Angels

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 Imam Muslim narrated the Prophet said:
"Allah created the angels from light, created the djinn from the pure flame of fire, and Adam from that which was described to you (i.e., the clay.)"
 This is a sahihhadith and proof Iblis was not an angel who blasphemed, thus becoming the devil,as some people claim. Iblis is a djinn and is the father of all the djinn-kind, as Adam is a human and is the father of all the human kind.

Allah created the angels as they are now. They do not grow or develop or age. In their original shape, they are gentle bodies; gentle bodies meaning they can’t be grasped or held by the hand. Although they are gentle bodies, they do not have internal cavities; unlike humans and djinn,and they do not eat or drink. This is why when Prophet Ibrahim gave food to the angels who were visiting him (in the shape of men), they did not eat. The angels have different body parts: feet, shoulders, ears, hands, and wings.

Some angels have two (2) wings, some have three (3), others have four (4). Some, like Angel Jibril, have up to six hundred (600) wings. If just one of his wings was spread open, it would cover what is between east and west.

Allah gave the angels the power to change their shapes, and it is permissible that they would take the shape of a man, however, without the male genital organ. Often Angel Jibril would appear to the Prophet in the shape of a man to teach him the Revelation. Angels do not take the form of the woman. The one who believes that the angels are female is blasphemous, as Allah said:

"Those who do not believe in the Hereafter are those who name the angels with feminine names, ( believe that they are female.)" Quran An-Najm :27.
Some of the angels are very big. It was narrated that the Prophet told us about one of the angels who carries the Arsh. He said that the distance between that angel’s ear lobe and his shoulder is equal to the distance that a fast flying bird would cover flying for 700 years. There are other angels whose feet are in the seventh earth and upper body above the seventh sky.

Allah created obedience inherent in the angels. They do not disobey Allah. All of them are obedient slaves to Allah, as Allah described them in Surat at-Tahrim, Ayah 6:

"They do not disobey Allah in what He orders them (to do), and they do exactly what they were ordered."

Angels, like humans, have a will, but angels choose only to be obedient to Allah. They do not sin. They perform only that which Allah ordered them to do. What was falsely claimed about the two angels, Harut and Marut, committing sins is untrue. Some claimed that they were seduced by a woman named az-Zuhrah, and as a result, drank alcohol and committed adultery. It is also claimed they killed a soul unrightfully and prostrated to an idol. These claims are pure fabrication, none were confirmed by the Prophet. Such claims contradict the Quran, the Rules of the Religion, and the Sunnah of the Prophet.

 What is mentioned in the Religion about Harut and Marut is they came down in Babylon (in Iraq) to teach the people the matters of sorcery. This was not, however, to enable the people to practice sorcery, rather it was to enable the people to differentiate between sorcery and the true miracle.

Angels are the most numerous kind of creation of Allah. There are more angels than the other creations of Allah, including the humans and jinn--even the trees. At-Tirmidhiyy related the hadith of the Messenger of Allah in which he said:

"They stay as such until the Day of Judgment worshipping Allah."

Allah endowed the angels with the strength to perform the obedience without getting tired, and without being in need of food, drink, sleep, or rest. They do not eat or drink or sleep. They perform only that which Allah ordered them to perform. Every angel has an assignment.

Angel Jibril is the Messenger of Allah to his prophets. Angel Israfil is the angel assigned to blow the horn on the Day of Judgment.

Asra’il is the Angel of death, whose assignment is to capture the soul of the person when it leaves his body at death.

Ridwan is the angel in charge of Paradise, Malik the angel in charge of Hellfire. There are angels in charge of the clouds, the winds, and the plants. With each human there are eight (8) angels,whose assignment is to protect that person from the harm of the djinn.

 It was narrated that if it were not for these angels, the jinn would play with the person like the person plays with a ball. The zabaniyah are angels in charge of torturing the blasphemers in Hellfire. There are other angels who roam around, writing down the leaves that drop off the trees.

Some angels are in charge of delivering the salutations to the Messenger of Allah in his grave of the one not present at the grave of the Prophet who says salams to him. There is an angel in charge of the womb of the woman.

He writes matters on the forehead of the fetus when the fetus is 120 days old and his soul joins his body. There are the angels who carry the Arsh.

Ratail is the angel in charge of relieving the sadness of the believers; Mikail is the angel in charge of the rain.

Angel Ismail is in charge of 12,000 angels in one sky who are his direct assistants.

 There are the angels who write down the deeds of the person-each one has two with him, one who writes the good deeds, and the other who writes the mubah and the bad deeds.

There are the angels, Munkar and Nakir, who question the person in the grave, and many, many more.

Allah endowed the angels with great strength. Allah said about Ange jibril:
"He is very strong."

Among the examples of his strength is how he destroyed the cities of the people of Prophet Lut. With just the edge of one of his 600 hundred wings, Angel Jibril pulled out of the ground the cities of Prophet Lut’s people, and raised them near to the first sky, until the angels inhabiting that sky could hear the barking of the dogs and the crowing of the roosters. Then he turned those cities upside down and sent them down to the earth. Allah ordered Angel Jibril to destroy those cities of the people of Prophet Lut to punish them because they belied Prophet Lut and harmed him.

Among all the angels, Angel Jibril is the one with the most merit and highest status. He is the Messenger of Allah to the messengers of Allah, meaning mostly it was Jibril who would bring the Revelation to the prophets. Angel Jibril would come to Prophet Mohamed and convey the Revelation to him, and the Prophet would hear his words and memorize them immediately.

Angel Jibril used to come to the Prophet not in his own shape, usually he would take the shape of a man. However, when Angel Jibril brought the Revelation of prophethood to Prophet Mohamed in Cave Hira, he retained his original shape. When Prophet Mohamed saw Jibril this first time in his original shape, he fainted.

He fainted, not out of fear of what he was seeing, (because Jibril did not at all resemble what one usually sees, i.e., humans, animals, the sun, the moon, etc.) and not out of fear that Jibril would harm him. Rather, he felt that he was seeing a very strange and a very great thing, and was so affected by the aura of what he was seeing that he fainted.

During the night of al-Miraj, the Prophet once again saw Angel Jibril in his original shape. However, this time the Prophet did not faint at the sight of Jibril , because before that the angels had washed his heart to make it stronger and ready to see the wondrous things in the upper world during the ascension.

Allah gave Prophet Mohamed a great strength, enabling him to bear many unfamiliar sights and unusual matters that night.



Angels are truly wondrous creations of Allah. If one thinks about this creation of Allah, it will strengthen, with assurity, his belief in the One Who created the angels--the One Who Created Everything: Allah

Aissa's (Jesus) Mother: Myriam

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There are in Islam four women recognised as being especially righteous or "perfect" because of their piety: Asiyah, the Pharaoh's daughter who became the adoptive mother of Moses; Khadijah, the Prophet (Mohamed)'s first wife; Fatima, the Prophet's daughter; and Maryam (Mary), the mother of Jesus.

