The Year of Grief
For about three years the Holy Prophets along with other Muslims, and the people belonging to Banu Haashim and Banu Muttalib remained in Shi'b Abi Taalib in a pitiful condition. When the boycott was over, everyone among them went back to his dwelling to live a normal life, however the health of Abu Taalib as well as of Khadijah was failing.
Shortly after their return from the Shi'b, the Holy Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, suffered two grievous bereavements. His uncle Abu Taalib and his beloved and faithful wife Hazrat Sayyedah Khadijah", both passed away, one after -Innaa lillaahi wa innaa ilaibi raa إنا لله وإنا إليه راجعون .the other jioon-Surely, to Allah we belong and to Him shall we return'].
There can be no doubt that their ill health was caused by the sufferings during their prolonged confinement in the Shi'b.
Abu Taalib was more than eighty years old when he died. He was like a father to the Holy Prophets. The Holy Prophets was very fond of him and he, too, loved his nephew deeply.
During the days of his illness, the Holy Propheta visited him regularly. So long as he was alive, the Holy Prophet™ had no need to fear violence or attack from the opponents. After his death there was no such human hand to protect him from his enemies.
Abu Taalib was a very good leader and the whole of Makkah mourned his death.
Hazrat Khadijah, may Allah be pleased with her, was the sol- ace and comfort to the Holy Prophets for a quarter of a century. When none believed in his mission and the people of Makkah employed every means to stop his message, Hazrat Khadijah™ remained his best companion and helper. She was always ready to do everything possible for the service of Islam. Her death was, thus, a severe blow to the Holy Prophet.
She died at the age of sixty-five in the tenth year of Prophet- hood (619 AD) in the month of Ramadhaan and was buried in the Makkan cemetery of Hajoon. Hajoon is the name of a moun- tain, which lies towards the north of Makkah. All Muslims were present at her funeral. The Holy Prophet, himself, placed the body into the grave. As the body was lowered into the grave every eye was wet with tears. It is related that the Holy Prophet, too, burst into sobs. No funeral service was held because the funeral service was not established in Islam up to that time.
Throughout the rest of his life, the Holy Prophets cherished her memory tenderly and often recalled her loyalty and devotion to him.
The tenth year of hijra is known as the Year of Grief in the history of Islam because both Abu Taalib and Khadijah passed away during that year.
Centuries after the death of Hazrat Khadijah", in 950 A.H a beautiful wooden dome was built on the grave, which, accord- ing to historical records, was repaired in 1298 A.H. It is believed that 'Abdul Muttalib and Abu Taalib were also buried in the same cemetery. Nowadays, however, there is no sign of any tomb or grave- stone on the graves. It is therefore difficult to locate their graves.
Daughters of The Holy Prophet
From among the daughters of Hazrat Khadijah" and the Holy Prophet Muhammad saw, Zainab was the eldest. Ruqayyah was three years younger than her and Umme Kulsoom was a year younger than Ruqayyah".
Hazrat Khadijah took great care in their upbringing. Love of Islam was inculcated in their hearts. They also inherited qualities like generosity, sympathy for the poor and faithfulness to their husbands, from their revered mother.
Zainab
Zainab was born five years after the marriage, and ten years before the Holy Prophet, may peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, was appointed as the Messenger of Allah. When Zainab reached a marriageable age, the Holy Prophet and Hazrat Khadijah", gave her hand in marriage to a young man called Abul'Aas.
Abul'Aas was the son of Hazrat Khadijah's sister Haallah. He was a successful trader and was known for his honesty in the Arab society. Khadijah was very fond of him and looked upon him as her own son.
Zainab had accepted Islam but Haallah and her son Abul'Aas had not become Muslims at that early stage.
The people of Makkah were against this marriage. They tried their utmost to persuade Abul'Aas to divorce his wife and choose any of their daughters instead. In reply Abul'Aas said, 'I will not bear separation from my wife. Neither do I desire any other woman from amongst your daughters.
The Holy Prophet and Hazrat Khadijah appreciated his faithfulness to Zainab. The attachment between Abul'Aas and his wife was mutual, for when the family of the Holy Prophetsaw migrated to Madinah; Zainab remained behind at Makkah with her husband. Hazrat Khadijah" died in the year 619 AD while her daughter Zainab" was still living in Makkah.
It so happened that Abul'Aas took part in the Battle of Badr and fought against the Muslims. The Makkans were defeated and Abul'Aas was taken prisoner along with many other Makkans. The Quraish sent men with money and other valuables to ransom their prisoners. Hazrat Zainab also sent some articles by way of ransom for her husband. These articles included a necklace, which Hazrat Khadijah, may Allah be pleased with her, had given to her daughter as part of her dowry.
