Muhammad, the Qur'an and Islam
A hadith shows that the pagans of Mecca boasted of their high rank, and^24
the Qur'an (43:30) indicates that Muhammad was not among these. From^25
what is known of Khadija, she was indeed a wealthy widow, whom many
other Meccans desired to marry. At 25 years, Muhammad was pro^26 bably
older than most unmarried men in his culture, and Khadija's r^27 eal reasons
for choosing Muhammad, who was reportedly 15 years younger, appear to
be unknown. Early Islamic traditions are at variance with ea^28 ch other
regarding the details of how Khadija married Muhammad, but^29 probably
the most reliable version relates that Khadija had her father get drunk so
that he would give his approval for the wedding. After coming^30 to himself
and realizing what had happened, Khadija's father was said to have been
angry. He implied that he would not have given his consent to the marriage,
as he had rejected even prominent suitors from the Quraysh.^31
By virtue of his marriage to Khadija, Muhammad seems to have become
wealthy (Qur'an 93:8b), and for the duration of her life, he married no one
else. Khadija bore Muhammad six children, whose names are gi^32 ven as: al-
Qasim, Zaynab, Ruqayya, Umm Kulthum, Fatima and Abdullah, the last of whom may have been born after Muhammad's call and was given the epithets al-Tayyib and al-Tahir. In a tradition accepted as^33 authentic by some,Abdullah's real name is said to have been the pagan Abd Manaf.^34 Both al-Qasim andAbdullah are reported to have died early in life.^35
Based partially on the use of merchant terms in the Qur'an, Muhammad is
presumed to have been a businessman after his marriage to Khadija, and,^36
in that bills of lading must have been read, some scholars are even of the
opinion that Muhammad, as a tradesman, must have been literate.^37
However, as commerce was the primary occupation of the Meccans (cf.
Qur'an 106:1-2), the knowledge of business terminology on the part of
Muhammad should not be viewed as having been uncommon, and^38 in the
Middle East of today, where the use of commercial documents is more
widespread than in the past, there are still unlearned merchants, who rely on
their relatives or friends to read for them.^39
The rebuilding of the Ka`ba, which was said to have taken place when
Muhammad was 35, is generally thought to have been the innov^40 ation of
Muslim historians, who aside from other discrepancies, have Muhammad