Muhammad (saw) was in his early 20s; he was at the age where he was looking

to establish himself financially

In his teens, he was a shepherd, like the Prophets of the Past. He could not take
any other menial task given his status as the grandson of the great leader Abdul
Mutallib
1.
2.

Abu Talib was not wealthy, so he couldnt provide Muhammad with the
merchandise he needs to be a businessman. Muhammad himself is an orphan, so
he didnt inherit any money either
Muhammad decided to go into the business of brokering deals, basically working
on commission
1 Someone is wholesaling and someone is in retailing
2 Muhammad would go around trying to broker deals; he would hook
up the wholesaler with the retailer
In his early days of doing local business, Muhammad had a partner named As
Saib bin Abi Saib (aka Abu Saib). They were able to make money for themselves &
build up some seed money

Abu Saib was a very honest & noble businessman

Muhammad was also building reputation as honest businessman, as Sadiq alAmin
20 years after Prophethood (almost 40 years of doing business with this Abu
Saib), the son of Abu Saib, Abdullah, had accepted Islam

When Muhammad arrived in Makkah during the conquest, he met his old
business partner in the city. They reminisced about the old days.
The Prophet offered Abu Saib a compliment. Abu Saib is the best business
partner. La yushari wa la yumari he would never undercut someone when
doing business, and he would never cheat/lie when doing business.
This was the character of the Prophet to remember people, to remember the
good of people, & to pay compliments to people
Abu Saib wasnt even Muslim at this time (he accepts Islam later on). The
Prophet remembered his business partner after all this time (more than 20 years
later) & gives him a shout-out
After Muhammad earned some seed money for himself by brokering deals, he
was ready to do some real business (to defeat the Huns)

After the incident with Bhaira the Monk, who warned Abu Talib about the
possible dangers his nephew Muhammad could face, Abu Talib forbade his
nephew from going on long business trips
Muhammad wanted to help out his family because Abu Talibs family werent
very well off, so he decided to do business locally in Makkah
To be able to do business, Muhammad had to have some money, which he
didnt have.

He went to his uncle Abu Talib & persuaded him to be able to go make an actual
business trip
One narration says that Muhammad went on his first business trip on behalf of
his uncle, where he really established a reputation for himself as an honest man
Khadijah bint Khuwaylid
She had been married twice; both of her husbands passed away
She was born into wealth & married into wealth, & she possessed a lot of business
assets
1 Khadijah invested her wealth by hiring businessmen to do business
in Bilad al Shaam (modern day Syria). The businessmen would take
goods from Makkah & sell them in Bilad al Shaam, and would bring
back goods from that region to sell in Makkah.
2 She couldnt travel alone for business due to unsafe roads, so she
needed to find someone trustworthy to take care of her money &
her business
When Khadijah started to hear about the reputation of a young man named
Muhammad around Makkah, she called him in
1 She offered him twice the amount of commission that shed offer
anyone else. Its possible that Muhammad initially declined her
request , so she doubled the offer
2 Other narrations says that Muhammad told Khadijah that his uncle
didnt want him to travel for business, so Khadijah went directly to
Abu Talib and spoke to him.
1 She assured Abu Talib that Muhammad will be fine, & she
offered to let her slave named Maysara to travel with
Muhammad to as-Sham. Maysara was a very skilled fighter &
archer; he was a bodyguard of Khadijah
2 Abu Talib, looking out for the best interest of Muhammad,
was the one who asked Khadijah to double her offer
While traveling to as-Sham, Muhammad & Khadijahs slave Maysara stopped
at the regular rest area where he met Bhaira years ago

Another monk resided at that monastery now, not Bhaira

While Muhammad was resting underneath the tree, the monk comes down from
the monastery & meets Maysara at the water well, asking him who the man
underneath the tree was
Maysara replied, Thats Muhammad ibn Abdullah. Hes from the people of the
Quraysh; theyre the caretakers of the Haram.
The monk tells Maysara, No man will sit underneath that tree at this time or
place except for a prophet.
1 This was a sign he read in the scriptures
Muhammad & Maysara carries on to as-Sham, arrive back with plenty of goods
& profits. Those goods were sold with a lot of profit in Makkah

While traveling back from as-Sham, it was extremely hot. Maysara noticed that
Muhammad seemed very calm, and it was because he was being covered by a

shade while traveling. Maysara recalls, It was as if two angels were providing
shade for Muhammad.
They get back to Makkah. Muhammad sits down with Khadijah, & gives her a
full & precise breakdown with Maysara of the business dealings

