Khadija bint Khuwaylid

Khadija bint Khuwaylid (about 554 to 619) was an affluent merchant of the Quraysh tribe of Mecca, born into an aristocratic clan and known for her standing among her people. She ran trading ventures and employed the young Muhammad to manage a trade caravan to Syria; impressed by his skill, she later proposed marriage to him, and he accepted. She had been married three times before. Within Islamic tradition she is honoured as Mother of the Believers and is credited as the first convert to Islam, and she supported her husband until her death in 619. For business history she is a documented early example of a woman who owned and directed caravan trade in seventh century Arabia.