The Reasons for the Polygamy of the Prophet Muhammad shalallahu ‘alaihi wa salam

The Reasons for the Polygamy of the Prophet Muhammad shalallahu ‘alaihi wa salam

Article The Reasons for the Polygamy of the Prophet Muhammad shalallahu ‘alaihi wa salam is part of English Article and Life of Prophet Muhammad (Sirah Nabawiyah)

Bahasa Indonesia and Arabic version of this article can be read here

Question

My brother is continuing his education in the United States, and he has a Christian friend who is trying to shake his faith and make him doubt the truthfulness of the actions of the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ. His friend claims that the Prophet ﷺ asked some men to divorce their wives so that he could marry them. Is this true? If so, who was the man who divorced his wife, and who was the woman? Additionally, they accuse the Prophet ﷺ of being overly fond of marriage.

Please provide us with clarification so that we can have strong arguments and participate in defending our noble religion, as well as refuting any claims made against the Prophet ﷺ. May Allah reward you with goodness and place your response in the scale of your good deeds.

Answer

What your friend is saying is a blatant lie, a falsehood, and a slanderous accusation.

What he might be referring to is the story of the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ marrying Zainab bint Jahsh, may Allah be pleased with her. Zainab, may Allah be pleased with her, was previously the wife of Zaid bin Harithah, may Allah be pleased with him. Zaid was once known as Zaid bin Muhammad. This marriage took place for a legislative wisdom, which was to abolish the practice of adoption that was common during the pre-Islamic era.

Zaid often came to the Prophet ﷺ complaining about his wife, Zainab. Allah had informed His Prophet that Zaid would divorce her and that the Prophet ﷺ would marry her. However, the Prophet ﷺ continued to say to him,

أمسك عليك زوجك واتق الله.

“Keep your wife and fear Allah.”

When the separation between Zainab and Zaid occurred, the Prophet ﷺ married Zainab for the legislative wisdom of abolishing the practice of adoption.

As for the Prophet ﷺ marrying many women, it is truly astonishing that there are people who criticize the Prophet ﷺ for marrying twelve women—nine of whom were still alive when he passed away—and only Aisha, may Allah be pleased with her, was a virgin among them.

A scholar mentioned that he once met an orientalist who said to him, “How can you respect a man who married nine women?” The scholar did not immediately explain the reasons behind the Prophet ﷺ marrying this number of women because the orientalist was blinded by fanaticism and hatred.

The scholar then asked him, “Do you respect the prophets of the Torah?” He replied, “Yes.” The scholar continued, “Do you respect the Prophet David?” He replied, “Yes.” The scholar then said, “Prophet David had ninety-nine wives, and he completed the number to one hundred. Prophet Solomon had 300 wives and 700 concubines.” The orientalist was left speechless and remained silent.

Three Stages of Marriage in the Life of the Prophet ﷺ:

In the life of the Prophet ﷺ, there are three stages concerning his marriages:

Stage One: Before Marriage.

It is well-known that the Prophet ﷺ grew up in a hot country, namely Arabia, where young men reach puberty early, and their emotions and desires are intense. They are expected to marry early or risk deviating into unlawful pursuits to satisfy their desires.

Despite growing up in such a land and society, the Prophet ﷺ remained free from these conditions. He lived until the age of twenty-five without marrying, and there was no known deviation in his behavior. As the orientalist Muir acknowledges, “All references agree that the Prophet ﷺ in his youth was characterized by calmness, restraint, and avoidance of the sins that the Quraysh indulged in.”

Stage Two: The Period of Having One Wife

Before marriage, the Prophet ﷺ worked in trade for Khadijah, may Allah be pleased with her, a woman of noble lineage and honor, who was 15 years older than him. Khadijah was impressed by the honesty, chastity, and kindness of the Prophet ﷺ, and eventually proposed marriage to him.

This marriage was consummated, and from this union, the Prophet ﷺ had children, except for Ibrahim, who was born to Mariyah the Copt. The Prophet ﷺ lived with Khadijah until she passed away.

