She comforted him and was instrumental in convincing Muhammad to accept that Allah had spoken to him. When Muhammad first heard the angel Gabriel speaking to him, he was terrified and described his encounter with the divine to Khadija. She was, however, a great deal more than just Muhammad’s wife.

If she were only Muhammad’s spouse, Khadija would be but an interesting footnote in Islamic history. Muhammad accepted and loved her enough that he did not take another wife until after Khadija’s death. She originally hired Muhammad to work for her but eventually proposed to him. She was a wealthy woman and trader who managed her own commercial dealings. Khadija, also called Khadijah bint al-Khuwaylid, was the first wife of the Prophet Muhammad. Here are some of the greatest Muslim women in Islamic history. As with every religion, Islam is riddled with influential women. Women continued to hold important spiritual and political roles after Muhammad’s birth and death. Westerners likely know these two women by the names Hagar, slave of Abraham and Sarah, and Mary, mother of Jesus. As such, they were not technically Muslims. Hajar and Maryam are two of the most important women in the Islamic faith but were born many years before Muhammad. Some of the most important women in Islam were not technically Muslims as they were born before Islam appeared on earth.

These powerful modern leaders, however, are not a new phenomenon. Many women in Islamic countries routinely face oppression and violence, but other Muslim-majority countries have female heads of state. Umma Salama, one of Muhammad’s wives, is said to have asked Muhammad why the Quran “did not speak of as it did of men.” The issue was never completely laid to rest, and gender roles in Islam continued to be discussed and altered throughout history. The role of women in Islam has been debated since the days of Muhammad in the seventh century.

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