The prophet's wives
- 1. In the name of Allah, Most Merciful, Most Compassionate
- 2. Why did the Prophet Mohammad have many wives?
- 3. - .... - If someone asks you that question, either in a good or in a bad intention, will you be able to answer?
- 4. Here is the answer, as given in a lecture by Amro Khalid about the Mothers of the believers ( the Prophet’s wives )
- 5. - - Let’s first ask ourselves, how many wives did the Prophet marry?
- 6. - - They were twelve. When he died there were ten wives with him, while Khadija and Zaynab died in his life
- 7. But do you know their names, the names of your mothers, the mothers of the believers?
- 9. They are: Khadijah Bint Khuwaylid Sawdah Bint Zamaah Aaishah Bint Abi Bakr Hafsah Bint Omar Zainab Bint Khuzaymah Om-salamah , Hind Bint Otbah Zainab Bint Jahsh Juwayriyah Bint Alharith Safiyah Bint Huyay Ibn Akhtab Ommo Habibah Ramlah Bint Abi Sofian Maria Bint Shamoun, the Egyptian Maymonah Bint Alharith
- 10. Were they all virgins?
- 11. - - Only one, Aaishah, all the rest were either widows or divorced.
- 12. Were they all Arabs?
- 13. All, except for Mariya, who was from Egypt.
- 14. Where they all Muslims?
- 15. All but two; Safiya who was a Jew , and Mariya who was a Christian.
- 16. - - Now, let’s answer the main and very important question: Was it lust that caused the prophet to have so many marriages?
- 17. - - - - - - - - -
- 18. To answer the question we have to mention the following facts:
- 19. 1- The Prophet married for the first time when he was 25 years old. Too old for someone who is driven by lust.
- 20. 2- The first woman he married , Khadijah was 40 years old already married twice before him and had children. He stayed married to her alone for 25 years, until she died. He stayed single after her death for two years in grief and mourning over her death. He was then 52 years old.
- 21. 3- From 52 till 60, he married several times for political and social reasons. After tow years of living single , he married Sawdah, an 80 year old widow in order to honor her because she was the first widow in Islam. Not an act of a lustful man after a long period of single life.
- 22. It’s not logical to say that lust had appeared suddenly at the Prophet’s life at 52, and at the middle of the fierce physical and psychological struggle to spread Islam
- 24. -
- 25. - - ( ) .1 ( ) .2 There is only one conclusion we can extract from the above: 1- Mohammad the man married Khadijah 2- Mohammad the Prophet married
- 26. - - But , was Mohammad the only Prophet to have multiple wives? Or polygamy was taken by other Prophets as well?
- 27. - - The answer is : NO. Polygamy was the norm at the times of Ibrahim, Dawoud, Solayman, all known in the Bible to have been polygamists.
- 28. Now, let’s mention the political, social and religious reasons why did the prophet had these marriages.
- 29. - – - - First: To spread the culture through eyewitnesses with all the details known only to intimate people. Aaishah , being so young, was able to tell all those details to the Muslims for more than 42 years. She had seen and learned so much from him. Her young age was a great advantage in this respect. She could tell what the Prophet used to do or say in all aspects of life, so that people do and say the same in the same situations
- 30. - - Aaishah , was the most knowledgeable person when it comes to the daily life of the Muslim and how it should go as was lived by the Prophet himself . But how come he married her when she was only nine years old? The desert climate answers to that . In such environment Girls reached menstruation very young. Not only in Arabia, but also in Roma and Persia, girls were married that young
- 31. Second: To strengthen the relationships with his companions, he married Abi Bakr’s daughter and Omar's sister, married his daughters to Othman and Ali, May God be pleased with them all.
- 32. - - Third: out of mercy and rewarding to the early Muslim widows and divorcees he gave them the honor of marrying them himself (Husbands either died in battles or were non Muslims who divorced them.). Sawdah, Om-salama and Habeebah were widows.
- 33. Fourth: The Prophet was being a role model for the Muslims being kind to the widows and to the people of the book who newly embraced Islam. He married Safiyah after her father , a Jew, embraced Islam , so giving him and his daughter the honor among his people
- 34. - - Fifth: He wanted to have ties and links with the different nations of the world. When he married Mariya, all Egyptians were on his side, and when he married Gowayriyah, all her people (they were called the Bani Almustalaq and were captured by the Muslims after a battle),, they all embraced Islam
- 35. I wish I had given you what makes you more assured and able to stand up to such allegations. May peace, mercy and blessings of Allah be upon you all.
- 36. PRAY FOR ME.