THE PROPHET'S WIVES

I respect every religion of this world and even yours as well.
I have one question, once I read some where that Prophet Mohamed married nearly 40 ladies and the youngest one was 6 years old and she was pregnant at the age of 9 !!!!
Is this true ???
Please do reply and clear this thing from my mind.

Regards,
Rav Singh

All praise is due to Allaah, we praise Him, we seek His aid and assistance (alone), and we seek refuge in Him from the evil of our ownselves and from the evil of our actions, to proceed:

We are happy that you have taken the time to contact us and we pray that our website is a means of clarity and encouragement towards uniting our hearts upon the correct worship and understanding of our Lord, aameen.

It is completely untrue that the Prophet married 40 women.
It is true that he married a 6-year-old OUT OF NECESSITY, and consummated the marriage when she became a woman, i.e. as nature has defined, when she reached menstruation. We have given a detailed explanation of this and why he married 'A'ishah (the only virgin he married) in the following article: http://www.islam-sikhism.info/rebut/paedo01.htm 

The following is an account of the women he married, their social and economic status, and why he married them. You will see that our Prophet (peace be upon him) was one who set the ultimate example of how women should be treated in a society worshipping their Lord:

"Truly you are upon an exalted standard of character." (Qur'an 68:4)

And the Prophet (peace be upon him said) said:

"I have not been sent (to mankind) except to perfect the nobility of character." (Muwatta, Ahmad, at-Tabaraani)

He had eleven wives and he left nine of them behind when he died (peace be upon him).

Those nine were: 'Aa'ishah, Hafsah, Zaynab bint Jahsh, Umm Salamah, Safiyyah, Umm Habeebah, Maymoonah, Sawdah and Juwayriyyah. The first of his wives to follow him after he died was Zaynab bint Jahsh in 20 (After Hijri) and the last of them to die was Umm Salamah in 62 (After Hijri) during the caliphate of Yazeed. 

1. Khadijah bint Khuwaylid
Khadijah, his first wife, was a widow who was much older than Muhammad (peace be upon him) when she proposed to him. Because of her success in business and lineage, many of the wealthy among the Quraysh desired to marry her. She, however, was impressed by Muhammad's (peace be upon him) character and so she initiated the marriage proposal. She was his steadfast supporter in extremely trying times and always provided wise counsel and solace. She was the first person to accept Islaam. Khadijah died approximately twenty-five years after they married, and Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) continued to revere her memory for the rest of his life.

2. Sawdah bint Zam'ah
After Khadijah's death, the Prophet married Sawdah. She was also a widow. She and her husband had accepted Islaam very early in the mission and had been among the migrants to Ethiopia. She was a tall and rather heavyset individual. She was also very well known for her charity. The marriage of Muhammad (peace be upon him) to Sawdah set the trend of the Prophet marrying widows of Muslims who had died of natural causes or during one of the many battles.
Muhammad Haykal described this marriage wonderfully: 

As we have seen earlier, Muhammad did not share his bed with any other woman besides Khadijah for twenty eight years. When she finally passed away, he married Sawdah, daughter of Zam'ah, widow of Sakran ibn `Amr ibn `Abd Shams. No one ever described Sawdah as a beautiful woman, and no one has ever reported that she possessed any wealth or social position which might have given a material reason for any one to marry her.
(M. H. Haykal, The Life of Muhammad) 

The social structure of the time was not conducive for widows or women living singly. One could argue that today, in societies like Bosnia and Chechnya, where large members of men have become the victims of genocide, multiple marriages to widows would be a reasonable remedy for these women living in dire poverty and destitution, or turning to prostitution to survive.

3. 'A'ishah bint Abu Bakr (explained in above article)

4. Hafsah bint 'Umar
When Hafsah became a widow, her father 'Umar, one of the great leaders of Islaam, started looking for a husband for her. He initially asked Uthman. Uthman's wife, Ruqayyah, one of the Prophet's daughters, had just died. However, Uthman demurred. 'Umar then asked Abu Bakr to marry her, but Abu Bakr also declined. He then finally asked Muhammad (peace be upon him). Sensing what was going on, the Prophet readily agreed. Later when during Uthman's caliphate the authoritative version of the Qur'an was redacted Hafsah would be the custodian of the manuscript.

5. Zaynab bint Khuzaymah (The mother of the indigent)
Zaynab's husband 'Ubaydah was killed in the battle of Badr. Muhammad (peace be upon him) immediately offered to marry her. She had the reputation of being extremely caring toward the needy and the indigent. She was known as Umm al-Masakeen (The mother of the poor). She died within two or three months of her marriage to the Prophet.

6. Umm Salamah bint Abu Umayyah
Her real name was Hind, but she was known as Umm Salamah. Her husband, Abdullah bin 'Abdul Asad, was known as Abu Salamah. They had migrated to Ethiopia, and Abu Salamah was well known for his courage and prowess as an equestrian. He died from injuries sustained during the battle of Uhud. Umm Salamah was pregnant at that time. After waiting the period, Muhammad (peace be upon him) proposed marriage to her. She initially refused, citing reasons of being old and having children from the previous marriage, but Muhammad (peace be upon him) insisted.
Again from Muhammad Haykal:

As for Umm Salamah, she was the wife of Abu Salamah for whom she bore many children. It has already been mentioned that Abu Salamah was wounded at Uhud, that he seemed to be recovering from his wound when the Prophet assigned to him the duty of fighting Banu Asad whom he defeated and whose wealth he seized. It was during the second campaign of Abu Salamah that his wound reopened, and it caused his death a few days later. The Prophet visited him in his last days and remained constantly by his bedside praying for him until he died. Four months after his death, when the Prophet asked the hand of Umm Salamah, she apologized by using the large number of her children and her old age as an excuse. But the Prophet insisted until she accepted and he assumed the duty of caring for and bringing up her offspring. Would then the missionaries and the Western Orientalists claim that Umm Salamah was a woman of rare beauty and that this is why Muhammad had married her?
(Ibid.)