I have already covered Khadijah's life earlier on, so I will continue today with Myriam.

" And mention in the Book, Maryam, when she withdrew in seclusion from her family to place facing east.  She placed a screen before them; then We sent to her Our Ruh, and he appeared before her in the form of a man in all respects. She said: "Verily, I seek refuge with the Most Gracious (Allah) from you, if you do fear Allah.'' (The angel) said: "I am only a messenger from your Lord, (to announce) to you the gift of a righteous son.'' She said: "How can I have a son when no man has touched me, nor am I Baghiyya'' He said: "Thus says your Lord: `That is easy for Me (Allah). And (We wish) to appoint him as a sign to mankind and a mercy from Us (Allah), and it is a matter (already) decreed (by Allah).'' Quran 19:16-21


Myriam was the daughter of Imran from the lineage of the Prophet David. She was from a good and wholesome family of the children of Israel. When Myriam was born her mother dedicated her to the worship of God, by entering her to the Temple. She was put under the guardianship of her brother in law: Zachariyah, who was the prophet of God at this given time. She was well-known for her remarkable acts of worship, devotion and perseverance. On many occasions,  the prophet would come to fetch her from the Temple and he would find her in prayers with fresh fruits by her side. Those fruits were out of seasons and Zachariyah wondered by what miracle they were here. 


Muhammad bin Ishaq said, "When she conceived him and filled her water jug (at a well), she returned (to her people). After this, her menstrual bleeding ceased and she experienced what the pregnant woman experiences of sickness, hunger, change of color and there was even a change in the manner of her speech. After this, no people came to visit any house like they did the house of Zachariya. The word spread among the Children of Israel and the people were saying, `Verily, her partner (in fornication) was Yusuf, because there was no one else in the temple with her except him.' So she hid herself from the people and placed a veil between herself and them. No one saw her and she did not see anyone else.''


"So she conceived him, and she withdrew with him to a remote place. And the pains of childbirth drove her to the trunk of a date palm. She said: "Would that I had died before this, and had been forgotten and out of sight!'' Quran 19:22-23


Myriam went to Beit al Lahm (Bethleem) when she first experienced labor pain.


"Then he (Jibril) cried unto her from below her, saying: "Grieve not: your Lord has provided a Sariy (water) under you.'' "And shake the trunk of date palm towards you, it will let fall fresh ripe dates upon you.'' "So eat and drink and rejoice. And if you see any human being, say: `Verily, I have vowed a fast for the Most Gracious so I shall not speak to any human being today." Quran 19:25-26


She said, "How can I not grieve when you are with me and I have no husband nor am I an owned slave woman What excuse do I have with the people Woe unto me, if I had only died before this, and had been a thing forgotten and unknown." Then, Aissa said to her, "I will suffice you with a statement."


Then she brought him to her people, carrying him. They said: "O Mary! Indeed you have brought a thing Fariy.'' "O sister of Harun! Your father was not a man who used to commit adultery, nor your mother was an unchaste woman.'' Then she pointed to him. They said: "How can we talk to one who is a child in the cradle'' He said: "Verily, I am a servant of Allah, He has given me the Scripture and made me a Prophet;'' "And He has made me blessed wherever I be, and has enjoined on me [Awsani] Salah and Zakah, as long as I live.'' "And to be dutiful to my mother, and made me not arrogant, unblessed.'' "And Salam (peace) be upon me the day I was born, and the day I die, and the day I shall be raised alive!'' Quran 19:28-34


By God's Mercy Myriam was proven a pure woman and Aissa's prophetfood was affirmed unto his community. But as always, a group of them disaproved and they dais that he was indeed the child of fornication and that is speaking in the cradle was sorcery. And you guessed it, those were the same one who were falsifying the words of God for their gain. Big surprise!!!!

Habil and Qabil / Abel and Cain

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This story has been widely used by many to insinuate that muslims were a bunch of incestuous blood thirsty evil folks. So just to set the record straight: One has to remember that since the beginning of time, God has assigned specific rules to a specific communities. For example, some food were forbidden to the Jews but were allowed to Mohamed's followers.
So, the fact that a sister could marry a brother was allowed (but again there was a rule to follow, a sister could marry her brother, not her twin brother) given that there was no other way to populate the Earth. This rule was abolished later on when there was no need for it. Let's remember as well that a sister cannot marry a brother for logical biological reason: the genes'pool needs to regenerate.


Another thing, the Bible and the Torah depict the same story as well, so let's not give the stick to Islam.....


Let's get back to the point shall we:




Allah describes the evil end and consequence of transgression, envy and injustice in the story of the two sons of Adam, Habil and Qabil. One of them fought against the other and killed him out of envy and transgression, because of the bounty that Allah gave his brother and because the sacrifice that he sincerely offered to Allah was accepted. The murdered brother earned forgiveness for his sins and was admitted into Paradise, while the murderer failed and earned a losing deal in both the lives.


Habil's twin sister was not beautiful when Qabil's was. Therefore, Qabil asked his brother if he would give up marrying his twin sister as he saw himself having more right to her. Habil refused. The two brothers went then to their father: Adam (PBUH) and informed him of the quarrel. Adam told them that a sacrifice should be made by both of them and the one that would see his sacrifice accepted by Allah would marry the beautiful sister.


Habil sacrificed a sheep and Qabil some food stuff. Habil's plea was accepted and Qabil refused.


Enraged and full of jealously Qabil went on to strike his brother. Habil asthough the strongest of the two refused to raise his hand against his blood brother by fear of God.


"If you do stretch your hand against me to kill me, I shall never stretch my hand against you to kill you, for I fear Allah; the Lord of all that exists."


Ibliss (the Devil), actually showed him how to perform the evil deed by taking an animal head and smashing it with a stone, so that he could emulate him. Qabil in his folly did as he had been shown....
Shaytan then went to Eve in a hurry and said to her, `O Eve! Qabil killed Habil.' She asked him, `Woe to you! What does `kill' mean' He said, `He will no longer eat, drink or move.' She said, `And that is death' He said, `Yes it is.' So she started to weep until Adam came to her while she was weeping and said, `What is the matter with you' She did not answer him. He asked her two more times, but she did not answer him. So he said, `You and your daughters will inherit the practice of weeping, while I and my sons are free of it.


Ibn Jarir recorded that `Abdullah bin `Amr used to say, "The son of Adam, who killed his brother, will be the most miserable among men. There is no blood shed on earth since he killed his brother, until the Day of Resurrection, but he will carry a burden from it, for he was the first person to establish murder.''


When his brother died, Qabil left him on the bare ground and did not know how to bury him. Allah sent two crows, which fought with each other until one of them killed the other. So it dug a hole and threw sand over the dead corpse.

IBLISS / The DEVIL

This story you will like I am sure. You can actually find it onto my website: www.onestop4islam.webs.com, but as not everyone actually knows about it, I thought I post it here as well.  Have Fun!!


