Chapter One: Ancestors, Parents, and Relatives — Part Three

⚔️ The Noble Father of Lady Khadijah: Chief of the Banu Asad in the Second Fijar War As we know, Lady Fatima (peace be upon Her) is the daughter of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon Him and His family), the Messenger of Allah and Prophet of Islam, and Her mother, Lady Khadijah (peace be upon Her), is the daughter of Khuwaylid. Of Khadijah's life before Her marriage to the Prophet (peace be upon Him and His family), we have nothing but brief indications. In the earliest sources, She, Her father, and Her cousin appear now and again, in connection with certain events. Khuwaylid ibn Asad ibn Abd al-Uzza ibn Qusayy ibn Kilab was from a well-known clan and among the respected men of Quraysh. In the Age of Ignorance, he was the elder of his clan. In the Second Fijar War,(1) on the day known as Shamtah — when Quraysh made ready for war with Kinanah — he held the chieftaincy of the Banu Asad.(2)

(1) This war is called "Fijar" because it took place during the sacred months; it is said it was so named because certain forbidden acts were deemed permissible during it. Sirah Ibn Hisham, vol. 1, p. 201; Majma al-Amthal by al-Maydani, chapter Ayyam al-Arab.

(2) Ibn al-Athir, vol. 1, p. 593. Ansab al-Ashraf by al-Baladhuri, p. 102, Dar al-Maarif edition.

🍎 His Prevention of the Transfer of the Black Stone to Yemen (The Dispute Between Khadijah's Father and Tubba, and Its Analyses) The father of Lady Khadijah al-Kubra (peace be upon Her), Khuwaylid, is the one who rose to confront Tubba the Last (the ruler of Yemen) when he sought to carry the Black Stone off to Yemen. Devoted as he was to his faith and religious observance, he did not fear the strength and great numbers of Tubba's army.

Khadijah's cousin was also Waraqah ibn Nawfal, who occupied himself with studying the books of the Christians and the Jews, and took up whatever good he found in them. This was not because he kept company with Jews and Christians, or because Mecca was the home of those two peoples, but because he held idol-worship and the veneration of idols in scorn, and sought a religion that would bring peace of heart.

Historians and biographers of the Messenger relate that in those days, when the Prophet was witnessing the first signs of prophethood in the cave of Hira and hearing the melody of revelation, He would come home and tell His devoted and truthful wife what He had seen and heard, and Waraqah would give Him glad tidings of a magnificent future that would transform human history, and would speak of the harm and wrongs that people would inflict upon Him.

🍎 Al-Suhayli writes: Khuwaylid ibn Asad is the one who clashed with Tubba the Last, one of the kings of Yemen, when he sought to carry the Black Stone away with him to Yemen, and warned him against doing so; and in the end Tubba abandoned the plan, owing to a fright that came upon him in a dream.(1)

Rawd al-Unuf, vol. 2, p. 239.