ablution), were revealed directly because of her. The Prophet himself recognised Aishah’s superiority over his other wives when he said: ‘Among men there were many perfect persons but none among women except two: Mariam, daughter of Imran and Asiya, wife of Pharoah. And Aishah has superiority over other women as tharid (a dish) has over other dishes.’
As it happens, Aishah’s contribution to the development of Islamic jurisprudence (fiqh), Qur’anic scholarship (tafsir) and exposition of Prophetic traditions (hadith) – especially in relation to the Prophet’s personal and private life – was nothing short of unique and unprecedented. By virtue of her vast knowledge and understanding of the Qur’an and the teachings of the Prophet, she was able to clarify a host of conflicting views held by some companions of the Prophet about certain Islamic teachings and commandments. She was an equally unrivalled practitioner of analogical deduction (qiyas) in matters of Islamic jurisprudence. Her mastery of Islamic thought and its sources was so impressive that the companions of the Prophet considered her to be an eminent authority on Qur’anic exegesis, hadith and jurisprudence. In the words of Abu Musa al-Ash’ari, a prominent companion of the Prophet and an eminent jurist himself, ‘We companions (of the Prophet) were never presented with a problem to which Aishah did not present a satisfactory solution.’ (Sunan al-Tirmidhi) That is why Caliphs Abu Bakr al-Siddiq, Umar ibn al-Khattab and Uthman ibn Affan, who were three of the most prominent companions of the Prophet and outstanding jurists in their own right, regularly consulted her before deciding on complex and intractable legal issues during their reigns.
Aishah used to teach both male and female students. She was known to have been a very generous and approachable teacher. According to Urwa ibn Zubair, a distinguished student of Aishah, her knowledge and breadth of learning was not restricted to the religious sciences only; she was deeply proficient in Arab history, literature, rhetoric, poetry and genealogy, and was familiar with aspects of traditional medicine. She memorised and related more than two thousand ahadith of the Prophet, and was brave enough to lead an army into the battlefield and wage war. Aishah taught and mentored a number of great luminaries of Islam including Urwa ibn Zubair, Masruq and Amrah bint Abd al-Rahman. More importantly, she was a perfect wife to her husband and one of his greatest supporters. After the Prophet’s death, she continued to champion the message her husband had promulgated and in so doing she contributed immensely to the development of Islamic thought and culture for the benefit of posterity. Aishah was a truly remarkable woman and a profoundly influential intellectual whose name and fame will no doubt continue to spread with the passage of time. Although born and brought up in a fiercely patriarchal society, she reached the highest summit of Islamic learning and scholarship by the sheer force of her powerful personality and incredible intellect. She was aware of her unique God-given qualities and attributes. On one occasion she said, ‘I am not taking pride but I am mentioning it as a fact that God bestowed upon me nine things that He did not confer on anyone else in the world. Angels presented my figure before the Prophet in a dream; there was no other maiden amongst the wives of the Prophet; the Qur’an was revealed even when he occupied my bed; I was his favourite; some Qur’anic verses descended in relation to me; I saw Gabriel with my own eyes, and the Prophet died in my lap.’ (Mustadrak of al-Hakim and Kitab al-Tabaqat al-Kubra of Ibn Sa’d).
Known reverentially as ummul mu’minin (the ‘mother of the believers’), Aishah passed away at the age of sixty-seven. She was laid to rest in Madinah after Abu Hurairah, who was acting as governor of the city at the time, conducted her funeral prayers.
AS A SYMBOL of honesty, faithfulness, integrity and unflinching steadfastness, Khadijah has no equals in Islamic history. Her devotion, dedication and wholehearted support for the Islamic cause proved invaluable to the Prophet from day one. Indeed, Khadijah’s unshakeable faith in her husband and her commitment to the Divine message was such that it has earned her a pre-eminent position in the annals of Islam. Her remarkable contribution to the cause of Islam was acknowledged by the Prophet himself. That is why she came to symbolise the higher qualities and attributes which Muslim women aspired to acquire and personify although only a few, if any at all, managed to come anywhere near her in this respect. Khadijah was a truly inspirational figure, an outstanding role model for all Muslim women who has left her indelible mark in the history of Islam.
Khadijah bint Khuwailid ibn Asad was born and brought up in Makkah. Her father Khuwailid ibn Asad was an immensely wealthy merchant and an eminent leader of the Qurayshi tribe of Makkah. Surrounded by much wealth and luxury, Khadijah had a privileged upbringing. After the death of her father, she inherited the family business and became one of the wealthiest women in Makkah. After the untimely death of her first husband, Abu Halah ibn al-Nabbash (by whom she had two children), Khadijah married Atiq ibn Abid and they had one child. However, there is some disagreement among historians on this issue; some say Atiq was her first husband, while others say Abu Halah was her first husband. Either way, her second marriage, too, did not last long; it was terminated on the grounds of incompatibility. Khadijah then focused her full attention to raising her children and pursuing her business. Although Khadijah was a devoted mother to her children, she was not prepared to live on the wealth she had inherited from her father. She, therefore, developed a shrewd business strategy in order to expand her commercial stakes in and around Makkah. Being very intelligent, honest and upright, she soon became one of the most successful businesswomen of pre-Islamic Makkah, if not, Arabia.
In a patriarchal society, where women were treated like chattels, normally a widow like Khadijah would have found it impossible to establish herself in society, but Khadijah was an unusually gifted lady who defied the socio-cultural taboos of her society by becoming very successful. She traded in all types of goods and merchandise, and in so doing established a thriving import and export business. She recruited her own business managers, who regularly took her merchandise beyond the borders of Arabia and traded in neighbouring countries such as Syria. Her business expanded rapidly because she recruited some of the most honest, fair and trustworthy people to work for her and she also rewarded them handsomely. In a society where employees had no rights and were often treated harshly by their employers, Khadijah became renowned for treating her staff well and paying them on time. Her generosity was such that she often divided the profits in half, giving one half to her managers while retaining the other portion for herself. In a blatantly unfair and unjust pre-Islamic Arabia, Khadijah’s profit-sharing arrangement was too good an offer to be refused by any man who wished to earn a good living in those days.
Khadijah’s willingness to reward her staff handsomely meant she could pick and choose the most able candidates to undertake her business expeditions. Since she was an honest and trustworthy lady, she employed people who possessed similar qualities and attributes. When she was informed about the sublime qualities and attributes of the twenty-five year old Muhammad, the son of Abdullah, she went out of her way to recruit him into her expanding business. The offer of a rewarding job came at the right time for young Muhammad because Abu Talib, his uncle and guardian, was experiencing considerable financial difficulties at the time. Unbeknown to both Muhammad and Khadijah, this was to mark the beginning of a relationship which was destined to last a quarter of a century, and go down in the annals of Islam as a great partnership. Being scrupulously honest, morally upright, unusually intelligent and extremely trustworthy, young Muhammad was invited to assume responsibility for Khadijah’s business affairs. Whenever Muhammad went out on a business expedition, he came back with more profits than Khadijah anticipated, thus proving his commercial acumen. Indeed, he was in a league of his own among Khadijah’s employees. As an intelligent lady, Khadijah always asked one of her aides to accompany Muhammad whenever he went on a business trip and assist him in his endeavours. Maisarah was one such aide who used to go on these business ventures with Muhammad, and on his return he regularly briefed Khadijah about the unique and unassailable qualities of her new business manager.
Impressed by Maisarah’s tales about Muhammad’s unique qualities and attributes, one day Khadijah went to consult her cousin Waraqa ibn Nawfal, a blind
