5,268
edits
Muhammad's Marriages: Difference between revisions
→Wives of the Prophet
| [checked revision] | [checked revision] |
Lightyears (talk | contribs) (Automated script replacing USC-MSA hadith numbering system for Bukhari, Muslim, and Abu Dawud) |
|||
| (One intermediate revision by one other user not shown) | |||
| Line 7: | Line 7: | ||
===Wives of the Prophet=== | ===Wives of the Prophet=== | ||
Despite the injunction of the Qur'an to only take 4 women as wives, according to the [[sira]] literature Muhammad took far more wives than this number. This table lists the women | |||
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: left;" | {| class="wikitable" style="text-align: left;" | ||
| Line 47: | Line 47: | ||
|Married | |Married | ||
|Contracted May 620 but first consummated in April or May 623. | |Contracted May 620 but first consummated in April or May 623. | ||
|She was the daughter of Muhammad's best friend and head evangelist Abu Bakr. Muhammad selected the six-year-old Aisha in preference to her teenaged sister, and she remained his favourite wife. She contributed a major body of information to Islamic law and history. The paedophilic aspect of this relationship has institutionalised such marriages within | |She was the daughter of Muhammad's best friend and head evangelist Abu Bakr. Muhammad selected the six-year-old Aisha in preference to her teenaged sister, and she remained his favourite wife. She contributed a major body of information to Islamic law and history. The paedophilic aspect of this relationship has institutionalised such marriages within Islamic law. | ||
| | | | ||
*Ibn Ishaq<ref>Guillaume/Ishaq 116, 223, 279-280, 311, 457, 464-465, 468, 493-499, 522, 535-536, 544, 649-650, 667, 678-688.</ref> | *Ibn Ishaq<ref>Guillaume/Ishaq 116, 223, 279-280, 311, 457, 464-465, 468, 493-499, 522, 535-536, 544, 649-650, 667, 678-688.</ref> | ||
| Line 106: | Line 106: | ||
|Married | |Married | ||
|January 628. | |January 628. | ||
|The daughter of an Arab chief, she was taken prisoner when Muhammad attacked her tribe. Muhammad did | |The daughter of an Arab chief, she was taken prisoner when Muhammad attacked her tribe. Muhammad did always marry his war-captives, but Aisha claimed that Juwayriyah was so beautiful that men always fell in love with her at first sight. | ||
| | | | ||
*Ibn Ishaq<ref>Guillaume/Ishaq 490-493.</ref> | *Ibn Ishaq<ref>Guillaume/Ishaq 490-493.</ref> | ||
| Line 358: | Line 358: | ||
|Mary, mother of Jesus | |Mary, mother of Jesus | ||
|The Afterlife. | |The Afterlife. | ||
|According to some sources of varying authenticity, Muhammad said that Allah had wedded him in Heaven to the Virgin Mary. Authentic sources quote Muhammad describing her as one of 'the four perfect women'.<ref>{{Quran-range|3|33|51}}; {{Quran-range|19|16|40}}; {{Quran|21|91}}; {{Quran|66|12}}.</ref><ref> | |According to some sources of varying authenticity, Muhammad said that Allah had wedded him in Heaven to the Virgin Mary. Authentic sources quote Muhammad describing her as one of 'the four perfect women'.<ref>{{Quran-range|3|33|51}}; {{Quran-range|19|16|40}}; {{Quran|21|91}}; {{Quran|66|12}}.</ref><ref>{{Bukhari|||3432|darussalam}}</ref><ref>{{Muslim||2430|reference}}.</ref> The Qur'an refers several times to Mary, praising her chastity and affirming the virgin birth of Jesus. The scriptures describing their marraige state that she lived in a beautiful jewelled palace in Paradise next to Khadijah's. | ||
| | | | ||
*Ibn Kathir<ref name=":0">{{Citation|title=al-Bidaya wal-Nihayah|author=Ibn Kathir|trans_title=From the Beginning to the End|url=https://app.turath.io/book/4445|publisher=Maktabah al-Shamilah|volume=2|pages=431}}</ref> | *Ibn Kathir<ref name=":0">{{Citation|title=al-Bidaya wal-Nihayah|author=Ibn Kathir|trans_title=From the Beginning to the End|url=https://app.turath.io/book/4445|publisher=Maktabah al-Shamilah|volume=2|pages=431}}</ref> | ||
| Line 496: | Line 496: | ||
It is often suggested that [[Muhammad]]’s wives were, for the most part, poor widows whom he [[marriage|married]] to save from a life of destitution. This article investigates the plausibility of such a perspective. | It is often suggested that [[Muhammad]]’s wives were, for the most part, poor widows whom he [[marriage|married]] to save from a life of destitution. This article investigates the plausibility of such a perspective. | ||
Prophet Muhammad himself never claimed that he married women out of compassion for their poverty. On the contrary, he asserted that he, and men in general, chose their wives for four basic motives: for their money, for their family connections, for their beauty and for their piety. He added: “So you should marry the pious woman or you will be a loser.”<ref>{{Bukhari|||5090|darussalam}}.</ref> The suggestion that Muhammad’s many marriages were motivated by a charitable concern for the welfare of widows is not found in the early sources. This | The Prophet Muhammad himself never claimed that he married women out of compassion for their poverty. On the contrary, he asserted that he, and men in general, chose their wives for four basic motives: for their money, for their family connections, for their beauty and for their piety. He added: “So you should marry the pious woman or you will be a loser.”<ref>{{Bukhari|||5090|darussalam}}.</ref> The suggestion that Muhammad’s many marriages were motivated by a charitable concern for the welfare of widows is not found in the early sources. This assertion only appears in modern sources. | ||
As such, the widely held view that “Muhammad married poor widows to provide them with a home” is not supported by the available historical evidence from Islamic sources. | |||
{{Quote|Ali, M. M. (1924, 1993). ''Muhammad the Prophet'', pp. 192-193. Columbus, Ohio: The Ahmadiyya Anjuman Isha’at Islam Lahore.|The perpetual state of war created disparity between the male and female elements of society. Husbands having fallen on the field of battle, their widows had to be provided for … This is the reason that [Muhammad] himself took so many women to be his wives during the period when war was raging. Nearly all of his wives were widows.}} | {{Quote|Ali, M. M. (1924, 1993). ''Muhammad the Prophet'', pp. 192-193. Columbus, Ohio: The Ahmadiyya Anjuman Isha’at Islam Lahore.|The perpetual state of war created disparity between the male and female elements of society. Husbands having fallen on the field of battle, their widows had to be provided for … This is the reason that [Muhammad] himself took so many women to be his wives during the period when war was raging. Nearly all of his wives were widows.}} | ||