The Road to Marriage.Part1

Khadija had already been married twice and she had by now closed all doors to such suggestions. She had reached a certain age and she no longer needed the support of anyone. She had what one could call an international business by today’s standards and the people who worked for her were people from many different corners of the world. She had men working for her in Greek, Persian and Ghassanid lands, along with others in closer regions such as the Hira and Damascus. She was rich; she was a woman who took good care of her business, a mature and beautiful woman of good name whom everybody respected.

In those days there would be no man who could refuse such a woman among the Quraysh. All men in her tribe would have been happy to marry her had they had the power to do so. Many had come to her door, but she turned them all down, having decided against marrying again.

Khadija had now made up her mind about marrying the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him; maybe it was the dream of such a perfect match that had made her turn down all previous offers till that day. She had made up her mind but she did not know how to approach the subject.

Khadija’s friend Nafisa, the daughter of Munya, who took notice of her friend’s thoughtful state and transformation, approached her one day and said the following with great affection: 

“What is with you, dear Khadija? I have been with you long enough and yet I have never seen you as thoughtful as you are now!”

Khadija hesitated before sharing her predicament with her. She first stayed silent. But it was clear that it was not possible to attain her goal without taking any steps and so she told her friend what was on her mind.

She first said:

“O Nafisa! There is no doubt that I see in Muhammad, the son of Abdullah, an exalted quality that I see in no other man. He is straightforward, trustworthy, he comes from a very good family, and he is the best man one can ever come across. On top of that, there are many good tidings concerning him! It is a strange situation. When I look at what Maysara has told me, when I listened to what the priest said and witnessed what happened at the marketplace, when I watched the cloud that protected him as he came back from Damascus, I thought my heart would fly out of its cage; I was sure that he was the awaited Messenger.”

Nafisa was still trying to understand what was going on:

 “But what has this to do with you losing your color and being in this contemplative state?”

It was clear that Khadija had to be clearer about what was ailing her. She turned to her friend and said truthfully:

“I hope to join my fate with his by marrying him; but I do not know how I would go about doing this.”

Now the situation was clear. Nafisa understood her friend’s predicament and responded in the following way:

“If you’ll allow me, I’ll inquire as to how this situation can develop and be arranged!”

This was what Khadija was expecting and she said excitedly:

“Nafisa, if you can indeed do this, do it in all haste, with no delay!”