House of Khadija (may Allah be pleased with her)

This is the approximate region, outside the Marwah exit, where the house of Ummul Mu’mineen Khadija (may Allah be pleased with her) was located. It was here that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be on him) lived from the time of his marriage to her until he emigrated to Madinah.

When the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be on him) married Khadija (may Allah be pleased with her), he moved out from the house of his uncle Abu Talib and into the house of his bride. At the time of their marriage he (peace and blessings of Allah be on him) was 25 and Khadija (may Allah be pleased with her) was 40 years old. They stayed together for 25 years.

Khadija (may Allah be pleased with her) was the Prophet’s (peace and blessings of Allah be on him) first wife, he married none other during her lifetime. She bore all his children except for Ebrahim, who was born to Mariya Qibtiya (Mary the Copt). All of the children were born at her home. They were named (in order of birth) Qasim, Zaynab, Ruqayyah, Umm Kulthoom, Fatima, Abdullah, and Ebrahim (scholars, however, disagree about the exact number and order of births). All the sons passed away during childhood, but all the daughters lived to see their father become a prophet. Each daughter embraced Islam and migrated to Madinah, and all but Fatima (may Allah be pleased with her) died during the lifetime of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be on him). Fatima (may Allah be pleased with her) died six months after her father’s death.

As well as their immediate family, the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be on him) and Khadija (may Allah be pleased with her) also had extended members of their household. Barakah (who later became more commonly known as Umm Ayman), was the freed African slave the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be on him) inherited from his father and whom he would sometimes affectionately address as ‘mother’. Zaid bin Haritha was a slave boy given as a bridal gift to the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be on him) by Khadija (may Allah be pleased with her); he was set free by the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be on him) but Zaid chose to stay with him and became an adopted son. The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be on him) also took his cousin Ali into his household on account of the financial hardships his uncle Abu Talib was experiencing.

When the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be on him) received the first revelation of the Quran on Mount Hira he came back home and said to Khadija (may Allah be pleased with her), “Wrap me up, wrap me up.”Khadija (may Allah be pleased with her) wrapped him up in a blanket. When he (peace and blessings of Allah be on him) regained peace of mind after a short while, he related to Khadija (may Allah be pleased with her) what had happened to him with the remark, “I feel my life threatened.”Khadija (may Allah be pleased with her) replied, “By no means, I swear to Allah that He would never put you to shame. You join the ties of relationship, you speak the truth, you bear people’s burdens, you help the destitute, you entertain guests and you mitigate the pains and grief suffered for the sake of truth.”She unhesitatingly believed in him, and accepted Islam immediately.

The boycott of the Muslims in She’eb Abi Talib took a heavy toll on the health of Khadija (may Allah be pleased with her), and shortly after it was ended she passed away. She was the Prophet’s trusted advisor and loyal companion, and was known by the title ‘Mother of the believers’. The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be on him) once said of Khadija (may Allah be pleased with her), “When no one believed me, she believed in me, when people accused me of lying, she affirmed my truthfulness, and when people tried to impoverish me, she made me a partner in her wealth.”

When the idolaters of Makkah plotted to assassinate the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be on him) they surrounded his house at night. The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be on him) was inside along with Ali (may Allah be pleased with him). The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be on him) told Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) to sleep in his bed and cover himself with his green garment and assured him full security under Allah’s protection and that no harm would come to him. The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be on him) then came out of his house and cast a handful of dust on the assassins and managed to work his way through them reciting these verses of the Quran: “And We have put a barrier before them, and a barrier behind them, and We have covered them up, so that they cannot see.”[36:9]

The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be on him) made his way to the house of Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him) from where they set off on the Hijrah to Madinah. Unaware of the Prophet’s escape, the would-be assassins waited for him to come out of his house. Only at dawn when Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) awoke and came out did they realize that they had been tricked. They interrogated him about the Prophet’s whereabouts, but he pleaded ignorance. They then dragged him to the Ka’bah and kept him captive there, but he divulged nothing.

The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be on him) stayed in the house of Khadija (may Allah be pleased with her) for around 29 years.

Please note that the location shown above is only an approximation and it is highly unlikely that the house existed at the same ground level.

References: Local Makkan guide, When the Moon Split – Shaikh Safiur-Rahman Mubarakpuri, The Sealed Nectar – Shaikh Safiur-Rahman Mubarakpuri, Muhammad – Martin Lings , thesunnivoice.com

The House of Sayyida Khadija was rediscovered during the Haram extensions in 1989, then hurriedly covered over so as to obliterate any trace. This was the house where the Prophet Muhammad (saw) received some of his first revelations and it is also where his children Umm Kulthum, Ruqqaya, Fatima, Zaynab, Qasim and ‘Abdullah were born. The House of Sayyida Khadija was located just outside Safa and Marwa and which now falls under the paved area. Above it, the Wahhabi hardliners have built public toilets(Naudhubillah). ( http://thesunnivoice.com/2007/11/16/the-house-of-sayyida-khadijahtul-kubra-raa/ )