Khadija bint Khuwaylid is remembered in early Islamic tradition as a Meccan merchant and the first supporter of Muhammad's prophetic mission. Before their marriage she possessed the resources to employ agents in trade. Accounts of Muhammad's work on her behalf describe a commercial relationship that preceded their household partnership. The details come from later biographical and religious narratives, rather than surviving business records, so the scale and organization of her enterprise cannot be reconstructed precisely.

Her economic independence gave the marriage an important practical foundation. Traditional accounts emphasize that she selected Muhammad for his reliability and that her property helped provide security for their household. The familiar description of her as a forty-year-old widow is not consistent across the early sources; neither an exact age nor an unsupported inventory of caravans is necessary to understand her documented reputation as a woman of means.

When Muhammad reported his first revelatory experience, Khadija reassured him and, according to the biographical tradition, consulted her relative Waraqa ibn Nawfal. She accepted his message and supported him as opposition grew among Meccan leaders. Muslim accounts therefore place her at the beginning of the community's history, treating her trust and assistance as essential to the survival of the early mission. Her contribution included material support as well as religious commitment.

Khadija died before the migration to Medina, traditionally in 619. Her career cannot be described through government appointments or a modern corporate structure. It belongs instead to the commercial and household networks of Mecca and to the formation of a new religious community. Later Muslim remembrance honoured her as an exemplary believer and preserved Muhammad's praise of her loyalty. Her reputation rests on later religious narratives, with little evidence for specific commercial transactions.