خَدِيجَة
Girl Arabic origin Khadīja
Mother of the Believers“Born before term”; name of the first wife of the Prophet ﷺ
Khadija bint Khuwaylid was the first wife of the Prophet ﷺ, the first person to believe in him and the mother of all his children except Ibrahim. The Prophet ﷺ said: “The best of the women of her time was Maryam daughter of ʿImran, and the best of the women of her time was Khadija” (al-Bukhari 3432). Jibril conveyed to her the greeting of her Lord and the good news of a house in Paradise (al-Bukhari 3820).
Khadija comes from the root kh-d-j, used of a she-camel that gives birth before full term: the word means a child born prematurely. As with many old Arabic names, this literal sense has faded behind the person who bore it: for Muslims, Khadija first of all recalls the Mother of the Believers, the first wife of the Prophet ﷺ.
No: neither the name Khadija nor its root appears in the Quran. A name can be beautiful and permissible without coming from the Quran.
خَيْرُ نِسَائِهَا مَرْيَمُ ابْنَةُ عِمْرَانَ، وَخَيْرُ نِسَائِهَا خَدِيجَةُ "
أَتَى جِبْرِيلُ النَّبِيَّ صلى الله عليه وسلم فَقَالَ يَا رَسُولَ اللَّهِ هَذِهِ خَدِيجَةُ قَدْ أَتَتْ مَعَهَا إِنَاءٌ فِيهِ إِدَامٌ أَوْ طَعَامٌ أَوْ شَرَابٌ، فَإِذَا هِيَ أَتَتْكَ فَاقْرَأْ عَلَيْهَا السَّلاَمَ مِنْ…
No text or scholarly opinion concerns the name Khadija in particular: the general rules of Islam apply.
Read the rules for choosing a name
This page is an aid to reflection, not a fatwa. For a personal case, ask a person of knowledge.
