In the name of Allah, Most

Merciful, Most Compassionate

Why did the Prophet

Mohammad have many

wives?

Here is the answer, as given

in a lecture by Amro Khalid

about the Mothers of the

believers ( the Prophet’s

wives )

Let’s first ask ourselves,

how many wives did the

Prophet marry?

They were twelve. When he

died there were ten wives

with him, while Khadija

and Zaynab died in his life

Their names are:

Khadijah Bint Khuwaylid

Sawdah Bint Zamaah

Aaishah Bint Abi Bakr

Hafsah Bint Omar

Zainab Bint Khuzaymah

Om-salamah ,

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

Were they young beautiful

girls ?

Aaishah was the only wife

he married who was young

and who had him as the

first man in her life, all the

other wives were either

widows or divorcees.

Were they all Arabs?

All were Arabs, except for

Mariya, who was from

Egypt.

Where they all Muslims?

All but two; Safiya, who

was a Jew , and Mariya,

who was a Christian.

Now, let’s answer the main

and very important

question:

Was it lust that drove the

prophet to have so many

marriages?

To answer the question we

have to mention the

following facts:

1- The Prophet married for

the first time when he was

25 years old. Too old for

someone who is driven by

lust.

2- The first woman he married

, Khadijah, was 40 years

old, already married twice

before him and already 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. Can this

be a women loving man ?

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.

3- From 52 to 60, he married

several times for political and

social reasons.

It’s not logical to say that lust

had appeared suddenly at the

Prophet’s life at the age of

52, and in 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 the man married

Khadijah

2- Mohammad the Prophet married

the rest of his wives.

But , was Mohammad the only

Prophet to have multiple

wives? Or polygamy was

taken by other Prophets

before him?

Mohammad was not the only

prophet to have more than one

wife. Polygamy was the norm at

the times of Ibrahim (Abraham),

Dawoud (David), Solayman

(Solomon), all known in the Bible

to have been polygamists.

Now, let me mention the

political, social and religious

reasons why the prophet had

those marriages.

First: To spread the culture through

eyewitnesses with all the details known

only to intimate people. Aishah , 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 regard. She could tell what the

Prophet used to do or say in all aspects of

daily life , so that people do and say the

same in the same situations

Aishah , 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 .

There are more than 3000 Hadiths (sayings

and doings of the prophet) narrated by the

prophet’s wives.

But how come he married Aishah

when she was only nine years old?

The desert climate answers to that .

In such environments, girls reached

puberty very young. Not only in

Arabia, but also in Rome and

Persia, girls were married that

young

Second: To strengthen the relationship

with his companions, he married

Aishah ( Abi Bakr’s daughter) and

Safiyah ( Omar's daugter ), and

married his daughters to Othman and

Ali, May God be pleased with them

all.

Third: out of mercy and rewarding

to the early Muslim widows and

divorcees he gave them the honor

of marrying them himself (their

husbands either died in battles or

were non Muslims who divorced

them because they embraced

Islam.). Sawdah, Om-salama and

Habeebah were widows.

Fourth: In order to set forth rules and

ethics, The Prophet was being a role

model for the Muslims by being kind

to the widows and to the people of the

book (Jews and Christians) who newly

embraced Islam. He married Safiyah

after her father - a Jew - embraced

Islam , so as to give him and his

daughter the honor among their

people

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

embraced Islam (they were called Bani

Almustalaq and were captured by the

Muslims after a battle)

Please include me in your prayers

and supplications to Allah, God

the Almighty (this is His name

in Arabic)