At the time of Khadijah’s death, the Prophet ﷺ was over fifty years old. It never crossed his mind to marry another woman, even though polygamy was common and accepted. The Prophet ﷺ remained loyal to Khadijah and often spoke of her virtues, to the point where some of his other wives felt jealous.

Stage Three: The Prophet’s Grief After Khadijah’s Passing

When Khadijah passed away, the Prophet ﷺ grieved so deeply that the year was called the Year of Sorrow (‘Amul Huzn). His companions were so concerned for him that they sent Khawlah bint Hakim, the wife of Abdullah bin Mudz’un, to encourage him to remarry.

The Prophet ﷺ asked her, “After Khadijah, who?” Khawlah replied, “Aisha, the daughter of Abu Bakr, the person you love most.” The Prophet ﷺ then said, “But she is still young.” Khawlah responded, “The young will grow.”

The Prophet ﷺ then asked, “Who will take care of the daughters of the Prophet ﷺ until she grows up?” Khawlah suggested, “Saudah bint Zam’ah, the widow of Sakran bin Amr, who passed away after returning from the migration to Abyssinia, leaving her among her polytheistic family.”

The Prophet ﷺ then married Saudah. When people heard of this marriage, they realized that the Prophet ﷺ married her out of compassion and to protect her Islam, as she was an elderly woman who was neither beautiful nor desirable to other men. The Prophet ﷺ kept Saudah as his only wife for four years until Aisha had matured. This shows that the marriages that occurred after the Prophet ﷺ was fifty-four years old were not motivated by desire or pleasure but were based on humanitarian reasons, wise politics, and legal considerations.

As for Hafsah, the daughter of Umar, may Allah be pleased with them both, her husband Khunais bin Khudhafa As-Sahmi was martyred in the Battle of Badr when she was eighteen years old. Her father, Umar, worried about her well-being and offered her in marriage to Abu Bakr, but he did not respond. Then he offered her to Uthman, but Uthman declined because Ruqayyah, the daughter of the Prophet ﷺ and Uthman’s wife, had just passed away.

Umar went to the Prophet ﷺ to complain that neither of his two companions had responded to him. The Prophet ﷺ, comforting and healing his wounds, said, “Hafsa will marry someone better than Uthman, and Uthman will marry someone better than Hafsa.” So the Prophet ﷺ married Hafsa. Umar’s offer to marry Hafsa shows the companions’ concern for marrying the widows of martyrs to heal their wounds and preserve their dignity.

As for Lady Zainab bint Khuzaimah Al-Hilaliyah, she was the widow of Ubaidah bin Al-Harith, the cousin of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ.

Umm Salama Hind bint Abi Umayyah was the widow of Abdullah bin Abdul Asad, the cousin of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, who was martyred after the Battle of Uhud. Abu Bakr and Umar both proposed to her, but she refused. When the Prophet ﷺ proposed to her, she apologized, saying she was a jealous woman, had many children, and was old. The Prophet ﷺ replied, “As for your age, I am older than you. As for your jealousy, Allah will remove it. And as for your children, they will be under the protection of Allah and His Messenger.” The marriage was then completed.

The fact that the Prophet ﷺ proposed to her after his two companions indicates that there was no desire in this marriage; rather, it was intended to protect the widows of martyrs and care for their children.

As for Zainab bint Jahsh, the wisdom behind this marriage has already been explained. All of the Prophet’s ﷺ marriages were either to provide comfort to those he married or to encourage their people to embrace Islam. If the Prophet ﷺ had married out of desire, he would not have married elderly women and widows, but rather would have chosen another path. He did not marry any virgin except Aisha رضي الله عنها.

It is evident that the closeness of her father to the Prophet ﷺ, his self-sacrifice and wealth for the sake of Allah, and his exposure to all kinds of dangers and hardships might have been the main reasons for the Prophet’s ﷺ marriage to Aisha. Aisha lived a noble life with the Prophet ﷺ and transmitted much of the religious knowledge that she could not have conveyed if she had not been his wife. May Allah be pleased with her, her father, and all the companions of the Prophet ﷺ.

And Allah knows best.

Main Source : IslamWeb