Bismillaahir Rahmaanir Raheem
May the Peace and Blessings of
Allah be upon Muhammad and his pure family.
THE PROPHETIC HOUSEHOLD
1.
(Peace be
upon him) and his wife Khadijah bint Khuwailid. He was twenty-five and she was
forty when they got married. She was Khadijah Bint Khuwailid: In Makkah — prior
to Hijra — the Prophet’s household comprised him the first woman he married.
She was the only wife he had till she died. He had sons and daughters with her.
None of their sons lived long. They all died. Their daughters were Zainab,
Ruqaiya, Umm Kulthum and Fatimah.
Zainab was married to her maternal cousin Abu Al-‘As bin Al-Rabi‘ and
that was before Al-Hijra. Ruqaiya and Umm Kulthum were both married to ‘Uthman
bin ‘Affan (May Allah be pleased with him) successively (i.e. he married one
after the death of her sister). Fatimah was married to ‘Ali bin Abi Talib; and
that was in the period between Badr and Uhud battles. The sons and daughters
that Fatimah and ‘Ali had were Al-Hasan, Al-Husain, Zainab and Umm Kulthum.
It
is well-known that the Prophet (Peace be upon him) was exceptionally authorized
to have more than four wives for various reasons. The wives he married were
thirteen. Nine of them outlived him. Two died in his lifetime: Khadijah and the
Mother of the poor (Umm Al-Masakeen)
— Zainab bint Khuzaima, besides two others with whom he did not consummate his
marriage.
2.
Sawdah bint Zam‘a: He married her in Shawwal, in
the tenth year of Prophethood, a few days after the death of Khadijah. Prior to
that, she was married to a paternal cousin of hers called As-Sakran bin ‘Amr.
3.
‘Aishah bint Abu Bakr: He married her in the
eleventh year of Prophethood, a year after his marriage to Sawdah, and two
years and five months before Al-Hijra. She was six years old when he married
her. However, he did not consummate the marriage with her till Shawwal seven
months after Al-Hijra, and that was in Madinah. She was nine then. She was the
only virgin he married, and the most beloved creature to him. As a woman she
was the most learnčd woman in jurisprudence.
4.
Hafsah bint ‘Umar bin Al-Khattab: She was Aiyim (i.e. husbandless). Her
ex-husband was Khunais bin Hudhafa As-Sahmi in the period between Badr and Uhud
battles. The Messenger of Allâh (Peace be upon him) married her in the third
year of Al-Hijra.
5.
Zainab bint Khuzaimah: She was from Bani Hilal bin
‘Amir bin Sa‘sa‘a. Was nicknamed Umm
Al-Masakeen, because of her kindness and care towards them. She used to
be the wife of ‘Abdullah bin Jahsh, who was martyred at Uhud, was married to
the Prophet (Peace be upon him) in the fourth year of Al-Hijra, but she died
two or three months after her marriage to the Messenger of Allâh (Peace be upon
him).
6.
Umm Salamah Hind bint Abi Omaiyah: She used to be
the wife of Abu Salamah, who died in Jumada Al-Akhir, in the fourth year of
Al-Hijra. The Messenger of Allâh (Peace be upon him) married her in Shawwal of
the same year.
7.
Zainab bint Jahsh bin Riyab: She was from Bani
Asad bin Khuzaimah and was the Messenger’s paternal cousin. She was married to
Zaid bin Haritha — who was then considered son of the Prophet (Peace be upon
him) . However, Zaid divorced her. Allâh sent down some Qur’ânic verses with
this respect:
“So when Zaid had accomplished his desire from her (i.e., divorced her),
We gave her to you in marriage.” [33:37]
About
her, Allâh has sent down some verses of Al-Ahzab
Chapter that discussed the adoption of children in detail — anyway we will
discuss this later. The Messenger of Allâh (Peace be upon him) married her in
Dhul-Qa‘dah, the fifth year of Al-Hijra.
8.
Juwairiyah bint Al-Harith: Al-Harith was the head
of Bani Al-Mustaliq of Khuza‘ah. Juwairiyah was among the booty that fell to
the Muslims from Bani Al-Mustaliq. She was a portion of Thabit bin Qais bin
Shammas’ share. He made her a covenant to set her free at a certain time. The
Messenger of Allâh (Peace be upon him) accomplished the covenant and married
her in Sha‘ban in the sixth year of Al-Hijra.