Unlike believed by many, Ibliss wasn't an Angel but merely a Djinn who had been granted the honour to reside in Heaven. This is how it began:
Long before Men walked the Earth Djinns and Shaitans (devils) were fighting an incecent war. Allah seldom sent his angels to order a cease fire or to impliment His orders.
This is how, angels came accross a young djinn whose mother and father had been killed in combat. Not knowing what to do with him, they decided to take him to Heaven and see what God would order them to do. This is how Ibliss had the priviledge to reach Paradise.
There, he grew in strength, faith and beauty. Even angels marvelled at his ability to praise God and his eagerness to do His bidding.
When God created Adam and asked for all angels and Ibliss to prostrate themselves before him, his pride got the better of him. How could he, in his mind bow to an inferior. Anger grew in his heart and he disobeyed.
This act of heresy turned him into an unbeliever (Kafer)
Rather than surrender to Allah's will and ask for His forgiveness Ibliss stubbornly swore to populate Hell with as many souls as he could.
You will note that in His Mercy, God postponed Ibliss punishment to the Day of Judgement. He could have sent him straight to Hell and not look back.....
Since being cast out on Earth with us, Ibliss bred many many more Shaitans who, as their father have for sole purpose in life to throw doubt in our hearts and to make us deviate from Allah's light.

Aisha's life Part Four

In 6 AH, by the treaty of Hudaybiyya, a truce was declared between the Quraish and the Muslims for ten years, and the right was given to muslims to enter Meccat and perform Umra unharmed.

In that same year, the Jews of Khaybar, who like the other Jews around Madina had  kept attempting  to destroy theim, were fought and defeated.  As a revenge, a women from the jewish tribe attempted to kill the Prophet by serving him poisoned meat. By the Grace of God the meat itself informed the prophet that it was poisoned. Therefore, Mohamed was not harm. However, one of his friend who had been eating at his table fell ill and died because of the meat. Subsequently, the Prophet forgave the woman and allowed that she walked free and unharmed.

The Jews of Khaybar were permitted to stay on their land provided that they paid a yearly tribute to the Muslims. As a result, some of the Muslims began to grow more wealthy than they had been in the past.
Indeed on one occasion, the Prophet's wives, led by Aisha and Hafsa, asked him for some money that he did not have for there was never one night that he lay down to sleep with any money in his possession. The Prophet was distressed by this not because he did not have the money to give to them, but rather because it was this that apparently they desired.

At this time, both Abu Bakr and Umar visited him and they found the Messenger of Allah seated, surrounded by his wives who were all silent. Abu Bakr said to himself, "By Allah, I will say something to cheer up the Messenger of Allah!' So he said, "Messenger of Allah, if I were to see the daughter of Kharija asking me for money, I would strike her on the neck!" The Messenger of Allah smiled and said, 'These ones you see around me have asked me for money." So Abu Bakr went to grab Aisha and Umar went to grab Hafsa, both exclaiming, "Do you ask the Messenger of Allah for something he does not have!" The women said, "By Allah, we would never ask the Messenger of Allah for something he does not have!"

This was not the only marital problem which he experienced at this time. There was a great deal of rivalry between some of the wives and also Hafsa had told Aisha something which the Prophet  had told her not to disclose because it was something which would increase the friction between the wives.

 Some sources say that he had told her that Abu Bakr and Umar would rule after him. In any case, he stayed away from them for a whole month, during which many of his Companions began to think either that he was going to divorce them or that he had already done so.

It is related by Umar that he went to visit the Prophet who was staying alone in a small upper room, in order to find out what was happening. First of all he visited his daughter Hafsa, who was weeping, and asked her if the Prophet had divorced his wives. "I don't know," she sobbed. Then he went and asked to see the Prophet. After he had been given permission to enter, Umar climbed up the ladder and into the small room: "I visited Allah's Messenger and he was lying on a mat. I saw down and he drew up his lower garment over him. He had nothing else on, and the mat had left its marks on his sides. I looked around at what stores Allah's Messenger  had, and saw only a handful of barley equal to one sa' and an equal amount of mimosa leaves in the corner of the room and tanned leather bag handing nearby, and I as moved to tears.

He said, 'Ibn al Khattab, what is making you cry?' I replied, 'O Messenger of Allah, how can I not cry? This mat has left marks on your sides and I can only see what I have seen of your stores. Caesar and Chosroes are leading their lives of plenty, while you are the Messenger of Allah, His Chosen One, and look what you have!' 'Ibn al Khattab,' he answered, 'isn't it enough for you that for us there is the next world, and for them there is this world?' 'Yes,' I said. Then I said, 'O Messenger of Allah, what has happened with your wives? If you have divorced them, then truly Allah is with you, and His angels, Jibril and Mika'il, and Abu Bakr and I and the believers are with you.' And seldom have I talked like that and hoped that Allah would testify to the words that I uttered. And so it happened that the ayahs of choice were revealed:

"If you both turn to Allah in repentance, then that is what your hearts desire; and if you help each other against him then surely Allah Himself is his protector, and Jibril, and the righteous from among the believers, and as well as that, the angels will help him. It maybe, if he divorces you, that his Lord will give him wives who are better than you, who submit, who believe, who are devout, who are repentant, who worship, who fast, whether they have been previously married or are virgins." Quran 66:4-5

In fact the Prophet Mohamed never divorced any of his wives, and as we grow more aware about how they lived, may Allah be pleased with all of them, it is clear that they possessed all of the qualities of the women described in the last ayat. Perhaps this ayat served as a reminder to them, a reminder that they would remember for the rest of their days which for most of them lasted long after the Prophet's death.

Returning to Sayyiduna Umar's account of his visit to the Prophet during the month of separation from his wives, Umar then asked, "O Messenger of Allah, have you divorced them?" and he replied, "No." So after talking for a while longer and how in Mecca the men tended to dominate the women, whereas in Medina the women tended to dominate the men, which is what the womenfolk from Mecca had learned to do after they had made hijrah to Medina - Umar climbed down and stood at the door of the mosque and called out at the top of his voice: "The Messenger of Allah has not divorced his wives!"

After the month was up, the Prophet Mohamed (PBUH) first went to Aisha's room. She was delighted to see him, but grew more serious when he said that some ayahs had been revealed to him which required him to put two options before her. "Do not make a hasty decision," he said, "and consult your parents first." He then recited these verses

O Prophet, say to your wives: 'If you desire the life of this world and its adornments, then come, and I will make you content, and I will release you with a fair release. But if you desire Allah and His Messenger and the abode of the next world, then truly Allah has prepared an immense reward for those of you who do good.' Quran 33:28-29

"Is there any need to consult my parents?" replied Aisha. "Indeed I desire Allah and His Messenger and the abode of the next world." And her response was followed by all of his other wives. Aisha remained true to her word both during the lifetime of the Prophet and afterwards.

