*An historic photo of how Mu’alla was before the demolition of the tombs. The main central tomb was of Ummul Mu’mineen Khadijah (RadhiAllahu anha). Others known to be resting here include Abd Manaf, the great, great-grandfather, Hashim the great-grandfather, Abdul Muttalib the grandfather and Qasim the son of the our Prophet (SallAllahu alaihi wasallam).

For more information on Khadija you can read Tamam Kahn’s book “Untold: A History of the Wives of the Prophet Muhammad.”

Khadījah bint Khuwaylid (Arabic: خديجة بنت خويلد) or Khadījah al-Kubra (Khadija the great) (circa 555–619 CE) was the first wife of the prophet Muhammad (saw). She was the daughter of Khuwaylid …ibn Asad and Fatimah bint Za’idah and belonged to the clan of Banu Hashim. She is important in Islam as Muhammad’s first wife, and one of the “mothers of the believers”.

Khadijah’s father, Khuwaylid ibn Asad, who died around 585, was a merchant, a successful businessman whose vast wealth and business talents were inherited by Khadijah, who successfully managed her father’s business interests and preserved the family’s fortune. It is said that when Quraysh’s trade caravans gathered to embark upon their lengthy and arduous journey either to Syria during the summer or to Yemen during the winter, Khadijah’s caravan equalled the caravans of all other traders of Quraish put together. Fatimah bint Za’idah – Khadijah’s mother – died around 575, a member of the Banu `Amir ibn Luayy ibn Ghalib tribe and a distant relative of Muhammad (saw)

Khadijah earned three titles: Ameerat-Quraish (Princess of Quraish) and al-Tahira (the Pure One), and Khadija Al-Kubra (Khadija the Great) and was said to have had an impeccable character. She used to feed and clothe the poor, assist her relatives financially, and provide for the marriage of those of her kin who could not otherwise have had the means to marry. Khadijah was said to have neither believed in nor worshipped idols,[citation needed] which was atypical for pre-Islam Arabian culture.

Her renown for business dealings caused many highly respected Arabian men to seek her hand in marriage. However, by 585, Khadijah remained unmarried.

Khadijah did not travel with her trade caravans; she relied on others to trade on her behalf, whom she compensated with commissions. In 595, Khadijah needed an agent for a transaction in Syria. Several agents whom she trusted (notably including Abu Talib ibn ‘Abd al-Muttalib)and some relatives of hers recommended her distant cousin Muhammad ibn Abdullah (saw), who had earned the honorifics Al-Sadiq (the truthful) and Al-Amin (the trustworthy).

With the passage of time, her admiration for Muhammad developed into a deeper affection. Khadijah was by then[when?] convinced that she had finally found a man who was worthy of her, so much so that she initiated the marriage proposal herself. Muhammad detailed all the business transactions in which he would be involved on her behalf, but Khadijah was considering leaving the financial matters to her distant cousin Waraqah ibn Nawfal.

Khadijah and Muhammad agreed that he should speak to his uncles and she would speak to her uncle, `Amr ibn Asad, since her father had died. It was Hamza ibn ‘Abd al-Muttalib, despite being relatively young, whom the Hashemites delegated to represent them on this marriage occasion, since he was most closely related to them through the clan of Asad; his sister Safiyyah bint ‘Abd al-Muttalib had just married Khadijah’s brother Awwam ibn Khuwaylid.

The relationship was monogamous.

When her husband received his first revelation from the Archangel Gabriel, she was the first person (besides Muhammad) — among both male and females — to convert to Islam. According to some sources, it was Khadijah’s parental cousin, Waraqah ibn Nawfal, who informed Muhammad of his prophethood soon after his vision of the angel.

The year of her death is known as the Year of Sorrow, because of the devastation that it caused Muhammad (saw) and it was also the same year in which his uncle and guardian Abu Talib died. She was either 64 or 68 years old (having been born in AD 555). Her grave can be found in Jannatul Mualla cemetery, in Mecca, Saudi Arabia. Many scholars place the events of the Year of Sorrow in 619, prior to hijra.

*An historic photo of how Mu’alla was before the demolition of the tombs. The main central tomb was of Ummul Mu’mineen Khadijah (RadhiAllahu anha). Others known to be resting here include Abd Manaf, the great, great-grandfather, Hashim the great-grandfather, Abdul Muttalib the grandfather and Qasim the son of the our Prophet (SallAllahu alaihi wasallam).