9.
Umm Habibah: Ramlah, the daughter of Abu Sufyan.
She was married to ‘Ubaidullah bin Jahsh. She migrated with him to
10. her after that
conquest in the seventh year of Al-Hijra.
11. Maimunah bint
Al-Harith: The daughter of Al-Harith, and the sister of Umm Al-Fadl Lubabah
bint Al-Harith. The Prophet (Peace be upon him) married her after the
Compensatory ‘Umrah (Lesser
Pilgrimage). That was in Dhul-Qa‘dah in the seventh year of Al-Hijra.
Those were the
eleven women that the Messenger of Allâh (Peace be upon him) had married and
consummated marriage with them. He outlived two of them — Khadijah and Zainab,
the Umm Al-Masakeen. Whereas
the other nine wives outlived him.
The two wives
that he did not consummate marriage with were, one from Bani Kilab and the
other from Kindah and this was the one called Al-Jauniyah.
Besides these,
he had two concubines. The first was Mariyah, the Coptic (an Egyptian
Christian), a present gift from Al-Muqauqis, vicegerent of Egypt — she gave
birth to his son Ibrâhim, who died in Madinah while still a little child, on
the 28th or 29th of Shawwal in the year 10 A.H., i.e. 27th January, 632 A.D.
The second one was Raihanah bint Zaid An-Nadriyah or Quraziyah, a captive from
Bani Quraiza. Some people say she was one of his wives. However, Ibn Al-Qaiyim
gives more weight to the first version. Abu ‘Ubaidah spoke of two more
concubines, Jameelah, a captive, and another one, a bondwoman granted to him by
Zainab bint Jahsh.
Whosoever
meditates on the life of the Messenger of Allâh (Peace be upon him), will
conceive that his marriage to this great number of women in the late years of
his lifetime, after he had almost spent thirty years of his best days of youth
sufficing himself to one old wife — Khadijah and later on to Sawdah, was in no
way an overwhelming lustful desire to be satisfied through such a number of
wives. These marriages were in fact motivated by aims and purposes much more
glorious and greater than what normal marriages usually aim at.
The tendency
of the Messenger of Allâh (Peace be upon him) towards establishing a
relationship by marriage with both Abu Bakr and ‘Umar and his marriage to
‘Aishah and Hafsah — and getting his daughter Fatimah married to ‘Ali bin Abi
Talib, and the marriage of his two daughters, Ruqaiyah and Umm Kulthum to
‘Uthman — indicate clearly that he aimed at confirming the relationship among
the four men — whose sacrifices and great achievements in the cause of Islam
are well-known.
Besides this,
there was that tradition of the Arabs to honour the in-law relations. For them
a son or a daughter-in-law was a means by which they sought the consolidation
of relationship and affection with various phratries. Hostility and fights
against alliances and affinities would bring an unforgettable shame, disgrace
and degradation to them.
By marrying
the Mothers of believers, the Prophet (Peace be upon him) wanted to demolish or
break down the Arab tribes’ enmity to Islam and extinguish their intense
hatred. Umm Salamah was from Bani Makhzum — the clan of Abu Jahl and Khalid bin
Al-Waleed. Her marriage to the Messenger of Allâh (Peace be upon him) produced
good results. Khalid’s deliberately undecisive attitude at Uhud — for instance
— was due to the Messenger’s marriage to Umm Salamah. Khalid went even further
than that, in a short time he willingly became a keen obedient Muslim.
After the
Messenger of Allâh’s marriage to Umm Habibah, Abu Sufyan, her father, did not
encounter him with any sort of hostility. Similarly his marriage to Juwairiyah
and Safiyah made the two tribes stop all sorts of provocation, aggression or
hostility against Islam. Better still, Juwairiyah, herself, was one of the
greatest sources of blessing to her own people. On the occasion of her marriage
to the Prophet (Peace be upon him), his Companions set a hundred families of
her people free. They said: “It is for their affinity with the Messenger of
Allâh (Peace be upon him).” No need to say what great good impression this
gratitude had on everybody’s soul. One of the greatest motives of all is
Allâh’s bidding his Prophet to educate and purify the souls of people who had
known nothing whatsoever about courtesy, education and culture. He had to teach
them to comply with the necessities of civilization and to contribute to the
solidification and the establishment of a new Islamic society.