 Once, when the Muslims were favored with great wealth, she as given a gift of one hundred thousand Dhirhams. She was fasting when she received the money, and distall of it to the poor and needy, even though she had no provisions in her house. Shortly after that, her maid servant said to her, "Couldn't you have brought a dirham's worth of meat with which to break your fast?" "If I had thought of it," she replied, "I would have done so!"

After a year had passed following the treaty of Hudaybiyya, the Muslims traveled to Mecca and they were able to complete all the rites of the Umra, doing everything as the Prophet  did it. In accordance with the terms of the treaty, the Muslims left after three days, when their Umra had been completed.

Not long after this, the Prophet sent an army of three thousand Muslims northwards to the borders of the Byzantine territories in what is now Palestine to chastise the tribes there for killing the messengers whom he had sent to call them to Islam. The tribes called on the Emperor Herclius for support, and when the Muslim army arrived at Muta, they found themselves facing an army of two thousand men.

Many of the Muslims died as shahids on the day of the battle, but thanks to the tactics of Khalid bin Walid, the Greeks withdrew the next day, and so the Muslims were able to return to Medina relatively unscathed. When the news of the battle of Muta finally reached Mecca, the Quraish mistakenly believed that the Muslims had been thoroughly defeated by the Greeks and decided to renew their opposition to the Prophet (PBUH). In doing so, they deliberately broke their treaty that they had made at Hudaybiiya, by allowing their allies to attack and kill some of the allies of the Muslims who lived near Mecca.

Accordingly the Prophet  marched on Mecca at the head of an army of ten thousand Muslims. Despite everyone's fears, he conquered it with hardly a drop of blood being spilled. As always, the mercy and forgiveness that he displayed towards those who had relentlessly opposed him for so many years changed people's hearts, and many of the people of Mecca now embraced Islam as a result. Having pardoned all of the Quraish, with the exception of four men who had all committed murder for personal reasons, the Prophet smashed all the idols and destroyed all the paintings that had been placed inside the Ka'ba by the idol-worshippers. The sanctity of the sanctuary of Mecca had been restored, and at long last the Muslims were free to come and go in Mecca as they pleased.

In the midst of the peace and rejoicing, however, news came that the tribes of Hawazin and Thaqif were preparing to attack the Muslims. The Muslim army that had conquered Mecca, swelled to twelve thousand by some of the men from the Quraish who had just embraced Islam, marched to a place called Hunayn. For the first time in their experience, the Muslims actually outnumbered the enemy, of whom there were only about four thousand. This nearly proved to be the Muslims' undoing, for many of them felt secure because of their large numbers rather than because of the reliance on Allah. When the enemy suddenly attacked at dawn, showering down arrows from the hills, the Muslims were taken by surprise and many began to flee. A small group stood firm with the Prophet, one of whom was Umm Sulaym bint Milhan, the wife of Abu Talha. Although she was pregnant at the time, she had armed herself with a dagger to use against the kafirun.

Fortunately the strong Muslims rallied round the Prophet and although there were only six hundred of them, their concerted effort, fighting valiantly in the way of Allah, turned the tide of the battle until those who had turned away in the initial panic and confusion had returned and the battle was won. After the battle of Hunayn, the only continued resistance to the Muslims was from the north and north-east, from the Byzantine and Persian Empires. Having heard that the Greeks were preparing a huge army of thirty thousand men and marched out in the heat of the late summer to do battle with them. After a long, hard, hot march, the Muslim army reached Tabuk, and here they learned that the Greeks had retreated back to their own territory. Accordingly, having made peace treaties with all the border tribes, the Muslims returned to Medina, in time for many of them to go on the pilgrimage to Mecca. Those who had made weak excuses in order to avoid going on the expedition to Tabuk now felt great shame and regret.

The Prophet himself did not go on the pilgrimage this year, for people were coming to Medina from all over the Arab lands to embrace Islam and to pledge allegiance to him. It was this year that came to be known as 'the Year of the Delegations', during which, at one point, the Prophet became so exhausted from seeing people that he had to pray sitting down. So instead, Abu Bakr led the pilgrims. It was during this hajj that the ayat in the Quran that forbade the idol worshippers from ever entering the sanctuary of Mecca again were revealed; they were made public during the hajj by Ali ibn Abi Talib who was sent straight from Medina to Mecca as soon as they had been revealed, so that as many people as possible would hear them.

The following year, when the time for the pilgrimage drew near, the Prophet announced that he was going on the hajj, and as a result everyone wanted to do it with him. The Muslims who did not live in or near Medina either first traveled to Medina in order to accompany him on the journey to Mecca, or else traveled to Mecca from every part of Arabia and joined him there.

Amongst the people on what has become known as 'the Farewell Pilgrimage' of the Prophet was Aisha, for the Prophet asked all of his wives, may Allah be pleased with them, to accompany him, to ensure that they all fulfilled this particular obligation that every Muslim owes to his or her Lord. It was an extraordinary pilgrimage. There never had been, and there never has been, and there never will be, another hajj quite like it, for at its heart was the Prophet Mohamed and around him were his family and Companions, may the blessings and peace of Allah be on them, and during it the ayat of the Quran was revealed:

“This day I have perfected your deen for you and have completed My blessing on you, and have chosen Islam for you as your deen.” Quran 5:3

It was also during this hajj that the Prophet gave his famous Farewell Khutba, whose words still ring in our ears and echo in our hearts all these centuries later. When he had finished speaking to the thousands upon thousands of Muslims who were gathered around him on the plain of Arafa, he raised his voice slightly and asked, "My Lord, have I delivered the message?" And thousands upon thousands of voices from all around him answered his question: "Yes, you have." And many of those who were present passed on that message to those who ere not present, and so it has continued, right up until today. And one of those who was present was Aisha, of whom the Prophet once said, "Learn some of your deen from this red haired lady." Meaning A'isha.


This is not surprising, for she is one of the four people who have transmitted more than two thousand hadiths, the others being Abu Hurairah, Abdullah ibn Umar, and Anas ibn Malik. Many of these are about some of the most intimate aspects of personal behavior and hygiene which only someone in Aisha's position could have learned. It was during the course of his marriage with Aisha that the Prophet  married several other wives, usually to strengthen ties between important families and tribes, or to relieve the hardship of a woman who had been unexpectedly divorced or widowed, or in order to clearly demonstrate whom it wapermissible for a Muslim to marry, but above all because all of his marriage had been decreed by Allah, and because all of his wives were exceptional women.

Aisha's life Part Three

A one point,  the Banu al Mustaliq began to prepare to fight the Muslims, and accordingly the Prophet (PBUH) led an army against them.
 Often when the Prophet went to war, he took one of his wives with him. He did not choose anyone in particular, but simply drew lots and took the wife whose name came out. When he went to fight the Banu al-Mustaliq, the lot fell to Aisha.