Khadijah was impressed by the attention to detail & the honesty Muhammad
displayed
The accounts are settled & Khadijah gives Muhammad his commission, who goes
about his way.
Khadijah then asks Maysara what Muhammad is like in business, & whether they
should continue to do business with him.
Maysara says nothing but good things about him; that Muhammad is very honest
& intelligent.
He also tells her about the extraordinary things he saw regarding Muhammad
(such as the clouds providing shade for him constantly)
After this, Muhammad did a couple of more business deals with Khadijah,
which earned lots of profits
By now, Khadijah is becoming more and more interested & impressed by
Muhammad
She asks one of her cousins, Waraqah bin Nowfal, Do you know anything about
Muhammad?
1 Waraqah tells her that he knows Muhammad in general, & of his
reputation as Sadiq-al-Ameen
Khadijah was still relatively young & wealthy, so shed get a lot of proposals, but
shed worry that these men wanted to marry her for her money only, not her
character
1 Khadijah asked her cousin Waraqah what he thought of a marriage
between herself & Muhammad
2 Waraqah encourages Khadijah to pursue the marriage
Nafisa, or Nufaisa (Khadijahs friend) also tells Khadijah to pursue the
marriage proposal
Nafisa offers to speak on Khadijahs behalf in regards to the proposal.
She goes to Muhammad, & asks him, What do you think of Khadijah as a
person?
Muhammad: Shes an exemplary woman. Shes honest & trustworthy. Ive only
seen good from her.
Nafisa: Would you be interested in marrying her?
Muhammad: Yes, is she interested in marriage?
Nafisa: Yes, I wouldnt be here if she wasnt.
Muhammad: Then, yes, if shes interested, then I am also interested in the
marriage.
Nafisa & Muhammad go to Abu Talib to speak about the proposal
Shaykh Abdul: Well stop here. A little bit of a cliffhanger. Not really, because
everybody knows what happened.

 Lessons from this episode

Prophet did business. Not only that, but he was an honest businessman.
A trustworthy & honest businessman will be in the ranks of the prophets and the
martyrs and the pious and the righteous.
The Prophet is an example of how to establish relations with people
The number one priority for marriage is considering the persons character
The Prophet and Khadijah considered each others character. Deen is important,
but one of the most important manifestations of deen is character
We have 2 extremes today when it comes to marriage proposals
1 Social & material qualifiers which family does he come
from? How good-looking are they? How much money do
they have? What type of education do they have?
2 Opposite extreme where marriage is considered solely based
on superficially religious qualifiers does he have a beard?
Does she wear a hijab? Does he wear a kufi? Does he wear a
thobe? What kind of hijab does she wear? How much Quran
has she memorized?
Character is a part & parcel of our deen & a manifestation of our deen, because
character shows the sincerity of ones deen. A person may be outwardly religious,
but may not have internalized his deen
Muhammad (saw) would discourage the taking of loans

3.

Nothing wrong with investing your money

Abdul Rahman bin Awfs (ra) business caravan arrived in Medina. His caravan
was so huge that the front camel was in one end of the border of Medina & the
last camel was on the other end of the border (700 camels). The caravan was
filled with goods from Bilad as-Sham to be sold in Medina

Aisha (ra) heard a lot of commotion & she saw the caravan. She asked someone
who the caravan belonged to. Someone told her it belonged to Abdul Rahman bin
Awf
Aisha went to Abdul Rahman bin Awf & congratulated him. She said to him, Do
you remember what the Prophet told you?
1 The Prophet was once giving the good news of Paradise he e was
congratulating the Jannati Sahabi, telling them, Youre gonna go to
Paradise. And YOU are going to Paradise. (Oprah moment)
2 When the Prophet reached Abdul Rahman bin Awf, he said, Abdul,
you are going to Paradise, but youre going to get left behind.
3 Abdul Rahman bin Awf asks, Why, O Rasullullah?
1 Abdul Rahman bin Awf was one of the only two individuals
behind whom the Prophet prayed, so he was an amazing man
2 Prophet: Because all the accounting of your wealth is going
to lag you behind.
Keeping this memory in mind, Aisha asked Abdul Rahman bin Awf, Do you

remember what the Prophet said?

1 Hearing this, Abdul Rahman bin Awf became very teary-eyed. He
was hit by her question. Immediately, he tells the people working
for him to take all of his goods & give it to the Bayt al-Mal as
sadaqah
Muhammad was a businessman. He never gave advice and guidance on
something he didnt have experience in. He was credible on the issues he talked
about (family, business, etc.)
The one time the Prophet recommended something out of his knowledge to the
Sahaba was about farming.

