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hired agents tb buy and sell in her nam4.. who received a specified salary
from her, whether their negotiations had been successful or not, or she
used the method of silent legal partnership whereby another person
was in charge of the trade and would take a percentage of the profit
such as one eighth, one sixth or even one quarter, whereas she, as the
owner of the business, would sustain all losses.
In both cases, she needed trustworthy men, to which end she used to
investigAte the character of each prospective agent or partner. She
engaged Muhammad on the strength of his reputation for honourg
generosity and good conduct, and his popular appelation 'AlAuln,
'The Honest'. She reposed complete faith in Him, refusing to replace
him with anyone else.
profits
Khadijah was so impressed when Muhammad returned with handsome
and the way he managed the trust
ý.
- she decided to offer herself in marriage to him.
Her decision was not impelled by reckless passion or false caprice;
she was a mature woman, the widow of two honoured Arab leaders
'ýEtiq b. Laidh bin Abd Allah al-MakhzUmy and Ag iralah Hind bin Zahara
--2
al-Tamimi. (The sources disagree in which order. ) She already had a
son by AbTtCalah and a daughter by'Ztiq. When she contemplated marriage
with Muhammad, she was forty years old, while he was twenty-five. Her
decision was grounded in her respect for his above-mentioned qualities
and the evidence that he was a sound business-man.
1, Ibid
P
2, Bint al-Shati, opo cit., P. 219
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