The Battle of Fajar
In the month of Dhul Qa’dah, Muhammad ﷺ was twenty years old when a conflict broke out at the Fair of ‘Okaz. On one side of the conflict were the Quraysh and Kinana, while on the other side were the Qays Ghilan. Numerous people were murdered on both sides in the intense combat. They finally agreed to a peace deal with the stipulation that the side with the greatest number of deaths would get blood money, which is compensation for illegal killing. In a string of skirmishes that had broken out in each of the preceding years, this conflict was the fourth and deadliest. Because it occurred during a holy month when combat was forbidden and defiled the purity of a holy month with slaughter, it became known as the Battle of Fajar (Arabic meaning immorality). Muhammad ﷺ participated in the conflict as a Quraysh member. It was his responsibility to gather the enemy’s arrows and deliver them to his uncles.

Hilf Al-Fudool
Later that month, following the Battle of Fajar, the five Qurayshite tribes agreed to a covenant. Banu Hashim, Banu Abdul Muttalib, Banu Asad, Banu Zahra, and Banu Taym were the signatories to the document, which was known as Hilf Al-Fudool. After a stranger was shamefully denied justice, the covenant was created. A guy travelled from Zabid to Makkah to sell his goods. The stranger’s belongings were all taken by a local named Aas ibn Wayel, who declined to pay for them. The defenceless traveler went to Banu Abdul Dar, Banu Makhzoom, Banu Jamah, Banu Sham, and Banu Adiy, but they all disregarded his plea for justice. Desperate, he ascended Jabal Abu Qays, a hill, and told everyone that all of his belongings had been taken. He then pleaded with his audience to step forward and assist him. Zubayr bin Abdul Muttalib responded to his appeal by offering to assist the poor stranger. Zubayr invited delegates from every tribe to gather at Abdullah bin Jad’an of Banu Taym’s home. The tribe chiefs decided at this meeting to defend everyone who had been wronged, regardless of tribal identity, going forward. After that, they had Aas bin Wayel give back the goods he had stolen. Muhammad ﷺ, who saw the covenant as a noble agreement, was also present with his uncles when it was established. “I was present when a covenant was agreed upon in the house of Abdullah bin Jad’an, and I would not accept even a red camel in lieu of it,” he was to say long after Allah had appointed him a Prophet. Even during the Islamic era, I would have complied if I had been ordered to support it.

Choosing a Profession
Muhammad ﷺ, who was under the care of his uncle Abu Talib, grew up with essentially no inheritance after losing both his parents and his grandfather. He initially attempted to earn a livelihood by caring for Banu Sa’d’s goats, but after returning to Makkah, he took on goats for the Quraysh in exchange for a little fee. The occupation choice was important. Muhammad ﷺ said, “There has been no prophet who has not tended sheep,” after he became a prophet. Known for his honesty, piety, and dependability, he earned the nickname “Al-Ameen” (the Trustworthy).

The journey to Syria on business for Khadeejah
Mohammadﷺ’s reputation was so good that Khadeejah bint Khuwaylid trusted him to sell her goods in Syria. She was a wealthy Qurayshite businesswoman from an aristocratic family, and she would employ men to do business for her. So it came to so that the young Muhammad ﷺ travelled to Syria with Maysarah, her slave. Following the trip’s great popularity and financial success, Muhammad ﷺ awarded Khadeejah her profit when he returned to Makkah.

Marriage to Khadeejah
Khadeejah was twice widowed, first to Abu Hala and later to Ateeq bin Ayed. She had a son while she was married to Abu Hala. She rejected every proposition she got from different Quraysh leaders after the death of her second husband. However, Maysarah brought up the subject of marriage to Muhammad ﷺ through her companion Nafeesah after being pleased by her portrayal of Muhammad ﷺ’s character.

He discussed the concept with his uncles, who forwarded it to Khadeejah’s uncle Amr bin Asad, since he was receptive to it. Muhammad ﷺ provided twenty camels as a dowry (other stories say he gave her six camels), and Amr accepted on his niece’s behalf. In front of the Banu Hashim and the Quraysh leaders, they were married. Abu Talib performed the wedding sermon and formally sealed the union while praising and worshipping Allah.
Muhammad ﷺ and Khadeejah were married within two months and a few days of Muhammadﷺ’s return from Syria. She was either twenty-eight or forty years old, and he was twenty-five. Muhammad ﷺ’s first wife was named Khadeejah. During her lifetime, he married no one other. Except for Ibraheem, who was born to Maria Qibtiya (Mary the Copt), she bore all of his children. Scholars vary on the precise number and sequence of births, but they were called Qasim, Zaynab, Ruqayyah, Umm Kulthoom, Fatimah, Abdullah, and Ibraheem (in order of birth).
While all of their father’s boys died as children, all of their girls survived to see their father’s transformation as a prophet. Every daughter converted to Islam and moved to Madinah; all but Fatimah passed away during the Prophet’s lifetime, a few months after her father’s passing.