Khadija was the
wife of the
Prophet Muhammad (
PBUH), the
prophet of
modern Islam. Her full name was: Khadija bint Khuwaylid ibn Asad ibn Abdul-`Uzza ibn Qusayy. She was born approximately 555CE. She became known as a noble, wealthy and shrewd businesswoman. In about 595CE, she engaged the
Prophet Muhammad to go to
Syria on her
behalf as a trader on hearing of his reputation for honesty, he accepted. She sent one of her servants with him; and he reported back to her. She was impressed, and so she made it known that she wanted to
marry the
Prophet. This caused a bit of a
fuss, because (a) she was 15 years older than him and (b) other richer more "noble" men had approached her and she had turned them down.
She fathered six children with him, two boys and four girls, but the boys both died.
When the revelation began in about 610CE, she was the first to believe in him. Things got very hard for them after he began to preach Islam. She died ten years later in 620CE. During this period, she was his only wife.
Muhammad apparently loved her very much. Later on, when he re-married, he would mention her so often that his other wives would get jealous. He would be kind to her family, and he was extremely saddened upon her death. The year of her death is commonly called "The Year of Pain" among the Muslims, in part because of her death.