No change in a man’s personal circumstances could ever be greater than that which the Prophet (peace be upon him) went through when he received his first revelations, announcing his new role as God’s last messenger to mankind. Prior to that, he was an ordinary person living in his hometown, conducting his wife’s business, looking after his family and with little interest in public affairs. Now he had a mission that aimed to bring about a fundamental and lasting change in human life. Any woman in Khadijah’s position could be forgiven if she counselled her husband to turn down his assignment and maintain his life pattern. They were happy together, leading a comfortable life. She was bound to think of the effect of this new task on her family, realizing that she had four daughters, only one of whom was married, while two were engaged. The family had lost two sons in infancy. With the woman’s eye to protect her family and stave off danger, Khadijah could be excused if she preferred the comfortable sort of living she had had with her husband for 15 years or longer.
Yet Khadijah was not that sort of woman. She was the first to recognize the importance of the mission assigned to her husband and to know that his character fitted the role he was to play. This is clear in her comforting words as he intimated that he was worried about himself. She said to him: “You have nothing to fear; be calm and relax. God will not let you suffer humiliation, because you are kind to your relatives, you speak the truth, you assist anyone in need, you are hospitable to your guest and you help in every good cause.” She thus showed her profound sense of proportion. She highlighted those elements in her husband’s character that fit with the role of a prophet who seeks to reform people’s life. Up to that point in his life, Muhammad (peace be upon him), the man who had not been given any mission yet, reflected a character that cared for people, providing help wherever help was needed, to kinsfolk and strangers, to guests and lone travellers, to all in need. Such a person deserves no humiliation, and God who is fair to all would never allow him to suffer such a fate.
That was her good sense working at the start of the great event that shook her family to the core. Most importantly, it shook its direct recipient, the man whose love had established deep roots in her heart. Therefore, she acted with great wisdom to reassure him. She went straight to her cousin, Waraqah ibn Nawfal, who had embraced Christianity and acquired profound knowledge in divine religion. Waraqah assured the anxious couple that what happened bore no ill omen. Indeed, he said that he hoped that Muhammad was the Prophet heralded by earlier messengers like Jesus (peace be upon them all). Yet Khadijah tried something else to reassure her husband. She asked him to let her know of Gabriel’s presence when he next saw him.
Informed of Gabriel’s presence on his next visit, Khadijah said to the Prophet: “Sit on my left thigh.” When he did so, she asked him whether he still saw him. The Prophet said: “Yes.” She told the Prophet to move over and sit on her right thigh. As he did so, the Prophet confirmed that he could still see Gabriel. She asked him to sit on her lap and he did so, again confirming that he could still see him. She then took off her head-covering, while the Prophet still sat on her lap. At that moment, he told her he could see him no more. She said, “Rejoice and be firm. This is certainly an angel, not a devil.” It was her clear thinking that led her to try this method, realizing that an angel would not stay in a room where a man and his wife were in a closely intimate position.