The Monotheistic Cousins of Muhammad's Wife Khadīja

Michael Lecker*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalReview articlepeer-review

7 Scopus citations

Abstract

Muhammad's first wife Khadīja bint Khuwaylid belonged to a clan of the Quraysh tribe called Asad ibn 'Abd al-'Uzzā. This biographical detail is crucial in the analysis of the literary evidence about her and her family. Khadīja had a well-known paternal cousin who was Christian, namely Waraqa ibn Nawfal. Another paternal cousin of hers who was Christian, 'Uthmān ibn al-Huwayrith, attempted on the eve of the hijra to gain control of Mecca. The Christian faith of the cousins belongs in the discussion of Muhammad's spiritual environment and his preparation for the Call to prophethood. After all, Muhammad and Khadīja, both of whom were descendants of Qusayy ibn Kilāb, were married for a quarter of a century and he must have known her family very well. During the long marriage she was his only wife and she gave birth to all of his children with the exception of Ibrāhīm whose mother was a Copt slave girl. A third paternal cousin of Khadīja who is of interest for us here was the son of a Jewish slave girl who belonged to Muhammad's uncle 'Abbās1.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)363-384
Number of pages22
JournalIslam - Zeitschrift fur Geschichte und Kultur des Islamischen Orients
Volume94
Issue number2
DOIs
StatePublished - 26 Oct 2017

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2017 De Gruyter.

Keywords

  • Byzantium (and the Arabs)
  • Christianity in Arabia
  • Khadīja (Prophet's wife)
  • life of Muhammad
  • Monotheism in pre-Islamic Arabia

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