Muhammad: Seal of the Prophets — Page 93
MUHAMMAD : SEAL OF THE PROPHETS 93 The death of his faithful and devoted wife was a grievous loss for the Holy Prophet, peace be on him. For five and twenty years she had been his counsellor and support, and now his heart and home were desolate. His family, however, no longer needed materna l care. His three eldest daughters had all left him for their husbands’ homes and the youngest, Fatima, was approaching womanhood. But for the Holy Prophet himself the loss of Khadija was hard to bear. Throughout the rest of his life he cherished her memor y tenderly and often recalled her loyalty and devotion to him. She was sixty - five years of age when she died and was buried at Hujun. The Holy Prophet himself descended into her grave and smoothed out the resting place of her body. No funeral service was h eld, as a funeral service had not yet been established in Islam. After the loss of these two devoted friends and companions the Holy Prophet, peace be on him, was exposed to severer molestation at the hands of Quraish. He was frequently affronted and insulted. On one occasion someone poured a quantity of dirt over his h ead when he was passing. On his arrival home one of his daughters, on observing his condition, quickly brought water and washed his head, sobbing bitterly while she did this. He comforted her with, ‘Do not weep, dear daughter. Allah will safeguard thy fath er and all these troubles will be ended. ’ It was at this time that, at the instigation of Abu Jahl, Uqbah bin Abi Mueet heaped the entrails of a camel that had just been killed over his shoulders while he was in prostration in the courtyard of the Ka’aba. It was not till his daughter, Fatima, on learning of the incident, ran up to him and removed the foul burden from his