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Muhammad's Marriages: Difference between revisions
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People who assert that Muhammad “married poor widows” do not include [[Khadijah]] or [[Aisha]]. Everyone agrees that “Khadijah was a merchant woman of dignity and wealth”<ref>Guillaume/Ishaq 82.</ref> who eventually expended all that wealth on maintaining [[Islam]].<ref>Ibn Hanbal, ''Musnad'' vol. 6 pp. 117-118.</ref> It is also agreed that Aisha, beside being a spinster,<ref>Ibn Hisham note 918.</ref> was the daughter of “a man of means,”<ref>Guillaume/Ishaq 223.</ref> “a merchant of high character” with “experience in commerce.”<ref>Guillaume/Ishaq 114.</ref> She already had a fiancé at the time of Muhammad’s proposal, and her father had to break off this engagement before marrying her to Muhammad,<ref>{{Tabari|9|p. 129-130}}.</ref> so she was certainly not looking to Muhammad to take care of her. | People who assert that Muhammad “married poor widows” do not include [[Khadijah]] or [[Aisha]]. Everyone agrees that “Khadijah was a merchant woman of dignity and wealth”<ref>Guillaume/Ishaq 82.</ref> who eventually expended all that wealth on maintaining [[Islam]].<ref>Ibn Hanbal, ''Musnad'' vol. 6 pp. 117-118.</ref> It is also agreed that Aisha, beside being a spinster,<ref>Ibn Hisham note 918.</ref> was the daughter of “a man of means,”<ref>Guillaume/Ishaq 223.</ref> “a merchant of high character” with “experience in commerce.”<ref>Guillaume/Ishaq 114.</ref> She already had a fiancé at the time of Muhammad’s proposal, and her father had to break off this engagement before marrying her to Muhammad,<ref>{{Tabari|9|p. 129-130}}.</ref> so she was certainly not looking to Muhammad to take care of her. | ||
As for Muhammad’s other wives, it is true that most of them were widowed, divorced or both. Only [[Mariyah the Sex Slave of the Holy Prophet| | As for Muhammad’s other wives, it is true that most of them were widowed, divorced or both. Only [[Mariyah the Sex Slave of the Holy Prophet|Mariyah]],<ref>{{Tabari|39|193-195}}; {{Tabari|9|pp. 137, 141}}.</ref> Mulaykah<ref>{{Tabari|8|p. 187}}.</ref> and Fatima<ref>{{Tabari|9|136-139}}; {{Tabari|39|pp. 186-188}}.</ref> are not recorded as previously married.<ref>Since so little is known about these women, it cannot be asserted that they were ''not'' widows. We only state here that no previous marriages are ''recorded''.</ref> | ||
Whether these widows were “poor” depends on how one defines poverty. Is a slave poor, even though she serves in the household of the wealthy, because she has no legal rights? Is a Bedouin poor, even though she eats every day, because she has few material possessions? Is a victim of a theft considered poor if she was wealthy before the thief came? However personally poor a widow might be, does she qualify as “destitute” if she has living relatives who can guarantee that they will take care of her? When the question is whether these widows needed Muhammad to support them, we also need to know whether Muhammad had enough wealth to be ''able'' to support these women. | Whether these widows were “poor” depends on how one defines poverty. Is a slave poor, even though she serves in the household of the wealthy, because she has no legal rights? Is a Bedouin poor, even though she eats every day, because she has few material possessions? Is a victim of a theft considered poor if she was wealthy before the thief came? However personally poor a widow might be, does she qualify as “destitute” if she has living relatives who can guarantee that they will take care of her? When the question is whether these widows needed Muhammad to support them, we also need to know whether Muhammad had enough wealth to be ''able'' to support these women. | ||