Aisha who was small, slim, and graceful, so that it was difficult for the men who carried her litter to know for certain whether or not she was actually inside it when they lifted it up. On the way back to Medina, after the Banu al Mustaliq had been subdued, the Muslim army stopped for a rest, but then the Prophet unexpectedly ordered the army to continue the march back. Unknown to everyone else, Aisha had stepped out of her litter for a few minutes and had left the camp, seeking some privacy. On her way back she had noticed that her onyx necklace was missing and so she retraced her steps to try and find it. When she had at last found it finally returned to the camp, it was to find that everyone had gone. The men who had been carrying her litter had thought she was still in it, and had picked it up, strapped it to the camel and marched on

 Asha, who trusted completely in Allah, sat down, and waited, hoping that someone would notice her absence and come back for her. Fortunately she did not have long to wait, for a young Muslim man named Safwan ibn al-Mu'attal, who had fallen behind the army after taking a rest, reached the camp during the night and found her lying fast asleep. Safwan immediately recognizing her, because he had seen her before she entered the House of the Prophet.

"Inna lillahi wa inna ilayhi raji'un!" - "Surely we come from Allah and surely to Him we return!" he exclaimed in surprise, waking Aisha up with the loudness of his voice. He did not say anything else. He let her climb on the camel and started to lead it, hoping he would catch up with the rest of the group.  They eventually cought up, but only the next morning.

 Unfortunately, some hypocrites who had seen Safwan and Aisha arrive alone together began to gossip and spread slanderous lies about them. Eventually the story reached the Prophet himself, and by then the whole community was talking about what might or might now have happened before the two young muslims. Naturally the believers, were certain that noting bad had happened, but some others were not so convinced.

As a result of all this gossip, the Prophet (PBUH) and his household came under a great strain, and in fact Aisha herself fell ill. Not because she was aware of what the hypocrites were saying about her, but because the Prophet did not seem to care for her as much as he had done before the campaign against the Banu al Mustaliq.

 Finally, someone told her what some people were saying. This made Aisha even more ill, so with the Prophet's permission, she went to stay at the house of her parents.

When she arrived, she said to her mother, Umm Ruman, "Mother! What are the people saying?" She replied "O my daughter! Do not make too much of the business. By Allah, seldom has there been a woman of beauty with a husband who loves her and who has co wives but that people say a lot against her."
Aisha said, "Glory be to Allah! The people have really been saying this?" Aisha said, "I have spent the entire night until morning unable to stop weeping and could not sleep at all. Morning found me still weeping."

In the meantime, when Safwan was confronted with the allegations that had been made, he replied, "Glory be to Allah! By Allah, I have never removed the veil of any woman!"

Since there had been no revelation to clarify the matter, the Prophet asked Barira, who was Aisha 's maid servant, if she had seen anything in Aisha' s behavior that was at all doubtful. "By Him who sent you with the truth," she replied, "I have not seen nothing wrong with her, other than that she is a young woman and sometimes she falls asleep while she is kneading the dough and a lamb comes along and eats it!" Some of the companions who were present scolded Barira and told her to come to the point. "Glory be to Allah!" she replied. "I know as much about her as a jeweler knows about a piece of pure gold!"

The Prophet also asked Zaynab bint Jahsh for her opinion, since he valued it highly. Although she and Aisha were frequently at odds with one another and Zaynab's sister Hamna, was the one of those who were actively gossiping and spreading the rumor, she replied without hesitation, "O Messenger of Allah," she said, "I will not repeat anything that I have not heard with my own ears and seen with my own eyes. By Allah, I find nothing in her but goodness."

The Prophet then tried to vindicate Aisha's honor by calling everyone to the mosque and publicly defending her reputation, but the hypocrites who had started the trouble in the first place only made matter worse, so that arguments broke out all over the mosque, and people had almost come to blows over the matter before the Prophet (PBUH) calmed them down and silenced them.

The Prophet then came to Abu Bakr's house, where Aisha had been crying her heart out, and in the presence of her parents said the shahada, and then continued, "If you are innocent, then Allah Himself will protect your honor, and if by accident there has been a lapse on your part, then seek the forgiveness of Allah and He will pardon you, for when a slave admits a fault and turns to Him in repentance, then Allah also turns and accepts that repentance."
Aisha said, "When the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) finished what he was saying, my tears stopped so that I was not aware of a single tear. I said to my father, 'Answer the Messenger of Allah for me regarding what he has said.' He said, 'By Allah, I do not know what to say to the Messenger of Allah,' I said to my mother, 'Answer the Messenger of Allah for me regarding what he has said.' She said, 'By Allah, I do not know what to say to the Messenger of Allah.'"

Aisha said, "I am a young woman who does not yet recite much of the Quran. By Allah, I know that you have heard this story that people are saying and it has become fixed in yourself and you have believed it. If I were to say to you that I am innocent, you would not believe me. If I were to confess to something to you and Allah knows that I am innocent you would believe me.
 By Allah, I can only say what the father of Yusuf said, "Patience is beautiful, and Allah is my protection against what you describe." Quran 12:18
Then I turned over on my bed, Allah knowing that I was innocent and hoping that Allah would proclaim me innocent. However, by Allah, I did not think that any relation would be sent down regarding me. I thought too little of myself that something would be said in the Qur'an regarding me, however I hoped that the Messenger of Allah would have a dream in which Allah would exonerate me. She had hardly finished speaking when the Prophet  received a direct revelation of some more ayahs of the Quran, and when it was over, he smiled and said, "Do not worry, Aisha, for Allah has revealed proof of your innocence."
Aisha's mother, who had been standing next to her, said, "Get up and thank him."
"By Allah," exclaimed Aisha, whose title, 'Siddiqa', means 'the truthful one', "I will not thank him and praise him but rather Allah Who has given the revelation that has protected my honor!" Then the Prophet went to the mosque and recited what had just been sent down:

“Surely those who fabricate the lie are a group from among you. Do not think it is bad thing for you; no it is good for you. Every man will receive what he has earned for this sin, and whoever had the greater part in it will have a great punishment. Why did the men and women believers, when they heard it, not think good in their selves and say: 'This is clearly a lie?' Why did they not produce four witnesses? Since they did not produce witnesses, they are certainly liars in the sight of Allah. If it were not for the grace of Allah, and His mercy on you in this world and in the next world, an awful doom would have overtaken you for what you repeated. Since you received it with your tongues, and repeated what you did not know anything about with your mouths, you thought it was a trifle, but in the sight of Allah it is serious. Why, when you heard it, did you not say: 'It is not for us to repeat this, Glory be to You (O Allah), this is a serious rumor.' Allah warns you to never repeat anything like this again, if you are indeed believers and Allah makes the signs clear to you; and Allah is Knowing, Wise. Surely those who love to spread around slander about those who believe will have a painful punishment in this world and in the next world; and Allah knows and you do not know.” Quran 24:11-19

Aisha forgave those who had let themselves be caught in the slander and in later years would not hear anything bad said about them. The fact that Aisha' s honor and reputation had been protected by a revelation from Allah could not be ignored by anyone, and from then on everyone was more aware of her high station with Allah.

