It was long before his prophethood that Muhammad (peace be upon him), a young man living in Makkah, the most important town in Arabia, got married. It is useful to cast a glance at his personal situation when the occasion to get married presented itself to him. Arabia was a largely desert land, with a number of towns growing in various areas, where water was available. Makkah, however, was a town without agriculture. A few meadows provided the only vegetation in its neighborhood. Rainfalls were always scarce. The city was in a valley surrounded by countless mountains. For water, it relied on a small number of springs, the most important of which was Zamzam, which is close to the Kaaba, the sacred building we face in our prayers wherever we happen to be.
While its religious position gave Makkah special importance among all Arabs, who were always keen to visit and worship at the Kaaba, it was Hashim, the Prophet’s great-grandfather, who gave Makkah a level of prosperity it had not known before. He made his hometown a center for international trade, establishing two annual trade missions, to Syria in summer and to Yemen in winter. The people of Makkah soon excelled as international traders and were able to accumulate great wealth.
Arabia was a tribal society, with major tribes inhabiting towns and cities and competing with each other for honor, wealth and position. The Quraysh was the most important of these tribes, taking pride in its numbers and its position as custodian of the Kaaba. In fact, this custody was vested in the Prophet’s family of the Hashimite clan. Yet his family was not wealthy, despite its position of honor which made some great demands on its resources. Muhammad (peace be upon him) himself lost his both parents before he attained six years of age, and lost his grandfather when he was eight. His upbringing was left to his uncle, Abu Talib, who had a large family and limited means. Hence, when he was a teenager, Muhammad had to seek work. The Arabs generally, and the town dwellers among them in particular, disliked manual work, thinking that it was beneath a man of good descent. Such work was left to slaves and laborers. Therefore, the only work that the young Muhammad could do was to be a shepherd, tending sheep.
A few years later, Muhammad began to work in trade, but he only assisted some business people. He did not have the means to run a business of his own. However, both types of work soon earned him a reputation for honesty and a serious approach to work. This is how he got to know Khadijah, a twice-married wealthy widow who needed an honest man to travel on her business. Muhammad traveled to Syria, attending to Khadijah’s trade, which was part of a large merchant caravan. He was accompanied by Maysarah, a servant in Khadijah’s household. The trip was very successful enabling Khadijah to make handsome profit. Furthermore, Maysarah gave her a detailed report of Muhammad’s activity, praising him in superlative terms for his honesty and decency. Such was the beginning.
