Flowers for the Women Wearing Veils - Volume II — Page 186
186 help him was a woman. In the beginning, money was needed to do tabligh of Islam and the Holy Prophet sa had no money. At that time Ha z rat Khadijah ra handed over all her wealth to him and said, ‘You may use it as you wish. ’ Nowadays, we observe that if a young man pledges his life for the service of faith, no one is willing to give their daughter’s hand in marriage to him. Parents say, ‘We will not wed our daughter to him. How will our daughter eat? ’ The Holy Prophet sa was a Waq i f - e - Zindagi [ life devotee] fro m childhood and he had no money. Ha z rat Khadijah ra , who was a very wealthy lady, was a widow. One of her friends said to her , ‘Why don’t you marry?’ She replied, ‘Whom should I marry? If I should find an honest man, I will marry him. ’ Her friend said, ‘Who is more honest than Muhammad sa ? You have yourself witnessed his honesty. ’ Ha z rat Khadijah ra had sent the Holy Prophet sa to Syria with goods for trade and he returned from that trip with great success. Ha z rat Khadijah ra felt that this success was not due to the conditions of the trade markets , but due to the righteousness and honesty of the person in charge of the caravan. Her slave, Maisra also confirmed her thoughts. Anyway, the honesty of the Holy Prophet sa had a great effect on Ha z rat Khadijah ra s o when her friend suggested she marry the Holy Prophet sa , Ha z rat Khadijah ra replied, ‘I will marry him if he agrees. ’ At that time, the Holy Prophet sa was twenty - five years of age and Ha z rat Khadijah ra was forty years old. Thus, he sa was fifteen years younger than Ha z rat Khadijah ra. Then Ha z rat Khadijah ’s ra friend, who had suggested the idea of marriage, asked her , ‘If you permit me, I will talk to someone about this proposal. ’ Ha z rat Khadijah ra replied , ‘I am willing to marry, so you have my permission to discuss this proposal. ’ Consequently, this friend went to Ha z rat Khadijah ’s ra relatives, who said that if the Holy Prophet Muhammad sa was willing , t hey had no objection [ to this match]. Then she visited the Holy Prophet sa and inquired of him, ‘Why don’t you get married?’ He replied, ‘I h ave no w ealth with which I can marry. ’ She asked him, ‘If this problem is re solved, then?’ He replied, ‘Who is the woman ? ’ She answere d, ‘ Khadijah ra. ’ The Holy Prophet sa said, ‘How can I approach her?’ She said, ‘ That is my responsibility. ’ The Holy Prophet sa replied, ‘I agree [to this match]. ’ Then Ha z rat Khadijah ra settled the proposal details through the Holy Prophet ’s sa uncle and the Holy Prophet sa married Ha z rat Khadijah ra.