It was also during the course of Aisha's marriage with the Prophet Mohamed  that the Muslim community expanded so rapidly and that Mecca was eventually conquered by the Muslim army, and preparations were made for the first of the many battles that were successfully fought against the Greeks and the Persians after the letters from Mohamed inviting Heraclius and Choroes to embrace Islam and worship Allah alone had been contemptuously ignored.

Aisha's life Part Two

During the nine years that Aisha was married to the Prophet Mohamed, she witnessed many of the great events that shaped the destiny of the first Muslim community of Madina al Munawarra.

It was during the course of their marriage that she direction of the qibla was changed from Jerusalem to Mecca, thereby more clearly distinguishing the Muslims from the Jews and the Christians. And it was during the course of their marriage that she must have listened to many of the Jews, Christians and  idol worshippers who came not to listen to the Prophet (PBUH) but to argue with him, in the hope that they could find a plausible excuse to justify their rejection of him.
It was through exchanges such as these that Aisha learned to distinguish what was true from what was false. As the prophetic guidance continued to be revealed through the Prophet Mohamed, Aisha's way of life - along with that of all the Muslims - was gradually reshaped and refined: It was during the course of their marriage that drinking alcohol was finally forbidden, that it was made clear what food was halal and what food was haram, that the guidance of how to fast was revealed, that paying the Zakat became obligatory on all Muslims, and that all rites of the hajj were purified and clarified.

In fact every aspect of life, from birth to death and everything that happens in between, was illuminated by the way in which the Prophet behaved - and it was this way of behavior, the Sunna, that Aisha helped to preserve and protect, not only by embodying it herself, but also by teaching it to others.

 Aisha was once asked to describe the Prophet, and she replied that he was “the Quran walking”, meaning that his behavior was the Quran translated into action.
She did all that she could to do likewise. Thus she not only knew and embodied the Sunna, but also she memorized the Quran by heart and understood it. It was during the course of their marriage that, amongst others, the battles of Badr, and Uhud, and Al-Khandaq (the Ditch) were fought. These were the three major battles against the Quraish, that shifted the balance of power out of the hands of the kafirun (non believers) and into the hands of the Muslims.

Aisha participated in them all, bringing water for the Muslims warriors, and helping to look after the wounded. She witnessed both in the way of and death in the way of Allah and in the way of the kafirun.  She understood both. Indeed one of the meanings of her name, Aisha, is life.

It was during the course of their marriage that the Jews plotted and tried to kill the Prophet on more than one occasion, without success, and were punished for this.
First the Banu Qayunqa and then the Banu Nadir were expelled from Medina; and then Banu Qurayza - who had broken their agreement with the Muslims during the battle of al-Khandaq and conspired to exterminate all of them - were subjected to the punishment that was decided by the man whom they themselves had chosen to judge their actions: Sa'id ibn Mu'adh.
In accordance with the commands contained in their own book, the Torah, all the men were killed - with the exception of four who accepted Islam and all the women and children were taken as slaves.

Aisha's life Part One

Aisha was the daughter of Abu Bakr, who was a close friend and follower of the prophet Mohamed (PBUH).
As I have established before, Aisha was indeed young when she marry but she was a woman nonetheless and her union to the prophet was perfectly legitimate.

There is a reason why Aisha was chosen to be the prophet’s life partner. She was an incredibly smart and vivacious woman and her qualities helped Islam in so many ways. Her accurate memory allowed many to become familiar with the life and teachings of the prophet long after his passing. And in that she was and is to this day invaluable.

Aisha (PBUH) spent the next nine years of her life with the Prophet (PBUH), she remembered all that she saw and heard with great clarity. So much happened around him - the Quran continued to be revealed, ayat by ayat, and people's hearts were constantly being turned over and transformed, including hers and she was a witness of so much of all that took place. It is not surprising, therefore, that a great deal of the knowledge that we still have today, about how our beloved Prophet  lived and behaved, was first remembered and then taught to others by Aisha.
 It is thanks to this exceptional marriage, between a man nearing the end of his life and a woman still near the beginning of hers, that we know so much about the both of them, and this is what makes it so much easier for those who wish to follow in their footsteps to try and follow their example.

Whereas Khadijah was already a wise and mature woman when she married the Prophet Mohamed, Aisha was a spirited young woman. She was not afraid to talk back in order to find out the truth or make it known, and whenever she beat someone else in argument, the Prophet would smile and say, "She is the daughter of Abu Bakr!"
Musa ibn Talha once said, "I have not seen anyone more eloquent than Aisha."

Aisha  became so wise that one of her contemporaries used to say that if the knowledge of Aisha were placed on one side of the scales that of all other women on the other, Aisha side would outweigh the other. She used to sit with the other women and pass on the knowledge that she had received from the Prophet and long after he had died, and as long as she lived, she was a source of knowledge and wisdom for both women and men.

Abu Musa once said, "Whenever a report appeared doubtful to us, the Companions of the Prophet, and we asked Aisha about it, we always learned something from her about it."

On one occasion, the Prophet Mohamed (PBUH) said to her, "O Aisha, here is Jibril giving you greetings of peace." "And on him be peace." She said, 'and the mercy of Allah." When she was telling Abu Salama about this, she added, "He (meaning the Prophet Mohamed ) sees what I do not see."

As well as being extremely intelligent, Aisha was a very graceful young woman. When she first came to live in the Prophet's household , a strong and lasting friendship grew up between her and Sawda. Sawda was one of the prophet’s other wife.
All the prophet's wives were called: “The Mother of the Believers' - a title of respect, and also a confirmation of what is stated in the Quran: no man could marry them after they had been married to the prophet.

“The Prophet is closer to the believers than their ownselves, and his wives are as their mothers.”  Quran 33:6

“O you wives of the Prophet, if any of you is openly indecent, the punishment for her will be doubled - and that is easy for Allah. And whoever of you submits to Allah and His Messenger has right action, We shall give her a reward twice over and We have prepared a generous provision for her. O you wives of the Prophet, you are not like any other women. If you are fearful of Allah then do not be soft in yspeech, lest someone whose heart is sick is attracted to you, but speak words that are wise. And stay quietly in your houses, do not make a dazzling display like that of the time of ignorance before and establish prayer and pay the Zakat and obey Allah and His Messenger. Surely Allah wishes to remove impurity far from you, O People of the House, and to purify you completely. And remember that ayahs of Allah that are recited in your houses and the wisdom. Surely Allah is Alpervading, All Aware.” Quran 33:30-34

It is sometimes difficult to picture what life must have been like for the wives and the Companions of the Prophet because the light that emanated from him and through them was so unique.
The Prophet Mohamed was truly a mercy to all the worlds.

