LESSONS FROM KHADIJAH R.A.

I have read and heard many times the story of how our beloved Prophet Muhammad sallallaahu ‘alayhi wasallam, on the momentous occasion of receiving Prophethood, goes to his beloved wife Khadijah R.A., confides in her and receives total support from her. A beautiful story, but never before have I heard of the beautiful lessons derived from this occasion as explained by Shaykh Muhammad Saleem in his bayan called “Ruswaayi sey bachaaney waaley awsaaf”. May Allah Ta’aalaa keep us all under his guidance for a long time and may Allah Ta’aalaa grant him good health and happiness, aameen.

The enormous responsibility of Prophethood conferred by Jibrail left our beloved Prophet Muhammad sallallaahu ‘alyhi wasallam in a state of agitation and fear, i.e. would he be able to carry out this great responsibility or would he fail. He immediately went home to his beloved wife and recounted the whole episode of the meeting with the Angel Jibrail. Her immediate reaction was to offer loving words of comfort and support. She allayed his fears by pointing out to him that Allah Ta’aalaa had placed this responsibility on him, but surely not to humiliate him with failure. After all, did he not keep ties with those who wished to break them (silaa rahmi), and did he not worry about those who had no-one to worry for them (boj uthaanaa)? Did he not create means of earning for the poor (faqiro ko kamaane ke raastein dikhaanaa) and did he not help and stand up for the oppressed who were on the haqq? Did he not happily entertain guests? How then would Allah not help him in attaining success?

The first lesson from this episode is that Khadijah R.A. describes five qualities present in Rasulullaah sallallaahu ‘alayhi wasallam, which were the reason for his not being humiliated, and if these five qualities were to be present in us success would be guaranteed for us in both worlds.

The second very important lesson especially for women, is that a wife should be a means of comfort to her husband, especially so if he was striving in the path of Deen. A few words of comfort from a wife are enough compared to others. Khadihah R.A. holds a very high status in the ummah. Allah Ta’aalaa sent salaams to her through Jibrail which were conveyed to her by Rasulullaah sallallaahu ‘alayhi wasallam, she was the first to accept Islam and spend all her wealth in the cause of Islam, but there is no comparison to the status of her husband. Despite the differences in their status, Rasulullaah sallallaahu ‘alayhi wasallam, was able to go to her and confide his fears in her.

Explaining further Shaykh says that to practice on these five things a couple would have to be united and supportive of each other. A man or a woman would never be able to feed the poor or worry about the weak, the helpless, the disabled, the widows or the orphans, or help the oppressed or invite guests without the support of the other. Therefore the five beautiful qualities Khadijah R.A. pointed out in her husband were present in her also!

Surely time for us to pause and ponder?
(POSTED on shaykh.org)

» Posted by ummi taalib on 29th May 2009

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