According to the nature on which man has been created, the
real benefit of the institution of the family can be obtained
through the marriage of one man and one woman. As a human
being, the Prophet (sws) too kept this fact in consideration
in his life and never thought of marrying again in the
presence of his first wife. His first marriage was with
Khadijah (rta) at the age of 25. She had already been married
twice before and also had children from her previous
marriages. She was a pious lady and was called Tahirah because
of this noble trait. The Prophet Muhammad (sws) spent all his
youth and middle age in her companionship. This marriage
lasted for almost 25 years till Khadijah’s (rta) death. At her
death, the Prophet (sws) was left alone to discharge his
obligations towards his household. It has been reported in
narratives that after her death, a lady by the name of Khawlah
bint Hakim directed his attention to marry again as this was
his need. She is reported to have said:
يا رسول الله كأني أراك قد دخلتك خلة لفقد
خديجة … أفلا أخطب عليك
O God’s Messenger! I see that you have secluded yourself after
the loss of Khadijah … shall I not find a match for you?
The Prophet (sws) inquired if a match was available. She
replied: “If you want, both an unmarried and a divorced lady
are available.” The Prophet (sws) asked: “Who is the unmarried
one?” Her reply was: “ ‘A’ishah, the daughter of your dearest
friend Abu Bakr. The Prophet (sws) inquired: “Who is the
divorced lady?” “She replied: “Sawdah bint Zam‘ah who has
professed faith in you and follows your religion.” The Prophet
(sws) said: “Proceed to ask them.” When she talked to them,
both proposals were accepted.
Since they were given on behalf of the Prophet (sws), he could
not have refused. So, he married both but consummated the
marriage with Sawdah (rta) only. She was a divorcee and of the
same age as the Prophet (sws), and in a better position to
discharge household responsibilies. ‘A’ishah (rta) still
remained at her father’s house. For four years it was Sawdah (rta)
who remained in the Prophet’s house. It was then that he
brought ‘A’ishah (rta) home once Abu Bakr (rta) directed his
attention to this. Once she came to his home, the Prophet (sws)
decided to divorce Sawdah (rta). At this, she submitted that
she had reached an age when she was no longer interested in
intimate relations and that she would forego her rights in
favour of ‘A’ishah (rta). She then requested that the Prophet
(sws) should not divorce her and that it was her wish that on
the Day of Judgement she appear as his wife. At this, the
Prophet (sws) revised his decision. So, for all practical
purposes, after this it was only ‘A’shah (rta) who was his
sole wife in this situation.
In his capacity of a human being, it was only these two ladies
who remained his wives. Apart from them, he never married any
other lady in this capacity. Thus those who accuse him of
polygamy and try to cast aspersions on his pious and abstinent
life are devoid of God’s fear in their hearts. This is because
a person whose character was dared not criticized in the first
25 years of his life, who even in the prime of his youth
married a lady who was a divorcee and also had children, who
spent almost 25 years in the companionship of a single wife in
a society in which polygamy was a general norm and never
thought of marrying a second wife, who undertook his second
marriage only when his first wife had died and that too with a
widow of 50 years, who married only one virgin in the whole of
his life and even delayed bringing her home for many years so
that the older wife already in his home who was brought to
take care of the household does not complain of any lack of
attention – about such a person only someone sick in this mind
can think that at the age of 55 the Prophet (sws) suddenly
became obssessed with multiple marriages, and to satisfy his
lust altered a law he himself had made and began marrying
other women one after the other.
There is no doubt that in the last eight years of his life he
married eight more women, and a special law too was revealed
in this regard. However, neither were these marriages
contracted in his capacity of a human being nor because of his
own desire or to satisfy lust. All these marriages took place
in his capacity of God’s Prophet to discharge the
responsibilities of this position. All of them were conducted
on God’s directive or indication. Any upright person who has
tried to understand this whole issue by disregarding all
prejudices cannot deny this reality. Following are its
details:
1. The care and upbringing of the widows and orphans of many
Muslims who were martyred in the battles of Badr and Uhud
became a collective issue faced by the small state of Madinah.
The Qur’an therefore stated that if the relatives and
guardians of these orphans thought that they would not be able
to befittingly take care of their wealth and since it was no
easy a task to be able to do it alone, they should marry the
mothers of the orphans lawful to them. This appeal was made by
God, the Lord of the worlds. It was but natural that the
Prophet (sws) take the lead in responding to it. This is
exactly what happened and the Prophet (sws) responded by
marrying three widows: Hafsah bint ‘Umar (rta), Zaynab bint
Khuzaymah (rta) and Umm Salamah bint Umayyah (rta).
