Khadija bint Khuwaylid
Khadija bint Khuwaylid, a female merchant and widower, asked Muhammad to manage her commercial operations in Syria after hearing of his trustworthiness. Impressed with the extradiornarily success of Muhammad's leadership, Khadija sent a marriage proposal to Muhammad through her friend Nafisa. Muhammad accepted the proposal and was married to Khadija. Khadija gave Muhammad the slave boy Zayd ibn Harithah, whom Muhammad would adopt later. Ibn Ishaq records that Khadija bore Muhammad six children: a boy named Al Qasim (who would die at the age of two), then four girls, Zaynab, Ruqayyah, Umm Kulthum, Fatimah, and another boy, Abdullah (who also died at two).