubra رضي الله عنها born Khadijah bint Khuwalid was a modest, noble woman, business savvy female, single mother who became the first companion of the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ. A woman who received salams from al-Khaliq is engrossing and intriguing, at least to me. In a restricting society that had a poor view of women in general, she rose above all these society setbacks because she was loyal and a steadfast believer. Indeed, Allah ﷻ is with the sabarareen. She رضي الله عنها was also the only woman who gave the Prophet ﷺ children. While he ﷺ was married to her, he didn’t have any other wives. It’s only after she رضي الله عنها passed away that he ﷺ took other wives.

There are so many lessons from her life we can take inspiration from.

An inspiration for the business aspiring or savvy muslimah

Today, if we just search Instagram and Etsy, we will see many muslimah home businesses thriving masha’Allah. Many have taken inspiration on this Mother of the Ummah. We must thank her, the first Mother of Believers for paving the way. Islam was the first movement to give women their rights and equal status to men but nowadays, the ummah is largely and unfortunately dominated by patriarchal societies which work day and night to clip the wings of Muslim women around the world. Why is that? They fear strong and independent women. In addition, many women have also been the enemies of women by failing their sons and raising entitled little brats who think women are their doormats. Furthermore, these women have also opposed (and still oppose) the success of working women and most of all, they shame them. May Allah help us raise exceptional men who will change the change quo. Aameen. May women also stop sabotaging their own gender, allahumma aameen. In the story, of Khadijah al-Kubra (radiallahu anhu), we can also learn to manage money better and not commit ishrafno matter what. I say this because I’m a business owner and my rizq was taken away and then given back alhamdullilah because I had not been frugal on every enterprise. Paying approximately $80 or exorbitant prices on the black market for the needy was indeed a noble gesture but it’s still waste. This waste bankrupted her and without trying to sully her memory, I believe it’s a subtle sign for us small business homemakers to reflect upon and not make the mistakes of our predecessors. We are all sinners after all and no Beloved of Allah is above that. May Allah forgive her and always be please with her رضي الله عنها . Aameen.

An inspiration for the struggling single mother

The world doesn’t change, only norms do. In her رضي الله عنها time, single mothers were a catch masha’Allah. How did we get to shun them away in our current society? Shaytan perhaps is at play here so that these women become desperate and try to marry non-Muslims men or worse become indecent by starting dating and seeing men outside the holy matrimony of marriage. If men with their fixation of marrying only virgins or any other women who can serve their immigration or carnal needs strove to be model themselves after the beautiful example the Prophet ﷺ when it came to how to be an ideal Muslim man, they would contribute greatly to the social welfare that is the institution of marriage, they would do their part.

An inspiration for the educated

She was the first lady imam. And if you are a mother, you have been an imam at least to your children. And many of these men children become and have become world leading and inspiring imams since the final message was revealed subhanallah. Muslim women have been the spiritual leaders for many centuries masha’Allah alhamdullilah. Allah has made women to be subtle like the moon when it’s appropriate and to be fiery as the sun when it’s appropriate. Khadijah al-Kubra رضي الله عنها was one very subtle educated woman because she learned directly from him ﷺ the religion she believed in even before she married him ﷺ . Perhaps some of her teachings flushed through her children, Fatima رضي الله عنها to be more precise. Allahu alim. Khadijah al-Kubra رضي الله عنها didn’t flaunt her knowledge to anyone nor did she flaunt or showoff her belongings for everyone to see and know. She kept it classy. If Allah had willed it, we would have learned many hadiths from her because she was married to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ for several years but He ﷻ blessed her in many other ways He didn’t blessed the other wives with; the first one being sending her special salams masha’Allah subhanallah.

