My icon

She was the best of wife the world had ever seen. Always comforting, always there when her man needed her. She's my icon. And she's Khadija, the first wife of Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him (p.b.u.h).

When Prophet Muhammad (p.b.u.h) hurriedly came home from Hira' cave after the first revelation, she didn't immediately asked any question. Looking at her shaking husband, she immediately took a blanket and wrapped him up. She let him lie down to rest and to calm down. She waited until her husband stopped shaking before asking him what had happen. Prophet Muhammad (p.b.u.h) told her how an unknown man suddenly appeared in the cave and hugged him tightly until he almost lost his breath and asked him to read a few sentences after him. Only after Prophet Muhammad (p.b.u.h) repeated those verses after the man did he released him. Then Prophet Muhammad (p.b.u.h) ran for his life and hurriedly came back home.

Muhammad told Khadijah he felt what had happened was something terrible. She calmed him down by saying how a good man he had been; he had never hurt any creature. Surely nothing bad could happen to such a good man that is trusted by the public to keep their precious belongings. She suggested they met her cousin Waraqah Bin Naufal, a very old man who is still practicing the teaching of Injil that was revealed to Jesus or Prophet Isa, to find out what had actually taken place. Waraqah asked Muhammad to repeat what the man had asked him to recite.

Read! In the Name of your Lord, Who has created (all that exists),

Has created man from a clot (a piece of thick coagulated blood).

Read! And your Lord is the Most Generous,

Who has taught (the writing) by the pen,

Has taught man that which he knew not.

Then Waraqah asked Prophet Muhammad (p.b.u.h) to describe the 'man'. Listening to the description, Waraqah said that the 'man' was an angel, the same angel that was sent down to Moses or Prophet Musa. Waraqah said that if he had a long life until Prophet Muhammad (p.b.u.h) received his revelations, he would support Prophet Muhammad (p.b.u.h) with all his might for he knew that Prophet Muhammad (p.b.u.h) would received a lot of resistance and oppressions.

What had always strike me about this event is the way Khadija managed to calm down Prophet Muhammad (p.b.u.h). If my husband came home looking as if he had seen a ghost, I would immediately ask him what had happen. My curiosity would win over my duty to calm my husband down. The way Khadija sooth Prophet Muhammad (p.b.u.h) by saying what a good man he had been, is to me the highest degree of comfort a wife could provide to her husband. A normal wife would say "I told you so!" and nag at the husband about always spending time alone in a secluded cave. MasyaAllah, can a modern day wife be as good a wife as Khadija? Islam has the best example for everything. We just need to open our heart and mind when we read about seerah or the story of Prophet Muhammad (p.b.u.h). It's not just a story, it's how we should carry out our everyday life. Trying to live a pious and blessed life like the example set by Prophet Muhammad (p.b.u.h), his family members and his companions.

May Allah bless us all. Ameen.