She was with Muhammad (peace be upon him) during the trip to Makkah from the pilgrimage, which resulted in the Hudaybiyah treaty. Her advice and counsel proved crucial during those very critical days.

7. Zaynab bint Jahsh
Zaynab had been married to Zayd bin Thabit. Zayd was Muhammad's (peace be upon him) slave before the advent of Islaam. Muhammad (peace be upon him) appeared to set a precedent that slaves should be freed and should carry no stigma from their past. Zaynab married Zayd; but, by the will of Allaah, the marriage turned out to be one of incompatibility and did not last long. The Prophet again extended his hand in marriage to her. The Qur'an offers an additional explanation for the marriage. Two of the prevalent customs in the society were to banish "wives" into limbo by declaring them to be their husband's "mothers," (the practice was called Zihar), and to declare foster children as one's natural children. The Prophet's marriage to Zaynab, who was divorced from Zayd, abolished the latter practice. Zaynab was known for her extraordinary piety and righteousness. She was in her late middle age when she married the Prophet.

8. Safiyyah bint Huyay
Her real name was Zaynab, but she was known by the nickname of Safiyyah. She was a prisoner of war following an assault on Khaybar. Both her father and brother had died during the war.

9. Umm Habibah bint Abu Sufyan
Ramla (mother of Habibah) was initially married to 'Ubaydullah bin Jahsh. The two migrated to Ethiopia, and after the migration 'Ubaydullah converted to Christianity. Ramla remained a Muslim, resulting in a separation and divorce. Muhammad (peace be upon him) sent an envoy to Negus with a proposal that he should conduct his marriage to Umm Habibah "in absentia", which she accepted.

10. Maymunah bint al-Harith
Maymunah's first marriage resulted in a divorce, and her second husband died, making her both a widow and a divorcee. One of the Prophet's close companions, 'Abbas proposed that Muhammad (peace be upon him) should marry her. He agreed, demonstrating that it was no longer a stigma for a woman to be both divorced and widowed. They felt it would be inappropriate for her to be assigned to anyone other than the Prophet. On rare occasions she was subject to sarcasm because of her Jewish parentage. But, when the Prophet (peace be upon him) became aware of this, he showed great annoyance reprimanding those who did this in order eradicate this type of racism.

11. Juwariyah bint al-Harith
The prisoners of war captured after the defeat of Banu Musta'liq (sub-tribe of Khuza 'ah) included Juwayriyah. She was the daughter of the defeated tribal chief. Her husband had been killed in the skirmish. As per the rules of war, she could have become a slave, but following her petition to the Prophet, he immediately offered to marry her. She accepted, and an important by product of the marriage was that all of the seven hundred plus prisoners of war of the tribe of Banu Musta'liq were freed.

The Rationale Behind These Marriages
The rationale behind these marriages is clear. Many were performed to rehabilitate divorced and widowed women, especially widows of companions who had been killed in the early battles. Sometimes, Muhammad (peace be upon him) had to go to great lengths to persuade the women to marry him. Other marriages were done to strengthen bonds between friends and tribes. These actions are an act of nobility and kindness.
All of his wives distinguished themselves in some area of charity, kindness, or erudition and knowledge. The Qur'an honoured them as the "Mothers of the believers". Their marriage to the Prophet was voluntary and they could initiate and ask for divorce if they so desired. The Qur'an and Muhammad (peace be upon him) made revolutionary changes in the status of women and his wives, in many ways, were exemplars of these changes. As the Prophet's dealings with his wives was based on love, affection, respect and dignity, others in the society were expected to follow his exemplary behaviour. Men and women were placed on a footing of compassion, equity and justice. Rules were laid down for marriage and divorce. Laws regarding ownership of property were promulgated. The notion of the moral superiority of men over women was shot down. Men were told they had the duty to protect women and children. The Qur'an stresses the moral and spiritual equality of men and women in emphatic and unambiguous language.

These are laws and edicts, vital aspects of living a balanced life, which the 10 Gurus paid no heed to.

Finally, there are those that have accused Muhammad of seeking after beauty. Muhammad Haykal answers this emphatically as follows:

If Muhammad was indeed looking for beauty, there were scores of virgin daughters of both Muhajirun and Ansar far surpassing his women in beauty, in youth, in position and wealth, in vitality, for him to choose from and to take in marriage. He did not have to choose those women who would bring to him large liabilities of mouths to feed and old people to take care of. The fact is that Muhammad married Umm Salamah because of this noble motivation of his, the same reason for which he married Zaynab, daughter of Khuzaymah. It was this same reason which caused the Muslims to love their Prophet all the more and honor him as the Prophet of God and to see in him as a father to the destitute and the deprived and the weak and the poor as well as to everyone who had lost his father as a martyr in the cause of God.
(Ibid.)

We pray this answers your question and provides you with the vision to see where the Truth of God lies, aameen.

Thank you for your question and we pray you will be our brother in Islaam very soon.

BACK TO TOP