The exact year Khadijah (a.s) was born is not known with certainty. Her death, however, is confirmed to have occurred in 619 CE. This was the same year the Prophet (s.a.w)’s uncle Abu Talib died, and it became known as ‘Am al-Huzn, the Year of Sorrow.

Historical sources differ on how old she was at the time of her death. The widely repeated claim that she was 65 years old comes from early seerah compilations, such as Ibn Sa'd's Tabaqat al-Kubra and Ibn Ishaq's Sirat Rasul Allah, though the isnad (chain of transmission) for this specific age is weak and not classified as authentic by hadith scholars. These works mention she was 40 when she married the Prophet (s.a.w), and that she remained with him for 25 years, leading to the 65-year conclusion.

Other reports and modern analyses suggest she was closer to 50 or 55 years old at death. Researchers like Shaykh Nasir al-Din al-Albani (in Silsilat al-Ahadith al-Da‘ifah) and contemporary Islamic historians argue that the age of 40 at marriage lacks a reliable source and does not align well with other details in her life.

There are several historical and biological clues that support the argument for a younger age at marriage:

1. She gave birth to six children, including four daughters who lived until adulthood. It is biologically uncommon, especially in 7th-century Arabia, for a woman to give birth to that many children starting at age 40.

2. The births were spaced across many years, from shortly after marriage until just a few years before her death. This implies childbearing well into her 50s if we accept the 40-year claim, which is unlikely given the physical norms of the time.

3. There is no sahih hadith stating her age at marriage or death. All reports about her being 40 come through non-prophetic seerah accounts without sound isnad.

4. Some classical scholars, including Ibn Kathir, mention the 40-year claim but do not assert it as a confirmed fact. He presents it as a view reported by others, not as a verified conclusion (Al-Bidayah wa al-Nihayah).

5. The Prophet (s.a.w)’s deep love and long monogamous marriage with her may have also been used by later writers to emphasize her age gap, possibly to highlight her maturity or moral leadership, even if the age itself was inaccurately reported.

Taking all this into account, scholars today estimate that her actual age at marriage was more likely between 28 and 35 years old, which places her birth between approximately 584 and 591 CE. This also means she would have been in her early to mid-50s at the time of her death in 619 CE.

What is clear is that she was born in Makkah to a noble and respected family. Her father, Khuwaylid ibn Asad, was a successful merchant from the Banu Asad clan of Quraysh. Her mother, Fatimah bint Za’idah, also came from a high-ranking Qurayshi family. Her household was known for its wealth, influence, and strong moral values. Her father, Khuwaylid ibn Asad, was a respected Qurayshi merchant and tribal leader from the Banu Asad clan. Her mother, Fatimah bint Za’idah, also came from a noble family in Quraysh. Khadijah’s family was known for wealth, influence, and strong morals.

She grew up witnessing trade and leadership. When her father passed away, she inherited both his wealth and his position in business.

First Marriages

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Sumayyah bint Khayyat was the first person in Islamic history to be killed for believing in one God. She did not die on a battlefield or during a political conflict. She was killed in public, in Mecca, around 615 CE, simply for saying, “My Lord is Allah.”

She was not from a powerful tribe. She was a slave woman, originally owned by Abu Hudhayfa al-Makhzumi. She later married Yasir ibn Amir, and they had a son named Ammar. All three were among the earliest converts to Islam, during the first few years of the Prophet Muhammad’s (s.a.w) private preaching in Mecca (610–613 CE). At that time, Islam had no state, no army, and no protection. Most early Muslims were either poor, enslaved, or socially vulnerable and thus, the first targets.

By 613 CE, when the Prophet Muhammad (s.a.w) was commanded to proclaim Islam publicly, the Quraysh elite launched a campaign of public torture and humiliation to suppress its rise. Sumayyah’s family became one of the most severely persecuted. They were dragged into open areas under the sun, bound to the ground, and subjected to relentless torment. Among their torturers was Abu Jahl, a leader of Quraysh and one of the fiercest enemies of Islam.

Despite this, Sumayyah never renounced her faith. She refused to say the words of disbelief, even under intense suffering. According to early biographers like Ibn Ishaq, al-Tabari, and Ibn Hisham, Abu Jahl ultimately killed her by thrusting a spear into her lower body, specifically into her private parts (farj), in an act of brutal humiliation. Her murder occurred publicly, around 615 CE, and was witnessed by others. It was not a battle. It was a message meant to instill fear.