He once asked the Sahaba, Why do you cross-pollinate the date trees? Dont do
that. Thats sounds weird.
When the Prophet tells you to stop, you stop. The Sahaba decide not to crosspollinate that year
That year they had a terrible harvest
They go up to the Prophet, telling them of their poor harvest.
The Prophet: I dont know anything about farming. I just asked why you crosspollinate. I thought it was weird. Go do what youre supposed to do. You know
what youre doing.
Prophet would only give practical advice based on his experiences & what he
knows
Especially in matters in business ethics honesty & fairness
Hes not just shooting in dark, but hes talking from a frame of reference, since he
was a very successful businessman
He qualifies as Uswatul Hasanat
The Prophet established some form of income (through business) before
getting married, so that he could support his family
Abu Talib once asked Muhammad, Muhammad, youre at the age of marriage.
Wouldnt you like to get married?
Muhammad replied, Yes, but first I need to have a source of income. Im not
working right now. How am I going to support my wife?
This is from the sunnah of the Prophet to have some source of finance to be
able to support your spouse before getting married
This isnt to say that you should become filthy rich & have $100,000 weddings
and $50,000 mahrs
This is also not referring to the other opposite extreme I pray five times a day,
I can get married now inshAllah. Both of us are gonna sit together & were gonna
make dua & Allahs going to send down biryani from the sky to us.
Muhammad went on a business trip on behalf of Khadijah with her slave
Maysara. She is very impressed with all the profit he brought back & considers
marrying him. Her friend Nafisa asked Muhammad if he would be interested in
marrying Khadijah, to which he said yes. Nafisa went to inform Khadijah of this.

Theyre cool with it. They all leave together to the engagement
Hamza, Muhammads uncle & older milk brother, speaks on Muhammads behalf
with Khadijahs family
Weve come here with our son & nephew to marry your daughter Khadijah.
Details of Muhammad & Khadijahs nikkah

Abu Talib addresses Khadijahs family

I want you to understand who this young man is. Yes, hes very trustworthy &
honest, but hes very special at the same time. I want you to understand how
much work and effort was put into protecting & raising him. His father died
before he was born. His mother, and his grandfather died and I raised him.
When this nikkah goes through, you people will be receiving a treasure. I love
him like my own son. He is a blessing.
Some scholars in books of hadith & seerah mentioned that when Muhammads
nikkah was taking place, the father of Khadijah, Khuwaylid, was heavily
intoxicated
During the ceremony, Khuwaylid, being so drunk, was snapped out of reality. He
looks around, & asks, Whats going on over here?
Someone replies, Its a party! Theres a celebration going over here.
Khuwaylid asks, Yeah, I see its a party, but why is there a party going on?
Your daughter got married to Muhammad.

In Islam, a woman who has never been married before is primarily represented
by one of her male guardians (wali). The wali speaks on her behalf & represents
her. However, If a woman is a thayyib, a woman who has been married before,
then she can represent herself & does not need a wali
Khadijah had already been married twice before (widowed both times) she
married Muhammad
Most narrations say that Khadijah was 40 years old when she married
Muhammad, but some seerah narrations say that Khadijah was in her mid-30s
At the family gathering, where the official engagement is about to take place,
Khadijah addresses Muhammad: Oh son of my uncle (a term of respect &
endearment), I am interested in marrying you because of how you maintain your
relationships, and how you are the best of your people. Youre honest and have
excellent character. You are honest in your speech. Therefore, I would like to
propose to you.
Muhammad then praises Khadijah as well. You are the most honorable &
dignified woman of the Quraysh.
Before the engagement, Muhammad speaks to his own uncles, asking them
what they think of the proposal

Vast majority of seerah say that the brother & uncle of Khadijah oversaw the
nikkah (marriage) of Muhammad & Khadijah.
A minority position says that the father of Khadijah, named Khuwaylid, oversaw
his daughters marriage
After both parties express mutual interest in marriage, Khadijahs and
Muhammads family meet before the official marriage proposal goes through

