Flowers for the Women Wearing Veils - Volume II — Page 188
188 One God , but I am afraid lest I show any negligence in fulfilling this enormous task. ’ Listening to this, Ha z rat Khadijah ra promptly replied, ‘O my uncle’s son, why do you worry ? ’ $ % ﻼ ﱠ َو *ِ َﻻ -ُ ْﺨ 1 2 3 َﻚ *ُ ا % 5َ ًﺪ ا ِا ﻧ ﱠ َﻚ ﻟ % َﺘ ِﺼ ُﻞ ا ﻟ ﺮ ﱠ ِﺣ َﻢ َو َﺗ ْﺤ ِﻤ ُﻞ ا ﻟ C D % ﻞ ﱠ َو َﺗ E C ِﺴ ُﺐ ا ﻟ C َﻤ ْﻌ ُﺪ و َم َو َﺗ ْﻘ ﺮ 2 ي ا ﻟ ﻀ ﱠ Mْ َﻒ ، َو ُﺗ ِﻌ PQ Rُ َﻋ T % َﻧ َﻮ ا ِﺋ ِﺐ ا ﻟ C َﺤ ّﻖ (Bukhari , Chapter Bad ’ ul - w ah y i ) [Which means:] I swear by Allah ! He has not given this revelation to you so that you fail and be disgraced. How can God Almighty do that! You are one who treats his relatives with kindness, and you take upon the burdens of those who are helpless and have no one. T he morals, which have become obsolete in this nation, are being established again in the world because of you. You are a gracious host to your guests; and you help people out in time of their true suffering. Can God Almighty put such a man in any hardship ? If you have been bestowed a revelation, it was not to put you in grief , but it has been revealed to exalt your station. Then the first person who accepted the claim of the Holy Prophet sa was Ha z rat Khadijah ra herself. Thus, the first person to believe in the Holy Prophet sa was also a woman. Historians have h ad long debates over who was the first person to accept Islam. Some have said that the first one to believe was Ha z rat Khadijah ra and some have declared Ha z rat Abu Bakr ra to be the first Muslim, while the Shi ‘ ites say Ha z rat ‘Ali ra was the first to believe. Researchers have said that the real point is that Ha z rat Khadijah ra was the first one to believe among women. A mong adult men it was Ha z rat Abu Bakr ra who first accepted [ Islam ], among the children, Ha z rat ‘Ali ra attained the distinction of being the first to declare faith, and from the slaves , Ha z rat Zaid ra was the first one to accept Islam. In any case, this shows that the first person to bear the financial burden and responsibility [for] Islam was a woman, who took such great care of the Holy Prophet sa that her service is unmatched. One can judge the extent of her service from the fact that the Holy Prophet ’s sa love for her remained strong even after her death. Whenever occasion granted, the Holy Prophet sa would say, ‘ Khadijah used to say this’ or ‘ Khadijah used