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What Is 100% Historically Verified

According to primary sources like Al-Isabah fi Tamyiz al-Sahabah and Tabaqat Ibn Sa'd, Khawla bint al-Azwar is mentioned as the sister of Dirar and recognized among the Muslim women active during the early Islamic period.

Her name also appears in Al-Kamil fi al-Tarikh by Ibn al-Athir, particularly in the context of the Battle of Yarmouk (636 CE), which took place during the caliphate of Umar ibn al-Khattab. This battle was one of the most decisive Muslim victories over the Byzantine Empire.

At Yarmouk, several classical sources mention that Muslim women including Khawla took up arms when the Byzantine army broke through the front lines and reached the Muslim camps. These women, initially there to nurse the wounded, picked up weapons to defend the camp. This part of the narrative is not presented in poetic terms or exaggerated form. It is a concrete historical event that Muslim historians like Ibn al-Athir record with clarity. Khawla’s presence among these women is not questioned in those texts.

She is described as having been modest, strong, and brave. There is no record that she held an official military title or formal appointment by the caliphate, but her presence on the battlefield, especially in defense of the camp, is well documented.

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The oldest existing, degree-granting university in the world was founded in 859 CE in Fez, Morocco. And it wasn’t established by a Western scholar. The first person to own and build that university was not a man. It was a woman. And not just any woman — a Muslim woman.

Her name was Fatima al-Fihri.

While much of the modern world insists that Muslim women are oppressed, Fatima al-Fihri’s legacy tells a different story. Not only was she free to own property, but she had the power and vision to use that wealth for something eternal: the founding of al-Qarawiyyin University.

In a world where the erasure of Muslim contributions to civilization has become the norm, one name demands to be remembered: Fatima al-Fihri. Not because she was rich. Not because she was powerful. But because she used her wealth, vision, and faith to shape the world in a way that few have—especially as a woman, in a time and place where her influence reached across centuries.

Fatima al-Fihri founded the University of al-Qarawiyyin in 859 CE in Fez, Morocco. It is not a madrasa, not a mosque-school, and not a religious seminary alone. It is the oldest existing and continuously operating degree-granting university in the world, recognized by Guinness World Records. Long before Oxford, Cambridge, or the Sorbonne, the foundations of institutional education were laid down by a Muslim woman.

From Grief to Legacy

Fatima was born in the town of Kairouan (modern-day Tunisia) during the early 9th century. Her family later migrated to Fez, a rapidly growing cultural and religious hub under Idrisid rule. After the death of her husband and father, Fatima inherited considerable wealth. She made a choice that echoes through history: she would use her inheritance to build a mosque and educational institution that would serve her community and generations to come.

She fasted during the entire construction of the university, supervising its development and ensuring its foundations were spiritually grounded. It was not just an act of charity; it was an act of vision, intellect, and trust in Allah. The mosque and university were built with her funds, under her supervision, and in her name—something almost unheard of in her time.

What Made Al-Qarawiyyin a True University?

Al-Qarawiyyin wasn’t just a place for Qur’anic studies. It became a beacon of multidisciplinary scholarship. It offered studies in:

• Mathematics

• Medicine

• Astronomy

• Grammar and rhetoric

• Logic and philosophy

• Law (both Islamic and civic)

• Music and even natural sciences

It operated with a structured curriculum, degrees, and certificates issued by qualified scholars. It hosted a vast library, one of the oldest in the world, still standing today. And it attracted legendary scholars, including Ibn Khaldun, Al-Idrisi, Maimonides, and Leo Africanus. It even influenced the European Renaissance through knowledge exchanges in Andalusia.

A Woman Forgotten

Despite all this, how often is her name mentioned in global history books? How many young women today know that the world’s first university was built by someone just like them—a Muslim woman, grieving, faithful, and brave?

Fatima al-Fihri is not a symbol of feminism. She is a symbol of truth. She proves that women were never excluded from Islamic intellectual life. They were its architects. The false narrative that Islam suppresses women collapses under the weight of her story.

She didn’t need recognition. But she deserves remembrance.