Khuwaylid is surprised. Wait, what? What are you talking about? I dont know
about this marriage. Im not okay with this. No one told me!
You were sitting here the whole time! Youre just drunk out of your mind.
Khuwaylid starts causing a bit of commotion.
Others try to tell him that yes, he approved of the proposal and that he was
hammered. Khuwaylid continues to carry on the disruption at his daughters
nikkah
Shaykh Abdul: Now why did I feel this was of any benefit to mention? Just for
anybody whos been through that situation trouble with the in-laws is from the
seerah of the Prophet (saw), okay?
Muhammad is already having a bit of difficulty with his father-in-law
Khuwaylid respects Muhammad & thinks hes a great kid, but Nobody asked
me! He didnt believe the others when they said that he gave his blessing for the
marriage
After throwing a bit of a fit, Khuwaylid gets over the initial shock
He then says, Ok, heres the compromise. If I agreed to this marriage, which I
dont remember, then of course Khadijahs married, because I had given my
permission. If I hadnt given my permission for her marriage, and all you people
are lying to me, then I give my permission now. Because I said so, now Khadijahs
married to Muhammad. BUT ONLY BECAUSE I SAID SO.
Mahr that Muhammad offered Khadijah was 20 goats. Some narrations say 20
camels.
Respectable, modest mahr
Typically, in those days, weddings would bring 200 camels/goats.
In a few narrations of seerah, its mentioned that the mahr of the Prophet
(marriage gift to Khadijah) was 20 goats or 20 camels.
Muhammad is not a wealthy individual nor does he come from a wealthy family.
Still, hes a very respected & well-known person in Makkah because hes from
Banu Hashim an elite family of Quraysh. Khadijah also comes from a similar
high-standing family
1 When 2 elite families like this would unite, the mahr would
generally be 200 or 300 goats or camels, even though to us, 20
goats/camels seem like a lot. 20 goats was a respectable & modest
amount
2 Israaf to spend a little extra on something you need
3 Tabdeer to spend without need at all (like having 8 cars for
yourself)
Mahr should be a modest, respectable amount, according to sunnah of Prophet
Theres a hadith that the Prophet told someone to teach his wife Quran because
he couldnt afford mahr
1 But if you ARE in a position to give mahr, dont be that stingy guy
today who says, Alright, Ill teach her Surat Al-Ikhlas.
When Muhammads cousin, Ali (son of Abu Talib), got married to Muhammads
daughter Fatima, the Prophet told Ali to give his new wife 500 darahim (silver
coins) as mahr, since it was within Alis means
1 500 silver coins is like $5000 today

 Muhammad & Khadijah were married for 25 years in a monogamous marriage.

He was deeply in love with Khadijah. They had six children together 2 sons and
4 daughters.

Al Qasem, first child

Muhammad loved to be called Abul Qasem father of Qasem. He used to love
being called Abul Qasem so much, that theres a hadith by Imam Tirmidhi that
the Sahaba used to discourage calling someone else Abul Qasem, even if they had
a son named Qasem to honor the Prophets son or because they liked the name
Qasem died when he was a few years old (3-4). Some say he died when he was old
enough to ride an animal (horse), probably 5-6
4 daughters followed who lived to see Nubua (Prophethood) & they accepted
Islam. The first 3 daughters passed away during Prophets lifetime
Zainab
She passed away from injuries while making Hijra, from being attacked
Ruqayyah
She suffered from serious fever around Battle of Badr & ended up dying
Prophet told his son-in-law, Uthman bin Afaan (who was getting ready to
accompany the Prophet to Battle of Badr), to go back home & take care of his wife
After the battle, the Prophet gave Uthman a share of the spoils of Battle of Badr.
The Prophet treats his son-in-law just as Uthman was present in the battle
Ummu Khulthum
She married Uthman after Ruqayyah passed away. Thats why Uthman is called
Dhun-Nurayn, the Possessor of Two Lights (the Prophets daughters)
She also became very ill & passed away during the lifetime of the Prophet
Fatimah
She came to see Prophet day before he passed away, noticed his dying pains. She
said, Look at my father, look at how much pain he goes through.
Muhammad replied, After today, your father will never suffer again.
She was so overcome with grief & sorrow, that she passed away 6 months after
her father
Abdullah
Nicknames: At-tayyib (beautiful one), Tahir (pure one, clean one)
He passed away within days of his birth
Muhammad had another son named Ibrahim, with his wife Marya, who was
previously a slave

Ibrahim also passed away very young. He was 18 months old.

The Prophet was deeply stricken with grief at his sons death. Even when he
wasnt actually sobbing & crying, the Prophet would just have tears streaming out
of his eyes
He said at the time, Allah has appointed a woman to nurse Ibrahim in Paradise,
so that he is still taken care of.
Muhammad had a total of 7 children (6 with Khadijah)

The Prophet buried 6 out of 7 children in his lifetime. Only Fatimah outlived her
father

He not only lived through the death of his wife, but also through the deaths of six
of his children
When the Prophet talks about patience & grief, he knows what hes talking about.
He knew pain & suffering. He was the pillar of patience. Thats why his guidance
is important