Home > Sira > The death of Khadija bint Khuwayld and her virtues
The death of Khadija bint Khuwayld: the year of the two sorrows with Abu Talib, the Paradise announcement by Jibril, Aisha’s jealousy, the hadith “Allah gave me not better than her”, the scholars’ dispute and the best of women, from al-Boukhari, Mouslim, Ahmad and al-Bayhaqi.
Updated on 07 September 2026 at 11:07 PM
Such is the chapter of the death of Khadija bint Khuwaylid and the mention of some of her virtues and merits (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him): He was pleased with her and made the gardens of Firdaws her place of return and abode. He did that not in vain, but by the relation of the truthful one in whom is believed, when he gave her good news of a house in Paradise of hollow reeds, wherein is no clamor nor weariness.
Ya’qoub ibn Soufyan related, from Abu Salih, from al-Layth, from Uqayl, from Ibn Shihab: Urwa ibn az-Zubayr said Khadija died before the prayer was prescribed. Then he related from another path, from az-Zuhri: Khadija died in Mecca, before the Messenger of Allah’s (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) departure to Medina, and before the prayer was prescribed. Muhammad ibn Ishaq said: Khadija and Abu Talib died in one year. al-Bayhaqi said: it reached me that Khadija died three days after Abu Talib’s death; Ibn Mandah mentioned it in his book al-Ma’rifa, as did our sheikh, the hafiz Abu Abdallah. al-Bayhaqi said: al-Waqidi claimed Khadija and Abu Talib died three years before the Hijra, the year they left the valley, and that Khadija died thirty-five nights before Abu Talib.
Ibn Kathir notes: they mean before the five prayers were prescribed on the night of the Isra. It would have been more fitting for us to mention the death of Abu Talib and Khadija before the Isra, as al-Bayhaqi and others did; but we deferred it after the Isra for a purpose you will come upon later: the discourse is thereby ordered and the narrative harmonized, as you will find, Allah willing.
al-Boukhari related, from Qutayba, from Muhammad ibn Fudayl ibn Ghazwan, from Umara, from Abu Zar’a, from Abu Hurayra: Jibril came to the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) and said: “O Messenger of Allah, here is Khadija coming with a vessel containing a condiment : or food or drink. When she comes to you, read her the greeting of peace from her Lord and from me, and give her the good news of a house in Paradise of hollow reeds, wherein is no clamor nor weariness.” Mouslim related it likewise, from Muhammad ibn Fudayl.
al-Boukhari related further, from Mussaddad, from Yahya, from Ismail, who said: I said to Abdallah ibn Abi Awfa: did the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) give Khadija the good news? He said: “Yes: of a house of hollow reeds, wherein is no clamor nor weariness.” al-Boukhari and Mouslim related it likewise through chains, from Ismail ibn Abi Khalid.
as-Souhayli says: if she was given the good news of a house in Paradise of reeds : meaning reeds of pearl : it is because she attained the reed of precedence in faith; “wherein is no clamor nor weariness,” for she never raised her voice upon the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) nor wearied him a day of time: she never clamored against him and never harmed him at all.
They related it in the two Sahihs, from Hisham ibn Urwa, from his father, from Aisha (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), who said: “I was never jealous of any wife of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) as I was jealous of Khadija : who died before I married him : for what I used to hear him mention of her; Allah ordered him to give her the good news of a house of reeds. And he would slaughter the sheep and send to Khadija’s friends whatever they could take of it.” al-Boukhari’s wording. In a wording of his, from Aisha: “I was never jealous of a woman as I was of Khadija, for the multitude of the Messenger of Allah’s (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) mention of her. She was married to me after her, three years after her death, and his Lord : or Jibril : ordered him to give her the good news of a house of reeds in Paradise.” And in a wording of him, she said: “I was never jealous of any of the Prophet’s (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) women as I was of Khadija, whom I saw not; but he mentioned her much. Sometimes he would slaughter the sheep, cut it in pieces and send them to Khadija’s friends. I would sometimes say: it is as though there were no woman in the world but Khadija. And he would say:” “She was such, and I had children from her.”
al-Boukhari related further, from Ismail ibn Khalil, from Ali ibn Mushir, from Hisham ibn Urwa, from his father, from Aisha: Hala bint Khuwaylid, Khadija’s sister, sought permission to enter upon the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him); he recognized Khadija’s manner of asking and was startled, saying: “O Allah, Hala!” I grew jealous and said: “You mention an old woman among Quraysh’s old women, red at the cheeks, dead in time past: Allah has replaced her for you with better.” And Mouslim related it likewise, from Souwayd ibn Said, from Ali ibn Mushir.