A Tale of Two Worlds: Women's Rights Then and There

Fatima al-Fihri’s legacy stands in stark contrast to the rights of women in Europe during the same era. In the 9th century Islamic world, women were granted rights to own, inherit, and manage property independently—a right guaranteed by the Qur’an itself: “For men is a share of what the parents and close relatives leave, and for women is a share of what the parents and close relatives leave, be it little or much—an obligatory share” (Surah An-Nisa, 4:7). This verse was revealed in approximately 625 CE, over 1,400 years ago, during the early Medinan period of the Prophet Muhammad’s mission. At a time when most of the world denied women basic legal status, Islam granted them divinely mandated rights to wealth and financial independence. This verse was revolutionary in its time. In a world where women were largely excluded from inheritance—whether in pre-Islamic Arabia, ancient Greece, Rome, or medieval Europe—Islam was the first to guarantee women a legally protected, divinely ordained share of wealth. But this verse established that women had a divinely ordained, fixed share in inheritance—no matter how large or small the estate. It affirmed women's financial autonomy, allowing them to own, manage, and use their wealth as independent legal persons. This right enabled women like Fatima al-Fihri to not only preserve wealth but to use it for transformative purposes—such as founding the world’s first university. The right to education. The Prophet Muhammad (s.a.w) said, “Seeking knowledge is an obligation upon every Muslim.” (Sunan Ibn Majah 224, Sahih). This command applied to both men and women equally, and Fatima al-Fihri's life is one of the most powerful reflections of that truth.[4] Fatima used this right to inherit her father's wealth and fund the construction of an entire university.

By contrast, in 9th century Christian Europe, most women had no legal identity outside of their fathers or husbands. Under feudal and canon law, women could not independently own property or enter contracts. Even centuries later:

• In England, the Married Women’s Property Act was only passed in 1870 and 1882, granting married women the legal right to own and control property.

• In France, women could not open a bank account without their husband’s permission until 1965.

• In the United States, property rights for married women began to appear state-by-state only in the mid-1800s.

While women in the West were denied the most basic financial autonomy, Fatima al-Fihri was not only managing her own inheritance but using it to lay the foundation for the world’s most enduring educational institution.

This does not mean the Muslim world was a perfect utopia—cultural patriarchy did exist in some regions. But the Islamic legal framework itself gave women rights centuries before the West caught up. Fatima al-Fihri is living proof.

In fact, during the same era, women in Christian Europe had no formal right to education. Schools were limited to male clergy and noblemen, with monasteries and cathedral schools excluding women entirely. A few aristocratic women may have been taught basic literacy at home, but there was no institutional framework for women's education. As historian Joan Ferrante notes, "The ideal woman was pious, obedient, and illiterate."[8]

While the West restricted women’s intellectual growth, Fatima al-Fihri not only had the right to learn, but the authority and resources to build an institution that educated generations of scholars—men and women alike.

The Story Doesn’t End Here

This article is just a doorway. We are writing a full book on the life and legacy of Fatima al-Fihri—the sacrifices she made, the empire she lived under, the architectural and legal marvels of al-Qarawiyyin, and how colonialism nearly buried her name.

Because buried history must be uncovered. And she, above all, deserves her light restored.

For context: If you have any doubts about what came before the university model Fatima al-Fihri introduced, we’ve created a full timeline tracing the evolution of learning — from ancient temple schools and philosophical circles to the first true university.
Not all centers of learning were universities — and this timeline makes that distinction clear. To clarify fact from confusion, we created a complete timeline of global learning institutions — from the earliest temple schools to the rise of formal universities.

Here is the link to that Timeline:

https://www.veinsoftruth.org/p/a-global-timeline-of-learning-institutions

Sources

[1] Guinness World Records. "Oldest existing and continually operating educational institution in the world." https://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/world-records/oldest-university

[2] Bloom, Jonathan, and Sheila Blair. Islamic Arts. Phaidon Press, 1997.

[3] The Qur’an, Surah An-Nisa (4:7).

[4] Holcombe, Lee. Wives and Property: Reform of the Married Women's Property Law in Nineteenth-Century England. University of Toronto Press, 1983.

[5] Bard, Christine. Les femmes dans la société française au XXe siècle. Armand Colin, 2001.

[6] Basch, Norma. In the Eyes of the Law: Women, Marriage, and Property in Nineteenth-Century New York. Cornell University Press, 1982.

[7] Ferrante, Joan M. Woman as Image in Medieval Literature: From the Twelfth Century to Dante. Columbia University Press, 1975.

[8] Nadwi, Mohammad Akram. Al-Muhaddithat: The Women Scholars in Islam. Interface Publications, 2007. Interface Publications, 2007.

[9] Lyons, Jonathan. The House of Wisdom: How the Arabs Transformed Western Civilization. Bloomsbury Press, 2009.

[10] Ibn Abi Zarʿ al-Fasi. Rawḍ al-Qirṭās fī Akhbār al-Maghrib wa Tārīkh Madīnat Fās. 14th century. Originally written in Arabic; cited in modern academic works and Moroccan historical studies as the known source to mention Fatima al-Fihri by name.