The Holy Prophet saw saw this necklace. It reminded him of his beloved wife Khadijah" and he was overwhelmed with emotion. He said to his Companions, 'I have no authority to give you any decision in this matter, however I know that this necklace is cher- ished by Zainab as a last memento of her deceased mother. I there- fore suggest that she should not be deprived of it and it may be returned to her.' The Companions agreed readily. As a condition of his freedom, however, the Holy Prophet said to Abul'Aas to send Zainab to Madinah as soon as possible. Abul'Aas promised to do so.
Soon after he returned to Makkah, Abul'Aas sent his wife Zainab to Madinah, along with his brother Kinaanah. She was pregnant at that time. When the Quraish came to know about her departure from Makkah, they sent some people in pursuit, determined to stop her going to her father. One of them was called Habbaar bin Aswad. Habbaar saw her mounted on a camel. He stepped forward and struck the camel with a spear. The camel went out of control. Zainab fell down. She was frightened. The shock was so great that she had a miscarriage.
Kinaanah managed to make the camel sit down. He took his bow and arrows and was ready to shoot the attackers when Abu Sufyaan appeared on the scene. He said to Kinaanah, 'Don't start shooting. Listen! We have suffered a crushing defeat at the hands of Muhammad at Badr recently. If Zainab goes to her father now, it would be regarded as weakness of the people of Makkah. She should return to Makkah now. Let the dust settle. Then she could go secretly to her father in Madinah. Kinaanah agreed to this.
Accordingly Zainab" went back to Makkah and after a few days she managed to get out of Makkah secretly and Kinaanah handed her over to Zaid", whom the Holy Prophet had sent to bring her. They reached Madinah safely.
Three or four years later Abul'Aas was made prisoner again, and brought to Madinah. He was returning with a Makkan car- avan from Syria. The people of Makkah were hostile to Muslims.
Even their caravans used to incite the people to attack Muslims. When the caravan reached at a place called Ees, a small j party of the Muslims, patrolling the area, overpowered it and took the people of the caravan to Madinah. During the night Abul'Aas approached his wife and asked her guarantee of protection. In the morning when Muslims assembled in the mosque for Fajr Prayer, Zainab called out aloud from her apartment and announced that she had given guarantee of protection to her hus-band Abul'Aas.
After the Prayer, the Holy Prophet addressed the worship- pers and said, 'You have heard what my daughter had said. I call Allah to witness that I knew nothing of her guarantee until this moment. I suggest that we should honour her pledge. They all agreed. Abul'Aas was set free and all his property was returned.
After reaching Makkah, he returned all the articles and val- uables; people had deposited with him because of his honesty, and cleared all his debts. After managing all his affairs at Makkah, Abul'Aas, may Allah be pleased with him, announced his accept- ance of Islam and shortly afterwards returned to Madinah and joined his wife. His domestic life, however, did not last very long. Hazrat Zainab, may God be pleased with her, died in 8 AH from the illness caused by the enemy's attack during her journey from Makkah to Madinah. She was about thirty years old at the time of her death.
Ruqayyah and Umme Kulsoom
Both Ruqayyah and Umm-e-Kulsoom" were engaged to 'Utbah and 'Utaibah respectively. They were the sons of Abu Lahb, an uncle of the Holy Prophet.
When God chose the Holy Prophet Muhammad saw for conveying His message to the whole of mankind, the people of Makkah, apart from a few, turned against him. Abu Lahb and his wife Umm-e-Jameel opposed him tooth and nail. They did not want their sons to marry the daughters of the Holy Prophet saw. The people of Makkah also approached Abu Lahb and his wife and demanded that 'Utbah and 'Utaibah should leave their fiancées. The engagements were thus broken. The Holy Prophet saw and his wife Hazrat Khadijah then looked for some other matches for their daughters. Hazrat 'Uthmaan" was a young man at that time. The Holy Prophet, may peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, gave her daughter Ruqayyah" in marriage to him. They lived hap- pily but in 2 AH, Hazrat Ruqayyah" died. A year after her death, the Holy Prophet gave his third daughter Umm-e-Kulsoom", in marriage to Hazrat 'Uthmaan". She too died in 9 AH when she was only twenty-eight years old.
Faatimah
Faatimah was the youngest of the daughters of the Holy Prophets. She was only fifteen when her mother Hazrat Khadijah died. About three years after the migration from Makkah to Madinah the Holy Prophets gave her hand to Hazrat Ali in marriage. The Holy Prophets performed the nikah cere- mony and the haq mahr was fixed at four hundred dirhams.
Hazrat Ali and Hazrat Faatimah" had five children. Three of them were boys, Hasan, Husain" and Mohsin" and two were daughters, Zainab and Umme Kulsoom". Mohsin" died when he was quite young.
