Khadija (ra): the first to believe

We often count the “firsts” of Islam — the first mosque, the first migration, the first battle. But the very first believer was a woman: Khadija bint Khuwaylid (ra), the Prophet's ﷺ wife.

A merchant of Makkah

Khadija was a respected and successful businesswoman of Quraysh, known for her dignity and good character. She hired the young Muhammad ﷺ to lead her trade caravan — and was so struck by his honesty and conduct that she proposed marriage. Theirs became a partnership of deep trust; throughout her life she was his only wife.

The night everything changed

When the first revelation came to him in the cave of Hira, the Prophet ﷺ returned home shaking, overwhelmed, asking to be covered. It was Khadija who held him steady. She reassured him with words preserved in Sahih al-Bukhari: that Allah would never disgrace him, for he kept good relations, carried the weak, and stood by the truth. Then she took him to her cousin Waraqa ibn Nawfal, who recognised the sign of a prophet.

In that moment, believing him completely, she became the first person to accept Islam.

A greeting from above

Her station was honoured in a remarkable way. It is reported in Sahih al-Bukhari that the angel Jibril conveyed to the Prophet ﷺ that Allah sent Khadija His greeting (salam), with the glad tidings of a house of tranquillity in Paradise.

The Year of Sorrow

Khadija passed away about three years before the Hijra — in the same period the Prophet ﷺ lost his uncle and protector, Abu Talib. The year became known as ʿAm al-Huzn, “the Year of Sorrow.” Years later, the Prophet ﷺ still remembered her with profound love and gratitude — she had believed when no one else would.

A short film on Khadija (ra) is coming to our Sirah Stories series — follow the blog to catch it.

Sources: Khadija's reassurance after the first revelation and her cousin Waraqa — Sahih al-Bukhari (Book of Revelation, hadith 3). The greeting conveyed by Jibril and the house in Paradise — Sahih al-Bukhari 3820. Her precedence in belief and the Year of Sorrow are well established in the Sīrah. Honorifics: ﷺ “peace be upon him,” (ra) “may Allah be pleased with her.”