An essential
fundamental rule of the Muslim society is to prohibit mixing of men and women.
Providing direct education for women, though highly compelling, is impossible
in the light of this Islamic norm. Therefore, the Prophet (Peace be upon him)
had to select some women of different ages and talents, and indoctrinate them
systematically in order to educate she-bedouins and townswomen, old and young,
and thus furnish them with the instruments of propagating the true faith. The
Mothers of believers [i.e. wives of the Prophet (Peace be upon him)] were in
such a convenient position that they could convey the state of the Prophet
(Peace be upon him) and his affairs to people (men and women). Being educated
and taught the teachings and rules of Islam, his wives, especially those who
outlived him, played a very important role in conveying Prophetic traditions Ahadith to the Muslims. ‘Aishah, for
instance, related a large number of the Prophet’s deeds and statements.
His marriage
to his paternal cousin Zainab bint Jahsh was a peculiar case which aimed at
eradicating a deeply rooted pre-Islamic tradition — i.e. the adoption of
children. In Al-Jahiliyah the
Arabs used to consider an adopted person exactly like a real son or daughter as
far as rights and sanctities are concerned. That Jahiliyah tradition had been so deeply rooted in their hearts
that it was not easy to remove or uproot it. This tradition in fact affronts
the basic principles of Islam; especially those concerned with marriage,
divorce and inheritance and some other cases, and brought about lots of
corruptions and indecencies. Naturally Islam stands against such deeds, and
attempts to remove them from the Islamic society.
For the
eradication of this tradition, Allâh, the Exalted, bid His Messenger (Peace be
upon him) to marry his cousin Zainab bint Jahsh, who was an ex-wife to Zaid.
She was at variance with Zaid to an extent that he intended to divorce her —
that was at the time when the Confederates (Al-Ahzab) were making an evil alliance against the Messenger of
Allâh (Peace be upon him) and against the Muslims. The Messenger of Allâh
(Peace be upon him) feared that the hypocrites, the idolaters, and the Jews
would make a propaganda out of it and try to influence some Muslims of weak
hearts. That was why he urged Zaid not to divorce her, in order not to get
involved into that trial.
Undoubtedly
this hesitation and partiality were alien to the character of the Prophet
(Peace be upon him). They did not apply to the power of determination and will
with which he had been sent. Allâh, the Exalted, blamed him for that by saying:
“And (remember) when you said to him [Zaid bin Haritha (May Allah be
pleased with him) — the freed slave of the Prophet (Peace be upon him) ] on
whom Allâh has bestowed grace (by guiding him to Islam) and you [O Muhammad
(Peace be upon him) ] have done favour (by manumitting him), ‘Keep your wife to
yourself, and fear Allâh.’ But you did hide in yourself (i.e. what Allâh has
already made known to you that He will give her to you in marriage) that which Allâh
will make manifest, you did fear the people [i.e. Muhammad (Peace be upon him)
] married the divorced wife of his manumitted slave] whereas Allâh had a better
right that you should fear him.” [33:37]
Finally Zaid
divorced Zainab and the Messenger of Allâh (Peace be upon him) married her at
the time he laid siege to Bani Quraiza. That was after she had finished her Iddat (i.e. period during which a
widow or a divorcee may not remarry). Allâh Himself had already ordained it,
and so gave him no other alternative. Allâh had even started the marriage
Himself by saying:
“So when Zaid had accomplished his desire from her (i.e. divorced her),
We gave her to you in marriage, so that (in future) there may be no difficulty
to the believers in respect of (the marriage of) the wives of their adopted
sons when the latter have no desire to keep them (i.e. they have divorced
them).” [33:37]
And that was
in order to break down the tradition of child adoption in practice after He had
done it in words:
“Call them (adopted sons) by (the names of) their fathers, that is more
just near Allâh.” [33:5]
“Muhammad
(Peace be upon him) ] is not the father of any man among you, but he is the
Messenger of Allâh, and the last (end) of the Prophets.” [33:40]
Lots of
deeply-rooted traditions cannot be uprooted or demolished or even adjusted by
mere words. They must be matched and associated with the action of the advocate
of the Message himself.
