Khadija bint Khuwaylid was as our Prophet ﷺ described, “The best of women.” Amongst the beautiful souls that are the sahabiyat of his time, the best of Allah’s creation determined her to be deserving of the title “the best of women” – why?

We find our mother Khadija RA an example in sincerity and submission, a rarity in our world. 

Khadija RA was a true inspiration to the women of her time before Islam. She had status, wealth and beauty – what more could a woman then want, and what more could a woman now want? 

But her status in Islam is not founded on any of these. She had in her something more valuable than all that,  something we can only pray Allah gifts us – Tawakkul and sincere belief in His Oneness SWT. She submitted entirely to the message of the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ, without hesitation. Khadija RA gave herself, her health, wealth and status to Allah SWT, sacrificing the tangible for the unseen. She truly believed in – and acted on – the verse we recite today:

“Whatever ˹pleasure˺ you have been given is ˹no more than a fleeting˺ enjoyment of this worldly life. But what is with Allah is far better and more lasting for those who believe and put their trust in their Lord” — ‫)‬Qur’an 42: 36)

Look around you at the women society holds high today. Is it not those of wealth, beauty and status – the celebrities, presidents, entrepreneurs? 

Do not conflate success in this temporary world with the true success of the hereafter. Your worldly aspirations – that job, position, or business opportunity – is not worth abandoning your religion for. People will always have opinions about your beliefs. Did the people of Khadija RA not boycott her and drive her out of her own city simply for accepting the truth? 

Yet where is Khadija RA now? Allah promised her a palace in Jannah. In return for her temporary submission, she received an eternity of bliss greater than this world and all that is in it. Do we not also long for such a reward?

This world is a struggle, and our journey to please Allah will not be easy. The distractions around us are real, but the Hereafter, though unseen, is also real – and it is “better and longer lasting.” So have Tawakkul in Allah SWT – put on that hijab you’ve been worried about going out in, leave the meeting to pray your salah on time – for these opinions will come and go, just as the people who hold them come and go, and all that stays is your status in the eyes of Allah SWT, the exalted.

Khadija RA’s legacy was preserved by Allah SWT and lives on in our time. At a time when there are few women like Khadija, we have her seerah (story) to reference and draw timeless lessons from. Let us look up to her as an example, and aspire to be women like our mother Khadija RA until Allah SWT reunites us with her beautiful soul in the most beautiful of places, His Jannah inshaAllah.