The Life of Muhammad The Prophet
Marriages of the Holy Prophet
When the Holy Prophet passed away, he left nine wives behind. This has
become a main target of the Christian and Jewish writers. They say that
plurality of marriage (polygamy) in itself points to avidity and to
yielding to lust and desire, and the Prophet was not content with four
wives which had been allowed to his Ummah but exceeded even that limit
and married nine women.
It is necessary to point out that this is not such a simple matter to
be dismissed in a sentence that he was inordinately fond of women, so
much so that he married nine wives. The fact is that he had married each
one of his wives for some particular reason due to particular
circumstances.
His first marriage was with Khadijah. He lived with her alone for
twenty-five years. It was the prime time of his youth and constitutes
two-thirds of his married life. We have written about her on the
preceding pages.
Then he married Sawdah bint Zam'ah whose husband had expired during the
second migration to Abyssinia. Sawdah was a believing lady who had
migrated on account of her faith. Her father and brother were among the
most bitter enemies of Islam. If she were left to return to them, they
would have tortured and tormented her, as they were doing with other
believing men and women, oppressing and killing them, forcing them to
renounce their faith.
At the same time, he married 'Ayishah bint Abu Bakr, who was then a
six-year old child. She came to the Prophet's house some time after the
migration to Medina.
Then he emigrated to Medina and began spreading the word of Allah.
Thereafter, he married eight women, all of them widows or divorcees, all
old or middle-aged. This continued for about eight years. It was only
then that he was prohibited by the Almighty from marrying any woman
besides those whom he had already married. Obviously, these happenings
cannot be explained by his love for women because both his early life
and the later period contradict such an assumption.
Just look at a man with a passion for women who is infatuated with a
carnal desire, enamored by female companionship, with a sensual lust for
them. You will find him attracted to their adornment, spending his time
in pursuit of beauty, infatuated with coquetry and flirtation and
craving for youth, tender age, and fresh complexion.
But these peculiarities are conspicuously absent in the Prophet's life.
He married widows after having married a virgin, old-aged ladies after
having married young girls. Then he offered his wives a choice to give
them a good provision and allow them to depart gracefully, i.e. divorce
them if they desired this world and its adornment. Alternatively, they
should renounce the world and abstain from adornments and embellishments
if they desired Allah and His Prophet and the latter abode. Look at this
verse of the Qur'an:
O Prophet! Say to your wives: If you desire this world's life and its
ornature then come, l will give you a provision and allow you to depart
a graceful departure. And if you desire Allah and His
Messenger and the latter abode, then surely Allah has prepared for the
doers of good from among you a ,mighty reward. (Qur'an,
33:28-29)
Is this the attitude of a man infatuated with lust and desire?! The
fact is that we will have to look for reasons other than lust and
avidity for his plurality of wives:
• He had married many of them in order to give them protection and
safeguard their dignity.
• It was hoped that the Muslims would follow his example and provide protection to aged women, widows and their orphaned children.
Sawdah bint Zam'ah's marriage comes into this category. Zainab bint
Khuzaymah's husband, 'Abdullah ibn Jahsh (a cousin of the Prophet), was
martyred during the battle of Uhud (as stated above). This was the
second time she became a widow. She was one of the most generous ladies
even in the era of ignorance, so much so that she was called "Mother of
the poor". Now she was facing hard times. The Prophet, by marrying her,
preserved her prestige and dignity. She passed away in the life-time of
the Prophet. Year of marriage: 3 A.H.
Ummu Salamah, whose actual name was Hind, was married to 'Abdullah Abu
Salamah (another cousin of the Prophet who was also his foster brother).
Abu Salamah and his wife were among the first to migrate to Abyssinia.
She had renounced worldly pleasures and was highly distinguished for her
piety and wisdom. When her husband died, she was very advanced in age
and had many orphaned children. That is why the Prophet married her.
Year of marriage 4 A.H.
Hafsah bint 'Umar ibn al-Khattab was married to him after her husband
Khunays ibn Hudhayfah was martyred during the battle of Badr, leaving
her a widow. Year of marriage 4 A.H.
• To set free the slaves: His marriage with Juwayriyyah, i.e. Barrah daughter of al-Harith (chief of Banu al-Mustaliq) was performed in 5 A.H. after the battle of Banu al-Mustaliq. The Muslims had arrested two hundred of their families. Juwayriyyah was a widow, and the Prophet married her after emancipating her. The Muslims said: These are now the relatives of the Messenger of Allah by marriage; they should not be held captive. So they freed all of them. Impressed by this nobility, the whole tribe of Banu al-Mustaliq entered into the fold of Islam. It was a very large tribe, and this generosity of the Muslims as well as the conversion of that tribe had a great impact throughout Arabia.
