One of the virtues of Khadijah—may Allah be pleased with her—is that Allah chose her to be the mother of all the Prophet’s ﷺ children, except for Ibrahim, who was born to Maria the Copt.
Children of Khadijah from Previous Marriages:
Khadijah—may Allah be pleased with her—was previously married to two men and had children with them.
1. Atiq bin Aidh bin Makhzum: She had a son named Abdullah and a servant girl named Hind. Hind later married her cousin, Sayfi bin Umayyah from Banu Makhzum, and they had a son named Muhammad.
2. Abu Halah bin Malik: From Banu Tamim, he had a son named Halah, a son also named Hind, and a servant girl named Zainab.
Thus, Khadijah had a son and a daughter named Hind: the daughter was Hind bint Atiq, and the son was Hind bin Abu Halah.
Children of the Prophet ﷺ from Khadijah—may Allah be pleased with her:
Khadijah—may Allah be pleased with her—gave birth to all of the Prophet’s ﷺ children, except for Ibrahim. We will list them in order of their birth:
1. Qasim: He was the firstborn of the Prophet ﷺ from Khadijah before the prophethood, and the Prophet ﷺ was nicknamed Abu al-Qasim (father of Qasim). Qasim died after reaching an age where he could walk.
2. Zainab: She was the eldest daughter of the Prophet ﷺ and the first to be married. She was married to her cousin Abu al-As bin al-Rabi—may Allah be pleased with him—whose mother was Halah bint Khuwailid. Zainab accepted Islam and emigrated with her father ﷺ. She passed away in the year 8 AH[1] .
3. Ruqayyah: Ruqayyah was born when the Prophet ﷺ was thirty-three years old. She was married to Uthman bin Affan—may Allah be pleased with him—in Mecca and emigrated with him to Abyssinia, where she gave birth to a son named Abdullah. Uthman—may Allah be pleased with him— was thusly nicknamed Abu Abdullah (father of Abdullah). Ruqayyah died on the day of the Battle of Badr and was buried when Zayd bin Harithah—may Allah be pleased with him—came with the news of victory[2] .
4. Umm Kulthum: Uthman bin Affan—may Allah be pleased with him—married her after the death of her sister Ruqayyah in Jumada al-Thani, year 3 AH. She did not have any children with Uthman and passed away in year 9 AH. The Prophet ﷺ performed her funeral prayer[3] .
5. Fatimah: The foremost lady of women in her time and the youngest daughter of the Prophet ﷺ. She was born in the year 41 after the Prophet’s ﷺ birth and died six months after her father’s ﷺ passing. Fatimah was the first of the prophet’s ﷺ family to join him after his death. Ali bin Abi Talib—may Allah be pleased with him—led her funeral prayer. She was twenty-nine years old at the time of her death, although some say she was thirty or thirty-five years old[4] .
6. Abdullah: He was known as Al-Tayyib and Al-Tahir because he was born after the prophethood—may Allah be pleased with them all.
Ibn al-Qayyim said: "Then Abdullah was born. Was he born before or after the prophethood? There is a difference of opinion, but some affirmed that he was born after the prophethood. Are Al-Tayyib and Al-Tahir the same person, or are they different? There are two opinions; the correct view is that they are both nicknames for him, and Allah knows best.[5] "
The Disparagement of the Polytheists Regarding the Prophet ﷺ's Lineage:
The Prophet’s ﷺ sons died while they were young. Qasim died after reaching an age where he could walk, and then Abdullah died as a small child. The polytheists would mock the Prophet ﷺ for the discontinuation of his lineage due to the death of his sons.
Ibn Sa’d narrated in "Al-Tabaqat Al-Kubra" (1/63) from Ibn Abbas—may Allah be pleased with them—who said: "Qasim was the first of his children to die in Mecca, and then Abdullah died. Al-As bin Wa'il said: 'His offspring have been cut off; he is Abtar.' So Allah, the Exalted, revealed: {Indeed, your enemy is the one cut off.}"
As for the daughters of the Messenger ﷺ, all of them acknowledged and embraced Islam, and lived until they were married, except for Fatimah—may Allah be pleased with her—who died six months after him[6] .
[1] Al-Iṣābah (8/151).
[2] Asad al-Ghābah (5/285).
[3] Al-Istiʿāb (4/506).
[4] See Al-Iṣābah (8/262).
[5] Zād al-Maʿād (1/101).
[6] See: Sabil al-Hudā wa al-Rashād in the Biography of the Best of Worshippers by Al-Salāḥī (11/16), Dalā'il al-Nubuwwah by Al-Bayhaqī (2/69), and Al-Ṭabaqāt al-Kubrā by Ibn Saʿd (1/63).
