the truthfulness of your speech.”
She then offered herself to him in marriage. She was of the most distinguished lineage among the women of Quraysh, the highest in honor, and the wealthiest of them. Every man of her people longed for the chance to marry her, had he been able.
When she spoke thus to the Messenger of Allah—peace and blessings be upon him—he informed his uncles. His uncle Ḥamzah went with him to Khuwaylid ibn Asad, requested her hand on his behalf, and the Prophet—peace and blessings be upon him—married her.
Ibn Hishām relates: He gave her a bridal gift of twenty young she-camels. She was the first woman he married, and he did not marry anyone else until she died.
Ibn Isḥāq reports: Khadījah bore to the Messenger of Allah—peace and blessings be upon him—all his children except Ibrāhīm: al-Qāsim—by whom he was called Abū al-Qāsim—al-Ṭayyib, al-Ṭāhir, Zaynab, Ruqayyah, Umm Kulthūm, and Fāṭimah.
Ibn Hishām adds: The eldest was al-Qāsim, followed by al-Ṭayyib, then al-Ṭāhir. Among his daughters the eldest was Ruqayyah, then Zaynab, then Umm Kulthūm, and finally Fāṭimah.
Al-Bayhaqī, citing al-Ḥākim, said: I read in the handwriting of Abū Bakr ibn Abī Khaythamah that Muṣʿab ibn ʿAbd Allāh al-Zubayrī narrated: The eldest of his children—peace and blessings be upon him—was al-Qāsim, then Zaynab, then ʿAbd Allāh, then Umm Kulthūm, then Fāṭimah, then Ruqayyah. The first of his children to die was al-Qāsim, followed by ʿAbd Allāh. Khadījah lived to the age of sixty-five; some say fifty, which is the sounder report.
Others have said that al-Qāsim lived long enough to ride a mount and a fine camel, then died after the advent of prophethood.
It is also reported that he died while still an infant, and the Messenger of Allah—peace and blessings be upon him—said, “He has a wet-nurse in Paradise who will complete his suckling.” The well-known view, however, is that this statement pertains to Ibrāhīm.