He ﷺ returned, heart trembling. Khadija (may Allah be pleased with her) said: “Never! Allah will never disgrace you.”
She gave her reasons: he kept family ties, helped the poor, honoured his guests, stood by the afflicted.
She was the first to believe in Allah and His Messenger, and to hold true what he brought.
She steadied him, lightened his load, and made what people did easier for him to bear.
A boy was growing up in his care: 'Alî ibn Abî Tâlib (may Allah be pleased with him), the son of his uncle.
The biographers tell why: Quraysh went through a hard time, and Abû Tâlib had many mouths to feed.
The Prophet ﷺ proposed to his uncle al-'Abbâs that they lighten his load: each would take in one of his sons.
He ﷺ took 'Alî, and al-'Abbâs took Ja'far. 'Alî stayed with him until Allah sent him as a prophet.
Among the first to believe in the Messenger of Allah ﷺ and to pray with him: 'Alî, a boy of ten.
Ibn 'Abbâs (may Allah be pleased with him) said: “The first to pray was 'Alî.”
Then Zayd ibn Hâritha (may Allah be pleased with him), who accepted Islam and prayed, right after 'Alî.
The biographers tell it: Hakîm ibn Hizâm came back from Shâm with slaves. Among them, a young boy: Zayd.
Hakîm let his aunt Khadija choose one of the boys. She chose Zayd. The Prophet ﷺ saw him and asked her for him.
She gave him. The Messenger of Allah ﷺ freed him and adopted him. This was before any revelation.
His father Hâritha had grieved deeply and wept for him. Then he came, and found Zayd with the Prophet ﷺ.
The Prophet ﷺ left the choice to Zayd: to stay with him, or to leave with his father.
Zayd answered: “No, I will stay with you.”
He stayed until Allah sent the Prophet ﷺ. Then he believed him, accepted Islam and prayed with him.
Ibn 'Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) said: we called him nothing but Zayd ibn Muhammad, until the Qur'an came down.
Call them by [the names of] their fathers; it is more just in the sight of Allah.
When this verse came down, he said: “I am Zayd ibn Hâritha.”
And his name, Zayd, stands in the Qur'an itself, in verse 37 of the same sûra.
A wife, a child raised in his home, a freed slave: at that time, they were the people of his house.
The first people to believe in the Prophet ﷺ were not strangers. They lived under his roof.
Who were they, and what did each of them know about him?
They knew him at home, long before anyone knew him as a prophet.
Tonight, do one good thing at home that no one outside will ever hear about.