Khadijah رضي الله عنها — “Her Love Had Been Nurtured in My Heart by Allah Himself”
Khadijah رضي الله عنها — "Her Love Had Been Nurtured in My Heart by Allah Himself"
Khadijah رضي الله عنها — "Her Love Had Been Nurtured in My Heart by Allah Himself"
A sheep had been slaughtered in the household of the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ.
The meat was prepared to be shared, sent out, and given away.
But listen to where some of it went.
Not to the powerful of Madinah.
Not to the leaders of the tribes.
A portion travelled to a small circle of women — the friends of a wife no longer alive.
Her name was Khadijah رضي الله عنها.
She had passed away years before.
And still, in the house of the Prophet ﷺ, her name directed the gift.
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The one who tells us this story is Aisha رضي الله عنها.
She never met Khadijah.
She never saw her face, and never heard her voice.
She had already left this world before Aisha's marriage to the Prophet ﷺ:
"She had died three years before he (the Holy Prophet) married me." Sahih Muslim 2435 a
Yet Aisha knew Khadijah's name well — she heard it, again and again, on the tongue of the Prophet ﷺ:
"I often heard him praise her" Sahih Muslim 2435 a
A wife, in her own home, listening to her husband praise another wife — one who had gone before her.
Aisha does not hide what that stirred in her heart. She tells us herself:
"Never did I feel jealous of any woman as I was jealous of Khadija." Sahih Muslim 2435 a
And she tells us why that name kept reaching her ears. It was not only memory.
Allah had commanded His Messenger ﷺ to give Khadijah glad tidings — news from above, for a woman already in her grave:
"had commanded him to give her the glad tidings of a palace of jewels in Paradise" Sahih Muslim 2435 a
And then there was the sheep.
Whenever a sheep was slaughtered in his house, Khadijah's friends still received their share:
"whenever he slaughtered a sheep he presented (its meat) to her female companions" Sahih Muslim 2435 a
> «وَإِنْ كَانَ لَيَذْبَحُ الشَّاةَ ثُمَّ يُهْدِيهَا إِلَى خَلاَئِلِهَا»
Those women's claim on his kindness was one thing only: they had been Khadijah's companions.
Loving her, he honoured her circle and fed her friends.
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Aisha رضي الله عنها tells the story once more in another narration — and this telling brings us to a single day.
In this telling, the sheep is slaughtered, and the Prophet ﷺ gives the instruction himself:
"Send it to the companions of Khadija" Sahih Muslim 2435 b
> «أَرْسِلُوا بِهَا إِلَى أَصْدِقَاءِ خَدِيجَةَ»
To the companions of Khadijah — named by her name, years after her death.
And Aisha, who had watched this happen again and again, one day spoke her feeling aloud:
"I annoyed him one day and said: (It is) Khadija only who always prevails upon your mind." Sahih Muslim 2435 b
And then came his answer.
Not anger.
Not a denial.
An answer that lifted the whole matter above them both:
"Her love had been nurtured in my heart by Allah Himself." Sahih Muslim 2435 b
> «إِنِّي قَدْ رُزِقْتُ حُبَّهَا»
Her love had been nurtured in his heart — by Allah Himself.
This love, he was saying, is not something I invented, and not something that fades with time.
Allah planted it.
Allah tended it.
And what Allah plants in a heart does not die with the beloved.
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🌿 Stop and Think About This Scene
On one side is a wife who has passed away.
She cannot thank him, and she cannot return the kindness. In this world, she cannot even know that her friends are still being fed in her name.
And on the other side is the Prophet ﷺ — still praising her, still sending gifts to her companions, still carrying her love in his heart.
And standing between them is Aisha رضي الله عنها, telling the whole thing truthfully.
She does not edit out her own feelings, and she does not trim Khadijah's praises down to make her own place feel safer.
She reports what she heard, what she saw, and what she felt, and leaves us a story in which everyone is honoured:
Khadijah, in her grave.
Aisha, in her honesty.
And the Prophet ﷺ, in his loyalty.
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❤️ The Greatest Lesson for Our Lives Today
The deepest sentence in this story is the last one Aisha heard from him:
"Her love had been nurtured in my heart by Allah Himself." Sahih Muslim 2435 b
The Prophet ﷺ did not describe his love for Khadijah as a habit he could not break, or a memory he could not escape.
