Sirah
The Marriage to Khadijah
The wedding household of Banu Asad, c. 595 CE
c. 595 CE
Educational historical reconstructionWhere
The quarter of Banu Asad, Makkah (the house of Khadijah, RA)
21.4234, 39.8266 · View on OpenStreetMap
Background
After the trade journey he had undertaken on her behalf and the good report of her servant Maysara, Khadijah bint Khuwaylid (radiyallahu 'anha) sought marriage with Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him). She was a noblewoman of Banu Asad ibn Abd al-Uzza of Quraysh, twice widowed, a wealthy and respected merchant of such standing and virtue that she was called al-Tahira, the pure; by the account of Ibn Ishaq and Ibn Sa'd she made her wish known through an intermediary, and the Prophet consulted his uncles, who arranged the marriage with her family. The wedding is conventionally dated around 595 CE, when he was about twenty-five years old. Khadijah (RA) was the first of his wives, and for the some twenty-five years until her death she was his only wife; she bore most of his children, was the first of all people to believe in his message when the revelation came, and stood by him with her wealth and her loyalty through the early years of hostility, so that her death in the Year of Sorrow (a separate scene) was among his heaviest losses. This scene depicts the wedding household only: the courtyard of a substantial Makkan house prepared for the feast, cushions and lit lamps, bowls of dates and food set for the guests, with the bare valley town and the sanctuary glimpsed beyond. In keeping with the Sirah tier no person is shown, neither the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) nor Khadijah (RA) nor any guest; the joy and dignity of the occasion are carried by the household and the feast.
What you see
The courtyard of a substantial Makkan house made ready for a feast, the home of a noblewoman of Banu Asad ibn Abd al-Uzza in the valley town below the sanctuary; a dwelling of standing, not a poor house and not a market.
A marriage feast is laid out: cushions around the court, oil lamps lit, bowls of dates and food and vessels set for the guests, the welcome of a household joined in marriage.
This is the marriage of Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) to Khadijah bint Khuwaylid (radiyallahu 'anha), a widow and respected merchant of Quraysh of high repute, sought after the honesty he had shown with her trade; he was about twenty-five and she some years older.
The beginning of a marriage that would last some twenty-five years until her death, in which she was his only wife, the first to believe in his message, and his comfort in the hardest years. The scene shows the household and the feast, not the couple.
Beyond the courtyard wall the bare valley town and the open sanctuary precinct at its heart place this at Makkah, in the years before the call to prophethood.
The marriage to Khadijah (RA) is recorded by Ibn Ishaq and Ibn Sa'd. In the Sirah tier no person is depicted; the scene is the place and the feast only.
Primary sources
Ibn Ishaq via Ibn Hisham, al-Sira al-Nabawiyya: The narrative of the proposal and the marriage to Khadijah (RA), through the intermediary and the Prophet's uncles.
Ibn Sa'd, al-Tabaqat al-Kubra (9th c.): The biographical record of Khadijah (RA), her lineage in Banu Asad, her standing, and the marriage and its terms.
Sahih al-Bukhari and Sahih Muslim (the standing of Khadijah, RA): The Prophet's praise of Khadijah (RA), the first to believe and the best of the women of her time; used for her place, not for the wedding detail.
Further reading & cross-references
Safi al-Rahman al-Mubarakpuri, al-Rahiq al-Makhtum (20th c.): Modern Sunni synthesis for the dating of the marriage and the household.
Topography of Khadijah's house (city): The house stood in Makkah; the traditional site lies within the later Haram developments and the exact dwelling is not preserved, so the location is at city precision.
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