Khadija bint Khuwaylid
[[Leila Ahmed]] argues that the independence and financial success of Muhammad's first wife [[Khadija bint Khuwaylid|Khadijah]], including "her economic independence, her initiating of her marriage, and not even needing a male guardian to act as an intermediary (as was to be required by Islam), her marriage to a man many years younger than herself, and her remaining with him in a monogamous marriage (Mohamad had no other wife till after her death), all from pre-Islamic era."