“O Prophet, surely We have sent you as a witness and as a bringer of good news and a warner; and one who calls the people to Allah by His permission, and as a shining light.” Quran 33:45-46

It is said that people were awed by the Prophet Mohamed when they were in his presence, and that they sat and listened to his words with their eyes lowered, as if they had birds perched on their heads, and that they would do anything for him, so great was their love for him. It was because of the perfection of the Prophet Mohamed (PBUH) that everyone was commanded to ask blessings on him:

“Allah and His angels pray blessings on the Prophet; O you who believe! Pray blessings of him and ask for peace for him”. Quran 33:56

It was because of the Prophet Mohamed's unique station with Allah that his wives and his Companions were expected by Allah to behave with such respect and courtesy towards the Prophet Mohamed; and that his wives could not possibly marry anyone else after having been married to him:

“When you ask his wives for something, ask them from behind a screen. That is purer for your hearts and for their hearts. It is not for you to cause injury to the Messenger of Allah, or ever marry his wives after him. To do that would be something dreadful in the sight of Allah”. Quran 33:53

Determination of Aisha's age when she married

I thought it was really important to clarify this specific point in the life of the prophet. I will write more on the subject of Aisha and you will come to understand that through the message of Islam spread and lived on. So stay posted.




It appears that Maulana Mohamed Ali was the first Islamic scholar directly to challenge the notion that Aisha was aged six and nine, respectively, at the time of her nikah and consummation of marriage.
This, he did in, at least, the following writings: his English booklet Prophet of Islam, his larger English book Mohamed, the Prophet, and in the footnotes in his voluminous Urdu translation and commentary of Sahih Bukhari entitled Fadl-ul-Bari, these three writings being published in the 1920s and 1930s. In the booklet Prophet of Islam, which was later incorporated in 1948 as the first chapter of his book Living Thoughts of the Prophet Mohamed, he writes in a lengthy footnote as follows:

“A great misconception prevails as to the age at which Aisha was taken in marriage by the Prophet. Ibn Sa‘d has stated in the Tabaqat that when Abu Bakr [father of Aisha] was approached on behalf of the Holy Prophet, he replied that the girl had already been betrothed to Jubair, and that he would have to settle the matter first with him. This shows that Aisha must have been approaching majority at the time. Again, the Isaba, speaking of the Prophet’s daughter Fatima, says that she was born five years before the Call and was about five years older than Aisha. This shows that Aisha must have been about ten years at the time of her betrothal to the Prophet, and not six years as she is generally supposed to be. This is further borne out by the fact that Aisha herself is reported to have stated that when the chapter [of the Holy Quran] entitled The Moon, the fifty-fourth chapter, was revealed, she was a girl playing about and remembered certain verses then revealed. Now the fifty-fourth chapter was undoubtedly revealed before the sixth year of the Call. All these considerations point to but one conclusion, viz., that Aisha could not have been less than ten years of age at the time of her nikah, which was virtually only a betrothal. And there is one report in the Tabaqat that Aisha was nine years of age at the time of nikah. Again it is a fact admitted on all hands that the nikah of Aisha took place in the tenth year of the Call in the month of Shawwal, while there is also preponderance of evidence as to the consummation of her marriage taking place in the second year of Hijra in the same month, which shows that full five years had elapsed between the nikah and the consummation. Hence there is not the least doubt that Aisha was at least nine or ten years of age at the time of betrothal, and fourteen or fifteen years at the time of marriage.”

To facilitate understanding the dates of these events, please note that it was in the tenth year of the Call, ( the tenth year after the Holy Prophet Mohamed received his calling from God), that his wife Khadija passed away, and the approach was made to Abu Bakr for the hand of his daughter Aisha.

The hijra or emigration of the Holy Prophet to Madina took place three years later, and Aisha came to the household of the Holy Prophet in the second year after hijra. So if Aisha was born in the year of the Call, she would be ten years old at the time of the nikah and fifteen years old at the time of the consummation of the marriage.

Khadija, the first wife of the Prophet Mohamed

Khadijah, came from a noble family. Her father Khuwaylid had been one of the most honored leaders of their tribe until he was killed in battle. Her husband had also died, leaving her a very wealthy woman. When Mohamed (PBUH) was still a young man, she entrusted him with some of her wealth; asking him to trade with it in Syria on her behalf.

He was already well known for his honesty, truthfulness and trustworthiness. He returned from Syria after having made a large profit for Khadijah.

After hearing his account of the journey, she decided that he would make the best of the husbands, even though many of the most important nobles of the Quraish had already proposed to her and had been refused. Eventually she asked him to become her husband.

 After the Prophet's uncle, Abu Talib, had given the proposed marriage his blessing, Mohamed and Khadijah got married. At the time of the union, the Prophet was twenty-five years old, while Khadijah was forty years old.

For the next fifteen years they lived happily together, and Khadijah bore several children. Their first child, a son whom they named Qasim, died when he was only two years old. Two more sons, called Tayyib and Tahir, were also born, but they too died in their infancy. However, Mohamedd and Khadijah also had four daughters who survived: Zaynab, Ruqayya, Umm Kulthum and Fatima.

No one except Allah of course, knows more about a man than his wife, both his good and his bad qualities, his strengths and his weaknesses. The more Khadijah came to know about her husband, the more she loved and respected him. Everyone in Mecca called him 'al-Amin', which means 'the trustworthy one', and she, more than anyone else, knew how fitting this name was.

 It became Mohamed's custom each year to spend the month of Ramadan in seclusion and reflection in a cave on the mountain of Hira, which is on the outskirts of Mecca. Khadijah would always make sure that he was provided with food and drink during his retreat. Towards the end of one Ramadan, when he was forty and Khadijah fifty-five, Mohamed suddenly appeared at their house in the middle of the night, trembling with fear and saying, "Cover me up, cover me up!"

Khadijah was very alarmed to see him in such a state. Quickly she wrapped a blanket around his shoulders and, when he had calmed down, she asked him to describe exactly what had happened.

He told her how a being whom he had never seen before - in fact it was the angel Jibril - had suddenly appeared to him while he was asleep and had said, "Read!"

"But I cannot read," he had replied, for he was unlettered and could neither read or write. "Read!" the angel had repeated, clasping Muhammad close to his chest. "I cannot read," he had repeated. "Read!" the angel had repeated, firmly embracing him yet again. "What shall I read?" he had asked in desperation, and the angel had replied
:"Read, in the Name of your Lord who created, created man from a clot, Read, and your Lord is the Most Gracious, Who taught with the pen, taught man what he did not know." Quran 96:1-5

Although Mohamed (PBUH) did not fully realize it at the time, this was the beginning of the revelation of the Quran. It was his first encounter with the angel Jibril, and Mohamed was very frightened, for he did not know who the angel Jibril was or what was happening. He woke up and ran out of the cave only to find Jibril still in front of him, and whenever he turned away from him, there Jibril was in front of him yet again, filling the horizon with his mighty yet beautiful form.