All those who claim to be the progeny of the Holy Prophetsa are the descendants of Hasan and Husain".
Hazrat Faatimah, may Allah be pleased with her, died six months after the demise of the Holy Prophets. She was approx - imately thirty years old at the time of her death.
The Best Woman of Her Time
The Holy Prophet Muhammad, may peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, married several women after the death of Hazrat Khadijah", but never forgot his first wife. Throughout the rest of his life, he cherished her memory tenderly and often recalled her loyalty, kindness and devotion to him. He used to say that she was the best woman of her time. Hazrat Ali" relates that the Holy Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, said, "The best woman of her time was Mary, daughter of Imraan, and the best woman of her time is Khadijah", daughter of Khuwailid.'
According to another hadith narrated by Hazrat Anas™, the Holy Prophet said, 'It is enough for you to follow in the footsteps of Mary, daughter of Imraan; Khadijah", daughter of Khuwailid; Faatimah, daughter of Muhammad; and Aasiyah, wife of Pharaoh, from among all the women of the world.
Once the Holy Prophet saw was in the house of Hazrat 'Aaishah when Haallah, sister of Khadijah", came to visit him and sought permission to enter the house. The Holy Prophetsa was overcome with emotion. He said, "This must be Haallah. Her voice sounds like Khadijah. He hurried to the door and welcomed her. The Holy Prophet always had great regard for the relatives and friends of Hazrat Khadijah". Whenever any of Khadijah's friends or relatives visited him, he would stand up to receive the visitor.
The Holy Prophet, may peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, always remembered the generosity of his wife Khadijah”, so whenever he slaughtered an animal, he would send a portion of the meat to the friends of Hazrat Khadijah". He also told his wives never to overlook them on such occasions.
Hazrat Aaishah" relates that she did not envy any of the wives of the Holy Prophet so much as she envied Khadijah", though she had never seen her.
The Holy Prophets used to praise Hazrat Khadijah" most often and stressed her virtues and the sacrifices that she had made for the cause of Islam. On one such occasion Hazrat Aaishaha could no longer control herself. She said to the Holy Prophet, *O, Messenger of Allah! Why do you talk so much of the old lady? God has given you better, younger and more attractive wives. The Holy Prophet was overcome by emotion when he heard this. He said, 'Oh, No, Aaishah! You have no idea how good Khadijah™ was to me. She believed in the truthfulness of my claim when oth- ers rejected me. She became my best companion and helper when others forsook me. Moreover God has blessed me with children from her. All his children, except one boy Ibraaheem", were from Hazrat Khadijah.
Hazrat Aaishah says that she was very sorry for her remarks about Hazrat Khadijah" and resolved that in future she would not talk about Hazrat Khadijah" in such manner so as to dis- please the Holy Prophet.
The Holy Prophet remembered Hazrat Khadijah even on the occasion of Fall of Makkah, though about ten years had passed on her death. It is related that he directed his Companions to pitch his tent at a place, outside the cemetery of Hajoon, where he could be close to the final resting place of Hazrat Khadijah.
Glad Tidings of A House In Heaven
Hazrat Khadijah, may Allah be pleased with her, was given the glad tidings that she will have a palace made of pearls in paradise, with no noise or household cares to trouble her.
Hazrat Abu Hurairah related that the angel Jibraa'eel came to the Holy Prophets and said, 'Messenger of Allah! Here comes Khadijah" who is bringing a utensil in which there is some food and condiments. When she sees you, give her the salutation of peace from her Lord and salutation of peace from me and give her good news that she will have a house made of shining pearls in paradise, wherein there would be no clamour and no disturbance.'
Hazrat Khadijah, herself, related that one-day she went in search of the Holy Prophets towards the hills outside the city of Makkah. She was carrying some food for the Holy Prophet A stranger approached her and asked questions about the Holy Prophet. She became worried and thought that the person might do some harm to the Holy Prophet saw. Later she related the whole incident to the Holy Prophets. The Holy Prophet said, "The person you met was Jibraa'eel. He had directed me to convey to you salutation of peace from God and the good news that God will bless you with a house, made of pearls, in heaven in which there would be no noise and no cause for fatigue.
After receiving the message of salutations of peace from Allah, the Almighty and from Hazrat Jibraa'eel through the Holy Prophet Muhammad, Hazrat Khadijah" commented, 'Allah, Himself, is a Source of Peace. As regards Jibraa'eel, may peace be upon Jibraa'eel and may peace and blessings be upon you O, Prophet.' Hazrat Khadijah, Mother of the Faithful, may God be pleased with her, is the ideal of womanhood in Islam. She devoted her entire life to the service of God, as did the Holy Prophet. May Allah shower His choicest blessings on both of them.
[All praise belongs to Allah, Lord of the worlds'].
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