He traced it upward — to Allah.
Her love was a planting of Allah in his heart, nurtured by Allah Himself.
That changes how we see every true love in our own lives.
The love that stays after death...
The love that honours a person's friends for that person's sake...
That kind of love is not an accident of the heart.
It is a gift — planted and tended by Allah.
And gifts from Allah are not buried with the people we loved.
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📚 Important Lessons From This Hadith
1. Love does not expire at the grave
Khadijah رضي الله عنها had been gone for years.
Yet the Prophet ﷺ still praised her:
"I often heard him praise her" Sahih Muslim 2435 a
And he still acted on that love:
"whenever he slaughtered a sheep he presented (its meat) to her female companions" Sahih Muslim 2435 a
Loyalty to the departed is measured by what continues — years later, when no one is watching and nothing can be returned.
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2. Honour your beloved through their people
The meat did not go to Khadijah — she was beyond receiving gifts in this world.
It went to her companions:
"Send it to the companions of Khadija" Sahih Muslim 2435 b
Keeping someone's memory alive is about keeping their circle honoured. When we are kind to the people of the one we lost, our love has somewhere to live.
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3. A heart can ache and still testify fairly
Aisha رضي الله عنها narrates Khadijah's praises — and she is also the one who confessed her own feelings without hiding any of them:
"Never did I feel jealous of any woman as I was jealous of Khadija." Sahih Muslim 2435 a
She felt her own ache — and she still reported Khadijah's virtues exactly as they were.
That is honesty of a very high rank:
To feel something in your heart, and yet let your tongue tell the truth about another person — completely, and fairly.
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4. The deepest loves are planted by Allah
When Aisha finally spoke —
"(It is) Khadija only who always prevails upon your mind." Sahih Muslim 2435 b
— the answer was not a rebuke, but an explanation from the highest place:
"Her love had been nurtured in my heart by Allah Himself." Sahih Muslim 2435 b
The Prophet ﷺ taught us where such love comes from.
It is nurtured — like a living plant — by Allah Himself.
So we should ask Allah for it, thank Allah for it, and never be ashamed of a love that He planted and kept alive.
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🏠 How Can We Apply This Hadith in Our Daily Lives?
💍 In Marriage
Loyalty is not only for the days of ease.
The Prophet ﷺ praised Khadijah and honoured her friends after her death, openly, in his own household.
Let our spouses hear us speak well of them, and let loyalty be a thing that hardship and time cannot switch off.
🤝 With the Friends and Family of Those We Lost
When someone dear to us passes away, their people remain. A visit, a gift, a share of food — given for the sake of the one who is gone — is exactly what the sheep in the Prophet's ﷺ house teaches us.
❤️ In Our Own Hearts
If you love someone deeply, and that love remains after they are gone, do not treat it as a weakness.
Trace it upward, the way the Prophet ﷺ did: it may be a love Allah Himself nurtured in your heart.
🗣️ In Our Honesty
Aisha رضي الله عنها reported another's virtues while openly admitting her own feelings.
We can do the same: feel what we feel — and still speak of others with complete fairness.
Never let your feelings rewrite someone else's worth.
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🌹 The Most Beautiful Message of This Story
A sheep is slaughtered in a house in Madinah.
The meat is divided.
And a portion travels — as it always travelled — to the friends of a woman who had been in her grave for years.
That is what love looked like in the house of the Prophet ﷺ.
It did not end at the grave.
It did not shrink into a memory.
It kept walking — on ordinary days, in ordinary kindness — to the doors of her companions.
And when he was asked about it, he gave the reason for it all:
"Her love had been nurtured in my heart by Allah Himself." Sahih Muslim 2435 b
May Allah plant such loves in our hearts — and nurture them, as He nurtured this one.
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📖 Authentic Reference
First narration:
Book: Sahih Muslim
Narrator: Aisha رضي الله عنها
Chapter: The Virtues Of Khadijah, The Mother Of The Believers (RA)
Hadith: Sahih Muslim 2435 a
Reference: Sahih Muslim 2435 a
Grade: Sahih
Second narration:
Book: Sahih Muslim
Narrator: Aisha رضي الله عنها
Chapter: The Virtues Of Khadijah, The Mother Of The Believers (RA)
Hadith: Sahih Muslim 2435 b
Reference: Sahih Muslim 2435 b
Grade: Sahih