"Oh Mohamed," said Jibril eventually, "you are the Messenger of Allah and I am Jibril," and with these words he disappeared from sight.

After the angel had disappeared Mohamed had clambered down the mountain as fast as he could run, not knowing if he was going mad and imagining things, or if he had been possessed by one of the djinn.

As she listened to Mohamed's words, Khadijah did not share any of these fears. She realized that something tremendous and awe-inspiring had happened to her husband, and she was certain, knowing him as she did, that he was neither mad nor possessed. "Do not worry," she said, "for by Him who has dominion over Khadijah's soul, I hope that you are the Prophet of this nation. Allah would never humiliate you, for you are good to your relatives, you are true to your word, you help those who are in need, you support the weak, you feed the guest and you answer the call of those who are in distress."

When Mohamed (PBUH) was a little more relaxed, Khadijah took him to see her cousin, Waraqa ibn Nawfal, for he was a man of knowledge, and she was sure that he would be able to explain the meaning of what had just happened to her beloved husband.

Waraqa had studied the books of both the Jews and the Christians very closely and he had learned a great deal from many of their wisest people. He knew that the coming of another Prophet had been foretold by both Moses and Jesus, peace be on them, and he knew many of the signs that would confirm the identity of this Prophet when he appeared.

After listening closely to his story, Waraqa, who was both old and blind, exclaimed, "This is the same being who brought the revelations of Allah to Moses. I wish I was young and could be alive when our people will drive you out."

"Will they drive me out?" asked Mohamed.

"Yes," replied Waraqa. "No one has come with what you have been given without being treated with enmity; and if I were to live until the day when you are turned out, then I would support you with all my might. Let me just feel your back." So, saying, Waraqa felt between the Prophet's shoulder-blades and found what he was feeling for: a small round, slightly raised irregularity in the skin, about the size of a pigeon's egg. This was yet another of the many signs that Waraqa already knew would indicate the identity of the next Prophet after Jesus.

"This is the Seal of the Prophethood!" he exclaimed. "Now I am certain that you are indeed the Prophet whose coming was foretold in the Torah that was revealed to Moses and in the Injil that was revealed to Jesus, (PBUT) You are indeed the Messenger of Allah, and the being who appeared to you on the mountain was indeed the angel Jibril!"

Khadijah was both overjoyed and awed to find that her understanding of what had happened on the mountain had been confirmed. Not long after this incident, Mohamed was commanded in a subsequent revelation from Allah, through the angel Jibril, to call people to worship Allah only, and it was at this point that Khadijah did not hesitate in expressing in public what she had now known in secret for some time: " I bear witness that there is no god except Allah," she said, "and I bear witness that Mohamed is the Messenger of Allah."

In the years that followed, difficult years they were, the leaders of the Quraish did everything in their power to stop the Prophet from spreading his message. Khadijah (may Allah be pleased with her) was a constant source of help and comfort to Mohamed. All her wealth was spent in the way of Allah, helping to spread the message of her husband, helping to free slaves who had embraced Islam, and helping to feed and shelter the community of Muslims that slowly but surely began to grow in numbers and strength.

The Quraish were infuriated by the Prophet's success and did everything in their power to discourage both him and his followers, often inflicting awful tortures on them, but without success. The situation became so bad that the Prophet told some of his followers to go to Abyssinia, where their ruler, the Negus, who was a sincere Christian gave them shelter and protection. Eventually there came a time when, as Waraqa had foretold, Mohamed and his followers -along with all the members of his tribe, the Banu Hashim were driven out of the city of Mecca and forced to camp out in a small ravine in the mountains nearby. This happened long after Waraqa had died, and about seven years after that extraordinary night of power in which Mohamed had received the first revelation of Quran through the angel Jibril.

There, while their homes lay empty in Mecca, the Muslims were exposed to the bitterly cold nights of winter and the fiery hot days of summer, with very little food and shelter. No one would buy and sell with the Muslims, or allow their sons and daughters to marry any of them. Fortunately those who secretly sympathized with the Muslims would send what food they could to them whenever the chance arose, sometimes by loading provisions onto a camel or a horse and then sending it off at a gallop in the direction of the camp, hoping that the animal would not stop or get lost before it reached its intended destination.

For three years the small Muslim community lived a life of hardship and deprivation, and they suffered from hunger and thirst, and from exposure to heat and cold, this was a time in which the hearts of the first Muslims were both purified and also filled with the light of knowledge and wisdom. The Muslims knew that they were following the truth, and so nothing else mattered. They did not care what the Quraish did to them or said about them. Allah and His Messenger were enough for them!

It was during this period that the Muslims who had sought shelter in Abyssinia returned, only to find the situation even worse than when they had left it. Not long after, many of them returned to Abyssinia, their numbers swelled by those whom the Prophet  had told to accompany them.

Finally the boycott was lifted and the Muslims were allowed to re enter the city; but the three years of hardship had taken their toll. First of all the Prophet's uncle, Abu Talib, who was by then more than eighty years old, died; and then a few months later, during the month of Ramadan, Khadijah also died, at the age of sixty-five, may Allah be pleased with her.

 The Prophet Mohamed (PBUH) mourned her deeply. They had shared twenty-five years of marriage together and she had given birth to five of his children. Only one of the Prophet's future wives, Maria the Copt, would give him another child, Ibrahim, and he, like Qasim, was destined to die when he was still very young, at the age of eighteen months.

Khadijah had been the first to publicly accept Mohamed as the Messenger of Allah, and she had never stopped doing all she could to help him. Love and mercy had grown between them, increasing in quality and depth as the years passed. And not even death could take this love away. The Prophet  never stopped loving Khadijah, and although he married several more wives in later years and loved them all, it is clear that Khadijah always had a special place in his heart.

Indeed, whenever Aisha, his third wife, heard the Prophet speak of Khadijah, or saw him sending food to Khadijah's old friends and relatives, she could not help feeling jealous of her, because of the love that the Prophet still had for her.

Once, Aisha asked him if Khadijah had been the only woman worthy of his love. The Prophet  replied: "She believed in me when no one else did; she accepted Islam when people rejected me; and she helped and comforted me when there was no one else to lend me a helping hand."

 It had been related by Abu Hurairah (may Allah be pleased with him) that on one occasion, when Khadijah was still alive, Jibril came to the Prophet and said, "O Messenger of Allah, Khadijah is just coming with a bowl of soup (or food or drink) for you. When she comes to you, give her greetings of peace from her Lord and from me, and give her the good news of a palace of jewels in the Garden, where there will be neither any noise nor any tiredness."

 After the Prophet's uncle, Abu Talib, and his first wife, Khadijah, had both died in the same year, the Prophet Mohamed and his small community of believers endured a time of great hardship and persecution at the hands of the Quraish. Indeed the Prophet, who was now fifty years old, name this year 'the Year of Sorrow.'