Ibn Kathir says: that is apparent in establishing that Aisha is better than Khadija, whether in virtue or in companionship, since he did not disapprove of her nor answer her, as al-Boukhari’s context indicates (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him). But Imam Ahmad related, from Mu’ammal Abu Abd ar-Rahman, from Hammad ibn Salama, from Abd al-Malik ibn Umayr, from Moussa ibn Talha, from Aisha: the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) mentioned Khadija one day, pouring forth her praise; jealousy seized me as it seizes women, and I said: “Allah has given you posterity, O Messenger of Allah, from an old woman among Quraysh’s old women, red at the cheeks.” She said: the Messenger of Allah’s (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) face changed with a change I had never seen him for anything, save at the descent of the revelation, or at the Scale until he knows: mercy or punishment. And he related it likewise, from Bahz ibn Asad and Uthman ibn Muslim, both from Hammad ibn Salama, from Abd al-Malik ibn Umayr, with the addition after “red at the cheeks”: “she had perished in the former time.” She said: his face changed with a change I saw only at the descent of the revelation, or at the Scale until he looked: mercy or punishment? Ahmad alone relates it, and the isnad is good.
Imam Ahmad related likewise, from Ali ibn Ishaq, from Abdallah, from Mujalid, from ach-Cha’bi, from Masruq, from Aisha: when the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) mentioned Khadija he praised her with the finest praise. She said: I grew jealous one day and said: “How much you mention her, red at the cheeks: Allah has given you better than her.” He said: “Allah gave me not better than her: she believed in me when the people disbelieved in me; she confirmed me when the people called me liar; she supported me with her wealth when the people deprived me of theirs; and Allah granted me children from her when He had deprived me of women’s children.” Ahmad alone relates it likewise, and its isnad is without reproach; Mujalid has for it Mouslim’s follow-up, and it contains the famous saying. Allah is most knowing.
Perhaps that saying : “and Allah granted me children from her when He had deprived me of women’s children” : was said before the birth of Ibrahim, the Prophet’s (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) son from Mariya, and before her arrival at all. That is certain, for all the Prophet’s (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) children, as has preceded and will come, are from Khadija, except Ibrahim, who is from Mariya the Copt, the Egyptian (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him). A majority of men of science relied on this hadith to prefer Khadija over Aisha (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), approving both; others criticized its isnad; others interpreted it as she being better in companionship, which is possible or apparent: Aisha meant her youth, her beauty and the sweetness of her company. She did not intend, by her words “Allah has given you better than her,” to purify herself nor prefer herself over Khadija: that is a matter whose return is to Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), as He said: “Do not purify your own souls: He knows best who fears Him,” and His word: “Have you not seen those who purify themselves? Rather Allah purifies whom He wills,” and the rest of the verse.
This is a question over which the scholars disputed anciently and recently, the two opposing parties clashing in it. The people of Shi’ism and others prefer to Khadija no woman, for her Lord’s salvation upon her, for all the Prophet’s (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) children : save Ibrahim : being from her, for his never marrying above her until she died: honoring her, and the precedence of her Islam, and her being of the truthful, and her standing of truthfulness at the beginning of the mission, and her giving of herself and her wealth to the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him).
As for the People of the Sunna: some exaggerate likewise, and affirm for each of the two the known virtues; but the strength of their Sunnism leads them to prefer Aisha, for her being the daughter of as-Siddiq, and for her being more knowledgeable than Khadija: there was not among the nations the like of Aisha in her memory, her knowledge, her eloquence and her intellect; the Messenger (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) loved none of his wives as he loved her; her innocence descended from above the seven heavens; and she related after him (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) immense, abundant, good and blessed knowledge, so much that many people cite the famous hadith: “Take half of your religion from this Humayra.”
The truth is that each of the two has virtues which, were the observer to examine them, would dazzle and perplex him. The finest is to suspend judgment therein and return the knowledge of that to Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him); and whoever has appear to him a decisive proof, or a preponderant opinion in this chapter, it befits him to say according to his knowledge; and whoever finds suspension in this question or another: the straightest path and the safest course is to say: “Allah knows best.”
Imam Ahmad, al-Boukhari, Mouslim, at-Tirmidhi and an-Nasaï related through chains, from Hisham ibn Urwa, from his father, from Abdallah ibn Ja’far, from Ali ibn Abi Talib (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him): the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: “The best of its women is Maryam bint Imran, and the best of its women is Khadija bint Khuwaylid,” that is: the best woman of her era.
Shu’ba related, from Mou’awiya ibn Qourra, from his father Qourt ibn Iyas (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him): the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: “Many men reached perfection; of women, only three reached perfection: Maryam bint Imran, Asiya, Pharaoh’s wife, and Khadija bint Khuwaylid; and Aisha’s favor over women is like the tharid’s over other foods.” Ibn Mardawayh related it in his Tafsir, and its isnad is authentic to Shu’ba and beyond. It was said: the common trait between these three women : Asiya, Maryam and Khadija : is that each fostered a sent prophet, kept excellent company in her fosterage and confirmed him: Asiya raised Moussa, was good to him and confirmed him when sent; Maryam fostered her son with the fullest, greatest custody, and confirmed him when sent; Khadija desired marrying the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), spent therein her wealth as has preceded, and confirmed him when revelation from Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) descended upon him.