Why Prophet Peace be upon him had many wives

Marriages of Prophet peace be upon him.

Contents.

a) Some women used to present themselves to Prophet peace be upon him for Nikah but he would say I am not in need of women.

b) Kuffar offered to marry the most Beautiful women, and said marry 10 women but he peace be upon him denied.

c) He peace be upon him did various marriages only from the age 55 to 59.

d) All the marriages were order from Allah and only Aisha was virgin.

e) The reason behind his marriage to Aisha radhiAllahanha the only virgin.

f) Ibn Hajar al Asqalani on Marriages of Prophet peace be upon him and their reasons. 

g) Conclusion

 

a) Some women used to present themselves to Prophet peace be upon him for Nikah but he would say I am not in need of women.

1. A lady came to the Prophet (ﷺ) and declared that she had decided to offer herself to Allah and His Apostle. The Prophet (ﷺ) said, “I am not in need of women.”

Sahih al Bukhari no. 5029

2. Narrated Thabit Al-Banani:

I was with Anas while his daughter was present with him. Anas said, “A woman came to Allah’s Apostle and presented herself to him, saying, ‘O Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ), have you any need for me (i.e. would you like to marry me)?’ “Thereupon Anas’s daughter said, “What a shameless lady she was ! Shame! Shame!” Anas said, “She was better than you; she had a liking for the Prophet (ﷺ) so she presented herself for marriage to him.”

Sahih al-Bukhari 5120

b) Kuffar offered to marry the most Beautiful women, and said marry 10 women but he peace be upon him denied.

1. Ibn Abi Shayba narrated from Jabir May Allah be pleased with him that, Utba (one of the staunch enemy of Islam) said to the Prophet peace be upon him:

أيها الرجل ، إن كان إنما بك الباءة فاختر أي نساء قريش ونزوجك عشرا ، وإن كان إنما بك الحاجة جمعنا لك حتى تكون أغنى قريش رجلا واحدا ،

“O Man, if you have interest in marriage then you can choose any woman from the Quraysh, we will marry you with ten women, and If you need anything. We will provide you as much that you will be the richest person alone in Quraysh.”

The prophet peace be upon him replied by reciting the verses of Qur`an from Surah Fusilat, when he reached the 13th verse:

“But if they turn away, then say, “I have warned you of a thunderbolt like the thunderbolt [that struck] ‘Aad and Thamud.”

Utba stopped him:

فقال عتبة : حسبك حسبك ما عندك غير هذا ؟ قال : لا

Stop, stop, do you have any other thing than this? He (peace be upon him) said: No.. [Musannaf Ibn Abi Shayba vol 11, Kitab al Seyar, chapter 5, Shaykh al Albani mentioned this in Saheeh seerah al Nabawiyah (The authentic Seerah of the Prophet peace be upon him) page 160]

C) He peace be upon him did various marriages only from the age 55 to 59.

Qadi Sulaiman Mansurpuri mentioned which means:

The revered man cohabited for 25 years (from the age of 25 to 50) with a woman who was 15 years his senior. She had been married to two men before him and bore several children. Despite the age difference and her marital history, the holy man cherished her deeply and his love remained constant throughout their time together. Even after her passing, he continued to hold her memory in high regard.During the life of the Prophet peace be upon him, the period between ages 55 and 59 saw the contracting of hujuraat of Ummuhaat ul momineen, i.e. his marriages to them. Qadhi Sulaiman subsequently elaborated on the advantages of these marriages, explaining the reasons behind the Prophet’s decision to marry and the outcomes and benefits derived from each union. (Seerah Azwaj Mutahharaat pages 20 onward by Dr Tafzeel Ahmad )

d) All the marriages were order from Allah and only Aisha was virgin.

Narrated `Aisha:

I said, “O Allah’s Messenger (peace be upon him)! Suppose you landed in a valley where there is a tree of which something has been eaten and then you found trees of which nothing has been eaten, of which tree would you let your camel graze?” He said, “(I will let my camel graze) of the one of which nothing has been eaten before.” (The sub-narrator added: `Aisha meant that Allah’s Messenger (peace be upon him) had not married a virgin besides herself .) [Sahih al Bukhari no. 5077]

It is mentioned in Tofiq ul Bari Sharh al Bukhari

The words of the Prophet peace be upon him “the one of which nothing has been eaten before.” points towards the fact that all of his marriages were due to the order of Allah or any other reason, otherwise if He would have choice to marry, He would marry the virgins. [Tofiq al Bari Sharah Sahih al Bukhari vol 8 page 164]

e) The reason behind his marriage to Aisha radhiAllahanha the only virgin.