An inspiration in Muslim marriages

She رضي الله عنها catered to the needs of the Prophet ﷺ like a wife and a mother would. That said, he ﷺwasn’t just anyone. Many men who wish for a wife like her رضي الله عنها need to show that they, in turn, deserve a wife of that stature. Nonetheless, she gives many women a lot of marriage goals to achieve without becoming a doormat to lousy, entitled, and abusive husbands. A rich woman like her رضي الله عنها managed to keep her naf in check to serve a man less rich than her رضي الله عنها . Khadijah al-Kubra
رضي الله عنها believed in the Prophet ﷺ with such a vigor that none of us could even match in this life. Many of us see men as deadbeats or losers.

An inspiration to the limitless

Khadijah al-Kubra رضي الله عنها didn’t put any limits on herself; whether it be in numbers like age or backward societies thinking that believed women to be less than equal to men or cattle and so forth. She رضي الله عنها was older than of the Prophet ﷺ and she still proposed. She had a flair for good business transactions such as the heed of the stranger not to hesitate to marry a righteous man called Ahmad for the benefit of the akhiret; a lucrative business transaction indeed if you ask me when it comes to endless bliss. She had always been a woman with a keen sense of success. Masha’Allah. Many people beat around the bush when opportunities come knocking instead of opening the door to take the blessing. Allah doesn’t burden a soul with more than he can handle!

An inspiration to decent women

Many men wanted to marry Khadijah al-Kubra رضي الله عنها after she became a widow. She rose about her carnal needs and said no to them. She decided to give her all to raise her children. Besides, she didn’t think any of these men were fit men to wed. And because she didn’t compromise or settle for lousy and mediocre suitors, she was blessed with the best man to walk the earth masha’Allah alhamdullilah.

An inspiration for the righteous philanthropist

Khadijah al-Kubra رضي الله عنها gave her riches for the sake of Allah without thinking it would bankrupt her. She spent without reserve to advance the religion. How many of us can do that today without “our generosity” getting into our heads or our nafs getting in the way? How many of us are willing to sacrifice this much and leave our children without a will? Her daughter Fatima رضي الله عنها had one of the toughest life recorded in the history of the ummah. Subhanallah.

An inspiration for the hidden figures

“Behind a great man, there is always a great woman,” the saying goes. People are forgetting their manners by not saying thank you. While not working for a “thank you” is better, people have become rude. If you can’t thank people, you haven’t thanked Allah. He ﷺ was always grateful that Khadijah al-Kubra رضي الله عنها believed and supported Him ﷺ. You help people today, they think they have arrived. They deny the favors their Lord bestowed upon them via other humans. Don’t twist my words and say I’m associating humans to Allah. But wait, it’s their scroll of deeds, and they should fill it with whatever they wish. Also, everybody and their mothers, excuse my language, today is “a public figure” on social media. We hate being eclipsed by the success of others. We envy people without making duato ask Allah to remove that jealousy from our hearts. We disregard the notion of rizq. Everywhere there is fitna and people only faking it until they make it with their number of followers without realizing that it borders on shirk if we really think about it. The only Evident yet Hidden is Allah and many of us seem to forget it. We appoint ourselves lofty titles knowing full well that we are only fooling ourselves. Man as vicegerent has taken too many liberties, astaghfrirullah. Allahu alim. We seem to forget that if we make Allah ﷻ the true spotlight, He will always shine the light upon us, and we will naturally prosper by His ﷻ will insha’Allah. We should strive to give dawah, live a good life with the proceeds by always putting the spotlight on al-Khaliq via our works and without trying to make everything about ourselves. That’s called narcissism.

Above all, if as women and men we feel like we are business oriented, we must be entrepreneur leaders who pay their workers well, individuals with a remarkable business flair when it comes to this life and the next without crossing the greed line. We must remain loyal, steadfast in faith, trendsetters and most of all, dependable. For fifteen years and more, the Prophet ﷺ depended on her رضي الله عنها and she depended on him and his teachings to secure a safe akhiret. Masha’Allah.

Original article

Papatia Feauxzar

Online Editor at Hayati Magazine