This could be
perceived through the deeds practised by the Muslims at Al-Hudaibiyah ‘Umrah (Lesser Pilgrimage) during
which ‘Urwah bin Mas‘ud Al-Thaqafi saw certain Muslims tend to pick up any
expectoration that fell down from the Prophet Őáě Çááĺ Úáíĺ ćÓáă . He also saw
them race to the water of his ablution and they almost quarrelled for it. There
were others who competed to pledge allegiance to death and some others pledged
not to flee from (the battlefield). Among those people, were eminent Companions
like ‘Umar and Abu Bak, who although dedicated all their lives to the Prophet
(Peace be upon him) and to the cause of Islam, but refused to carry out the
Messenger’s ordres with respect to slaughtering sacrificial animals after the
ratification of Al-Hudaibiyah Peace Treaty, the thing that perturbed and caused
the Prophet (Peace be upon him) to feel anxious. However, when Umm Salamah (May
Allah be pleased with her) advised that he take the initiative and sacrifice
his animals, his followers raced to follow his example; a clear evidence in
support of the saying: Actions speak louder than words, in the process of
exterminating a deeply-established tradition.
Hypocrites
aroused a lot of suspicions and made a broad false propaganda against that
marriage. Their acts and talks about that marriage had ill-effects on those
Muslims whose Faith was still weak, particularly that Zainab was the fifth wife
— and the Noble Qur’ân limited the number up to four only; Zaid was
traditionally his son, and so a father marrying his son’s divorcee was a
heinous sin in the eyes of the Arabians.
Al-Ahzab Surah was revealed to shed full light
on the two issues, i.e. Islam does not recognize adoption of children, and the
Prophet (Peace be upon him) is given (by Allâh) more freedom as regards the
number of wives he can hold than other Muslims in order to achieve noble and
honourable purposes.
However, the
treatment of the Messenger of Allâh (Peace be upon him) to his wives was of
honourable, noble, and superb nature. His wives were on tops in respect of
honour, satisfaction, patience, modesty, and service (that is to say the
performance of housework and marriage duties). Although the Messenger’s
house-life was hard and unbearable, none of his wives complained. Anas said
about the Prophet’s life: “According to my knowledge, the Messenger of Allâh
(Peace be upon him) has never tasted a thin flattened loaf in all his lifetime,
nor has he ever seen with his own eyes roasted mutton.”
‘Aishah said:
“Over two months have elapsed — during which we have seen three crescents — and
yet no fire has been kindled in the houses of the Messenger of Allâh (Peace be
upon him) (i.e. they did not cook food).” “What did you eat to sustain
yourselves?” ‘Urwah asked. She said “The two blacks: dates and water”. Lots of
information about the hard life of the Prophet (Peace be upon him) were told.
In spite of
these hardships, straits and adversity of life in the house of the Prophet
(Peace be upon him), none of his wives uttered a word of complaint worthy of
reproach — but once. This exception was required by human instinctive
inclinations. However, it was not so important and consequently it did not
require the decree of a legislative rule. Allâh has given them an opportunity
to choose between two things, as clearly stated in the following verses:
“O Prophet [Muhammad (Peace be upon him) ]! Say to your wives: ‘If you
desire the life of this world, and its glitter, — then come! I will make a
provision for you and set you free in a handsome manner (divorce). But if you
desire Allâh and His Messenger, and the Home of the Hereafter, then verily,
Allâh has prepared for Al-Muhsinat
(good doers) amongst you an enormous reward.’” [33:28,29]
They were so
noble and honest that none of them preferred ‘the life of this world and its
glitter’ to the abode in the Hereafter.
Although they
were many in number, nothing of the dispute occurrences that normally happen
among co-wives, took place in their houses. Very few cases could be the only
exception; but they were quite normal. Allâh reproached them for that, so they
ceased to do such a thing. This incident is mentioned in At-Tahreem Chapter:
“O Prophet! Why do you ban (for yourself) that which Allâh has
made lawful to you …” [66:1] (to the end of the fifth verse).
Discussing
polygamy — in my opinion — is not a necessity; since a person who is familiar
with the Europeans, and indecent practices, sufferings, wickedness, their
sorrows and distresses, the horrible crimes they commit in this respect as well
as the trials, the disasters that they are involved in, and which emanate
directly from their disregard of the principle of polygamy form a good reason
(to justify the soundness of polygamy). The distorted picture of life in