• To forge friendly relations: Some marriages were entered into in the hope of establishing friendly relationships with some tribes in order to blunt their enmity towards Islam.
Ummu Habibah, i.e. Ramlah daughter of Abu Sufyan, was married to
'Ubaydullah ibn Jahsh and had emigrated with them to Abyssinia in the
second migration. While there, 'Ubaydullah was converted to
Christianity, but she remained steadfastly on Islam and separated from
him. Her father, Abu Sufyan, was in those days raising one army after
another in order to annihilate the Muslims. The Prophet married her and
afforded protection to her although the hope of any change in Abu
Sufyan's attitude did not materialize.
Safiyyah was the daughter of Huyaiy ibn Akhtab, (Jewish) chief of Banu
an-Nadhir Her husband was killed in the battle of Khaybar, and her
father sided with Banu Qurayzah. She was among the captives of Khaybar.
The Prophet chose her for himself and married her after emancipating her
in 7 A.H. This marriage protected her from humiliation and established a
link with the Jews.
To establish and implement important laws: The case of Zainab bint
Jahsh is its only example. She was a cousin of the Prophet (daughter of
his paternal aunt, and sister of 'Abdullah ibn Jahsh, the first husband
of Zainab bint Khuzaymah). She was a widow. Islam had annulled class
differences and declared that a family's tribe, wealth, or social status
are not the criteria of distinction. Every Muslim is equal.
While announcing it, the Prophet, in the same sitting, gave his three
relative ladies in marriage to persons of "low" birth or status. It was
done in order to practically demonstrate the Islamic equality, which up
to that moment, was only a theoretical p nciple. Among them, Zainab bint
Jahsh was given in marriage to Zayd ibn Harithah, an Arab slave whom the
Prophet had freed and adopted as son. People called him Zayd ibn
Muhammad. This marriage soon turned sour. Zainab could not overlook that
she was a granddaughter of 'AbdulMuttalib, and that Zayd was an
ex-slave. No matter how much the Prophet advised them, she did not
change her behavior, so finally Zayd divorced her.
In the midst of the continuing social reforms, the Qur'an had declared
that adoption was not recognized in Islam, that the sons should be
affiliated to their actual fathers. Allah says:
Allah has not made for any man two hearts in his breast, nor has He
made your wives whom you declare (to be your mothers) as your (real)
mothers, nor has He made those whom you call (as your sons) your (real)
sons. These are (mere) words of your mouths, and Allah speaks
the truth and He guides unto the (right) way. Call them after their
fathers; this is more just with Allah, but if you know not
their fathers, then they are your brethren in faith and your friends.
(Qur'an, 33:4-5)
After this admonition, people started calling him "Zayd ibn Harithah".
But there was a need to put this new system in effect in such a way as
to leave no room for doubt or ambiguity. Allah, therefore, ordered the
Prophet to marry Zainab bint Jahsh, the divorcee of Zayd ibn Harithah.
The Qur'an explains:
.... But when Zayd had concluded his concern with her (i.e. divorced
her) We joined her in wedlock as your wife so that there should be no
difficulty for the believers concerning the wives of their adopted sons
when they have concluded their concerns with them, and the command
ofAllah shall be carried out. (Qur'an, 33:37)
In this manner, both marriages of Zainab hint Jahsh served to enforce
two very important social ethics. Some non-Muslim writers have claimed
that the Prophet had fallen in love with Zainab's beauty and that this
was why Zayd divorced her. Such writers are blind to the fact that
Zainab at that time was in her fifties.
Why did not Muhamaad fall in love with her when she was still a maiden
and he himself was young? Consider this question especially in view of
the fact that Zainab was a close relative of the Prophet, and that there
was no system of hijab at that time, and, in any case, relatives
usually know about each other's beauty or ugliness.
One of his wives was Maymunah whose name was Barrah bint al-Harith
al-Hilaliyyah. When her second husband died in the 7th year of Hijrah,
she came to the Prophet and "gifted" herself to him if he would accept
her. She only desired the honor of being called the wife of the Prophet.
The Prophet waited for the divine guidance in her regard. Permission was
granted to him from his Lord as we read in verse 33:50 of the Holy
Qur'an which says:
** **
O Prophet! Certainly we have made lawful unto you ... a believing
woman if she gifts herself unto the Prophet; if the Prophet
desires to marry her, (it is) especially for thee (O Prophet!) rcjher
than for the rest of the believers. (Qur'an, 33:50)
Thus do we see that each of these marriages had some solid reasons
behind it; passion and lust were not among them.