2. When the Qur’an directed the Muslims to eradicate slavery
and raise the status of slaves in the society, the Prophet (sws)
showed exemplary conduct in its compliance: he wedded his
paternal cousin Zaynab (rta) with his liberated slave and
adopted son Zayd (rta). This was an extra-ordinary measure and
had far-reaching consequences. Unfortunately, this marriage
did not last and Zayd (rta) decided to divorce her. This was a
matter of immense grief for Zaynab (rta). This was because in
the first place she had consented to marry a liberated slave
to reform a social custom and later became a divorcee. Thus to
comfort and solace her and to uproot the prevailing social
custom of the prohibition of marrying the wife of an adopted
son, the Almighty directed the Prophet (sws) to marry Zaynab (rta)
even though at that time he already had four wives. In order
to warn those who may raise an objection on this step, the
Almighty stated in the Qur’an that since he was the final
prophet, it is he who had to reform this custom. There was no
one after him who could do so. The Prophet (sws) himself
thought that perhaps marrying Zaynab (rta) was the only way
out because of what had ensued between her and Zayd (rta), but
he never expressed these thoughts. The Almighty revealed these
inner thoughts and told him that the messengers of God did not
care about the reaction of people while discharging their
responsibilities. Consequently, the Prophet’s marriage with
Zaynab (rta) was proclaimed by the Almighty Himself in the
Qur’an:
وَإِذْ تَقُولُ لِلَّذِي أَنْعَمَ اللهُ
عَلَيْهِ وَأَنْعَمْتَ عَلَيْهِ أَمْسِكْ عَلَيْكَ زَوْجَكَ
وَاتَّقِ اللهَ وَتُخْفِي فِي نَفْسِكَ مَا اللهُ مُبْدِيهِ
وَتَخْشَى النَّاسَ وَاللهُ أَحَقُّ أَن تَخْشَاهُ فَلَمَّا
قَضَى زَيْدٌ مِّنْهَا وَطَرًا زَوَّجْنَاكَهَا لِكَيْ لَا
يَكُونَ عَلَى الْمُؤْمِنِينَ حَرَجٌ فِي أَزْوَاجِ
أَدْعِيَائِهِمْ إِذَا قَضَوْا مِنْهُنَّ وَطَرًا وَكَانَ أَمْرُ
اللهِ مَفْعُولًا (٣٧:٣٣)
And remember [O Prophet!] When you were repeatedly saying to
one who had received the favour of God and your favour:
“Retain your wife, [in wedlock] and fear God.” And you were
hiding in your heart that which God was about to make
manifest: and you were fearing the people, but it is more
fitting that you should fear God. So when Zayd broke his
relationship with that [lady], We wedded her to you so that
there remain no difficulty on the believers in the matter of
marriage with the wives of their adopted sons when the latter
have dissolved their relationship with them. And this command
of God had to be fulfilled. (33:37)
3. Right after this proclamation, the Almighty revealed
detailed directives specifically for the Prophet (sws)
regarding marriage and divorce. In these directives, the
restrictions of polygamy meant for general Muslims were
repealed but certain other restrictions were imposed on him
that were not imposed on other Muslims. These detailed
directives are stated in verses 50-52 of Surah al-Ahzab. The
statutes on which they are based are as follows:
Firstly, after contracting marriage with Zaynab (rta), the
Prophet (sws) could marry further for the following
objectives:
i. To honour free women who were caught as captives in some
military campaign.
i. To show kind-heartedness to women who wanted to marry him
just for the sake of associating themselves to him, and for
this they were ready to gift themselves to him.
iii. To console and sympathize with his maternal or paternal
cousin sisters who had migrated with him from Makkah and left
their houses and relatives merely to support and back him.
Secondly, since these marriages of the Prophet (sws) were to
be contracted only to fulfill certain religious obligations,
he was not required to deal equally between the wives.
Thirdly, except for the women specified, he was prohibited to
marry any other lady;
he could also not divorce any of his wives nor bring a new one
in her place however much he liked her.
It was clearly evident from this that the Almighty wanted that
the Prophet (sws) marry women who were afflicted with sorrows
as result of accepting his call or were aggrieved as a result
of some step taken by him or if any of them merely had a
strong desire to be associated to him. This was an expression
of great affection on the part of God.
Consequently, the Prophet (sws) while comprehending this
divine will married Jawayriyah (rta) and Safiyyah (rta) for
the first objective outlined above, Maymunah (rta) for the
second and Umm-i Habibah (rta) for the third.
It is also pointed out in these verses that the wives of the
Prophet (sws) were the mothers of the believers; consequently,
marriage was eternally prohibited for them. No Muslim could
even think of marrying them after the Prophet’s death:
النَّبِيُّ أَوْلَى بِالْمُؤْمِنِينَ مِنْ
أَنفُسِهِمْ وَأَزْوَاجُهُ أُمَّهَاتُهُمْ (٦:٣٣)
The Prophet holds priority for the believers over their own
selves, and his wives are their mothers. (33:6)
وَلَا أَن تَنكِحُوا أَزْوَاجَهُ مِن
بَعْدِهِ أَبَدًا إِنَّ ذَلِكُمْ كَانَ عِندَ اللهِ عَظِيمًا
(٣٣:
٥٣)
Nor is it right for you that you should marry his widows after
him at any time. Truly such a thing is abominable in God’s
sight. (33:53)
It is evident from this discussion that these marriage
directives were given to Muhammad (sws) as a religious
obligation in his capacity as a Prophet and a Messenger of
God. He followed these directives and there was no element of
personal desire in these marriages. Consequently, the need
arose to make these directives an exception to the general
ones given to the Muslims in this regard. The above-mentioned
regulations stated in Surah al-Ahzab cite this very exception.
(Translated by Dr Shehzad Saleem)
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