Period 4 of 18
Marriage to Khadijah
His marriage to Khadijah bint Khuwaylid began a loving family life and a partnership that supported him in the first years of prophethood.
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Marriage to Khadijah
The sirah books record that Khadijah, impressed by his honesty and character, sent a friend to propose marriage to him through his uncles. They married when he was about twenty-five and she was older than him; the most common report is that she was forty, though narrations differ. She was his only wife as long as she lived, and the marriage was one of mutual love and trust. A few years later it was Khadijah who comforted him when the first revelation came.
- Sirah books (early history)
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His children and household
The sirah books record that his sons Qasim and Abdullah died in infancy, and that his daughters were Zaynab, Ruqayyah, Umm Kulthum and Fatimah, may Allah be pleased with them; the Prophet ﷺ said: “Fatimah is a part of me.” His household also included Zayd ibn Harithah رضي الله عنه, whom he freed and treated as a son, so that the Muslims called him Zayd ibn Muhammad until the Quran told them to call adopted sons by their fathers' names (33:5), and his young cousin Ali ibn Abi Talib رضي الله عنه.
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Khadijah's place in his heart
Khadijah رضي الله عنها supported him with her wealth, comfort and belief, and he remembered her faithfully long after her death. Aisha رضي الله عنها said she was never jealous of any wife of the Prophet ﷺ as she was of Khadijah, because he mentioned her so often. He ﷺ spoke of Maryam and Khadijah as the best of women. Abu Hurayrah رضي الله عنه reported that Jibril brought him the message that Khadijah should be given the greetings of her Lord, with the glad tidings of a house in Paradise.
How the sources are used
Sources are chosen in this order: the Quran first, then the hadith collections of al-Bukhari and Muslim, and then other collections such as al-Tirmidhi, Abu Dawud, an-Nasa'i, Ibn Majah and Malik. The sirah books, mainly Ibn Ishaq as transmitted by Ibn Hisham, are used only for details not found in the hadith, and these are marked as “recorded in the sirah books.” Dates in the Christian era are approximate, and hadith numbers follow the hadith library of this website.
Hadith numbers follow the hadith library on this site, and each source opens its hadith there. Details that are not in the hadith collections are marked as coming from the sirah books.
General information for learning, not a fatwa. For your own situation, ask a qualified scholar.