Fateh Qadiyan Allama Sanaullah Amritsari said about Marriage of Aisha RadhiAllahanha that according to the research of some scholars (Like Ibraheem Sialkoti and others) who also gave various references that when she came to the house of Prophet peace be upon him. She came there to help him about his household works, and they didn’t do intimacy that time. That was because after the death of Khadija RadhiAllahanha, Sawda RadhiAllahanha was in charge of doing those works but she couldn’t do it properly due to her old age. The intimacy was done in the age when usually girls become mature.

Muqaddas Rasool ﷺ page 73

No one in the history not even kafir of that time objected to this marriage. He peace be upon him himself used to do his household works and help Aisha. Aisha RadhiAllahanha became top scholar of Islam , great sahaba used to ask her questions about the daily life of Prophet peace be upon him, she loved Prophet peace be upon him even more than her life. Prophet peace be upon him had extremely good behavior with her. And these idol worshipers have issues with this marriage who have lots of extra martial affairs. Shame.

f) Ibn Hajar al Asqalani on Marriages of Prophet peace be upon him and their reasons. 

Ibn Hajar commented

وكان مع كونه أخشى الناس لله وأعلمهم به يكثر التزويج لمصلحة تبليغ الأحكام التي لا يطلع عليها الرجال ،

..the reason of many marriages of Prophet peace be upon him was tableegh of the Ahkaam which the men (of this ummah) were not aware. [Fath Al Bari under the Hadith 5069]

Then Ibn Hajr mentioned many reasons of why the Prophet peace be upon him marry the wives, some of them are:

أن يكثر من يشاهد أحواله الباطنة فينتفي عنه ما يظن به المشركون من أنه ساحر أو غير ذلك .

That to refute the claim of Mushrikeen i.e. He (peace be upon him) was a Saahir. By marrying, his personal life affairs were known. (meaning Saahir is indulge in Amaliyaat of sihr but this was not the case with Prophet peace be upon him.)

لتتشرف به قبائل العرب بمصاهرته فيهم .

Due to the marriages, the tribes of Arabs had a sharf that they are relatives of Prophet peace be upon him.

نقل الأحكام الشرعية التي لا يطلع عليها الرجال ، لأن أكثر ما يقع مع الزوجة مما شأنه أن يختفي مثله .

Tableegh of the Ahkam which are not known to men.

الاطلاع على محاسن أخلاقه الباطنة ، فقد تزوج أم حبيبة وأبوها إذ ذاك يعاديه ، وصفية بعد قتل أبيها وعمها وزوجها ، فلو لم يكن أكمل الخلق في خلقه لنفرن منه ، بل الذي وقع أنه كان أحب إليهن من جميع أهلهن .

That he was best to his wives, like when he married Umm Habiba ra her father (Abu Sufiyan ra) was one of the worst enemy of Islam that time, Then Married to Safiya when her father was killed (due to his enmity against Islam and waged war against the Prophet peace be upon him) If He (peace be upon him) was not the best then why would they marry him? They loved him (peace be upon him) more than any of their relatives.

من تحصينهن والقيام بحقوقهن

Even after having many wives he completely fulfilled the rights of his wives.

[Fath al Bari]

g) Conclusion.

Prophet peace be upon him didn’t marry until the age of 25, and that also with a woman who was twice married before and elder than him. After that he married Sawdah radhiAllahanha who was also an old woman, when she couldn’t do household chores properly , he peace be upon him married young and intellectual Aisha who remained top scholar of Islam after his death and knew his household works the most that even elder sahaba would ask her questions, all of his marriages were the order of Allah, otherwise kuffar offered him the most beautiful women but he rejected to marry all of them. Women used to offer themselves for nikah but he would simply say I am not in need. When he was at peak of his youth he didn’t marry, He did various marriages from 55 to 59 years of his age and all the marriages had various benefits. Last but not the least, Prophets and messengers before him had various wives as it was norm. No one ever objected to it until the time when kuffar don’t have issues with extra marital affairs, having as many women as they want for pleasure, who use women as toys, and who don’t respect them at all. But they have issue with Islam and marriages of Prophet peace be upon him.