Why Nabi Sallalahu Alaihi Wasallam have many Wives

**shaikh_samee** · 16-09-2011, 10:48 AM

Why did the Prophet Mohammad Sallalahu Alaihi Wasallam have many wives?

If someone asks you that question, either in a good or in a bad intention, will you be able to answer?

Here is the answer, as given in a lecture by Amro Khalid about the Mothers of the believers ( the Prophet’s Sallalahu Alaihi Wasallam wives)

Let’s first ask ourselves, how many wives did the Prophet Sallalahu Alaihi Wasallam had?
They were twelve.

When he died there were ten wives with him,
while Hazrat Khadija and Hazrat Zaynab Radi Allahu Anhuma died in his life

But do you know their names, the names of your mothers, the mothers of the believers?
They are:
1. Khadijah Bint Khuwaylid Radi Allahu Anha,
2. Sawdah Bint Zamaah Radi Allahu Anha,
3. Aaishah Bint Abi Bakr Radi Allahu Anha,
4. Hafsah Bint Omar Radi Allahu Anha,
5. Zainab Bint Khuzaymah Radi Allahu Anha,
6. Umme-Salamah Hind Bint Otbah Radi Allahu Anha,
7. Zainab Bint Jahsh Radi Allahu Anha,
8. Juwayriyah Bint Alharith Radi Allahu Anha,
9. Safiyah Bint Huyay Ibn Akhtab Ommo Radi Allahu Anha,
10. Habibah Ramlah Bint Abi Sofian Radi Allahu Anha,
11. Maria Bint Shamoun, Radi Allahu Anha, the Egyptian
12. Maymonah Bint Alharith Radi Allahu Anha,

Did the Prophet’s (Sallalahu Alaihi Wasallam) wives married someone for the first time (i.e. were they all virgins)?

Only one, Hazrat Aaishah Radi Allahu Anha, all the rest were either widows or divorced.

Were they all Arabs?
All, except for Mariya Radi Allahu Anha, who was from Egypt.

Where they all Muslims?
All but two: Safiya Radi Allahu Anha who was a Jew, and Mariya Radi Allahu Anha who was a Christian.

Now, let’s answer the main and very important question:

Was it lust that caused the prophet Sallalahu Alaihi Wasallam to have so many marriages?
To answer the question we have to mention the following facts:
1- The Prophet Sallalahu Alaihi Wasallam married for the first time when he was 25 years old.
2- The first woman he married , Khadijah Radi Allahu Anha was 40 years old already married twice before him and had children. He Sallalahu Alaihi Wasallam stayed married to her alone for 25 years, until she died. He Sallalahu Alaihi Wasallam stayed single after her death for two years in grief and mourning over her death. He Sallalahu Alaihi Wasallam was then 52 years old.
3- From 52 till 60, he Sallalahu Alaihi Wasallam married several times for political and social reasons, not for lust (Naooz Billah)….

After two years of living single, He Sallalahu Alaihi Wasallam married Sawdah Radi Allahu Anha, 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 period of living single.

It’s not logical to say that lust had appeared suddenly at the Prophet’s Sallalahu Alaihi Wasallam life at 52, and at the middle of the fierce physical and psychological struggle to spread Islam

There is only one conclusion we can extract from the above:

1- Mohammad (Sallalahu Alaihi Wasallam) the man married Khadijah Radi Allahu Anha
2- Mohammad (Sallalahu Alaihi Wasallam) the Prophet married the rest of his wives.

But , was Prophet Mohammad Sallalahu Alaihi Wasallam the only Prophet to have multiple wives?
Or polygamy was taken by other Prophets alaihi salam as well?
The answer is : NO. Polygamy was the norm at the times of Hazrat Ibrahim, Hazrat Dawoud & Hazrat Solayman Alaihi salam, all known in the Bible to have been polygamists.

Now, let’s mention the political, social and religious reasons the Prophet Sallalahu Alaihi Wasallam had these marriages.

First: To spread the culture through eyewitnesses with all the details known only to intimate people. Hazrat Aaishah Radi Allahu Anha, being so young, was able to tell all those details to the Muslims for more than 42 years. She had seen and learnt so much from him. Her young age was a great advantage in this respect. She could tell what the Prophet Sallalahu Alaihi Wasallam used to do or say in all aspects of life, so that people do and say the same in the similar situations…

Hazrat Aaishah Radi Allahu Anha, 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 Sallalahu Alaihi Wasallam 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 youth very young. Not only in Arabia, but also in Roma and Persia, girls were married that young

Second: To strengthen the relationships with his companions, he married Abi Bakr’s Radi Allahu Anhu daughter and Omar's Radi Allahu Anhu sister, married his daughters to Othman Radi Allahu Anhu and Ali Radi Allahu Anhu, May God be pleased with them all.

Third: out of mercy and rewarding 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.). Hazrate Sawdah, Umme-Salama and Habeebah Radi Allahu Anhuma, were widows.

Fourth: The Prophet Sallalahu Alaihi Wasallam 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 Radi Allahu Anha after her father, a Jew, embraced Islam, so giving him and his daughter the honor among his people

Fifth: He Sallalahu Alaihi Wasallam wanted to have ties and links with the different nations of the world. When he married Mariya Radi Allahu Anha, all Egyptians were on his side, and when he Sallalahu Alaihi Wasallam married Gowayriyah Radi Allahu Anha, all her people (they were called the Bani Almustalaq and were captured by the Muslims after a battle), they all embraced Islam

I wish this makes you more assured and able take a stand up to allegations against the Prophet (Sallalahu Alaihi Wasallam). May peace, mercy and blessings of Allah azwajal be upon you all.