Portal: Muhammad’s Wives and Consorts: Difference between revisions

From WikiIslam, the online resource on Islam
Jump to navigation Jump to search
[checked revision][checked revision]
No edit summary
Line 65: Line 65:


{{col-float-end}}
{{col-float-end}}
[[Category:Portals]]

Revision as of 20:10, 18 February 2021


Portal Overview

  1. Aisha
  2. Muhammad's Other wives and consorts

The wives of the prophet are described as "أمهات المؤمنين" or "mothers of the believers." As such the prophetic example is considered instructive for all Muslim households. How the prophet interacted with his wives, and how they obeyed him, is a framework for how Muslim husbands and wives ought to interact, as well as how men should interact with their own female slaves. Aisha, the prophet's favorite wife, has an especially loft position in the sacred history of Islam. She was last person the prophet interacted with before he died, and she also form the starting point for many important sahih narrations about his life in the hadith. As such her life is considered especially instructive for Muslim women and believers in general.

Aisha

Aisha was the youngest wife of the prophet, and also his favorite. The prophet, according to the tradition, passed away in her lap. After the expansion of Islam, she was key figure in the criticism of the early caliphate and also a key player in the first fitna, which saw her face off against Ali at the battle of the camel, where she was defeated and Ali took the throne of the caliphate for himself. As she was the prophet's favorite, the tradition goes to great lengths to emphasize her virginity, youth, and purity, even to the point of emphasizing that she was 6 years old when she was married to the prophet and 9 when the marriage was consummated.

Error creating thumbnail: Unable to save thumbnail to destination

Aisha was Muhammad's third and favorite wife, who was married to Muhammad at the age of six, and the daughter of Abu Bakr Abdullah b. Uthman, Muhammad's best friend. Aisha's status as the favorite wife of Muhammad gave her a preeminent position both in the early caliphate and in the Islamic tradition itself.


Error creating thumbnail: Unable to save thumbnail to destination

Aisha was only 6 when the prophet married her and 9 when the marriage was consummated, according to the sources which the Islamic tradition itself deems most trustworthy. This is confirmed in multiple hadith, indicating that the tradition is going to some


Muhammad's Other Wives and Consorts

Depending on the sources, Muhammad had around 19 wives and concubines, the concubines being slaves of his. Many of the marriages were conducted for political reasons, but the tradition is also quite frank that Muhammad was very fond of women and had a voracious sexual appetite; he is even imputed with the sexual powers of 30 men.

Error creating thumbnail: Unable to save thumbnail to destination

Safiyah was the beautiful wife of the Jewish leader Kinana, whom the prophet killed after conquering his people at Khaybar. Muhammad took her as his wife after killing her husband, though she never converted to Islam.


Error creating thumbnail: Unable to save thumbnail to destination

Khadijah was the prophet's first wife. She was considerably older than him and he benefited from her thriving trade business. She was one of the first converts to Islam.


Error creating thumbnail: Unable to save thumbnail to destination

The prophet married many women, though some of them died while he was alive so he was not married to them all at the same time.


Error creating thumbnail: Unable to save thumbnail to destination

Muhammad married different women at different stages of their lives.

Error creating thumbnail: Unable to save thumbnail to destination

Although the tradtion is quite explicit that Muhammad was fond of women, many of his marriages also had a political dimension to them, solidifying alliances within the early Islamic community.

.


All Articles