The reasons for the marriage of the Prophet


#أسباب_زواج_النبى صلى الله عليه وسلم


Stages of the Prophet’s (peace and blessings be upon him) Married Life

Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) led a life supported only by the bare minimum of necessities. 
His wives were not idly wasting away the hours in a luxury but led a life of labor and sacrifice, while he was mostly busy away from home overseeing his numerous duties as a Prophet. 
So, obviously, lust was not a factor, as he wasn’t even at home most of the time.


Further, most of his marriages occurred at an age when lust is not a major factor in any man’s life:
1. He remained single until age 25.
2. From age 25 to 50 he was faithful to only one wife, Khadijah, who bore all his children except one.

 She was 15 years older than him, with children from two previous marriages. She was his greatest ally when he received the Call at age 40 until she died when he was 50 years old. 

He remained in love with her until he died and often talked of his life with her with great nostalgia.

3. Between ages 50 and 52 he remained unmarried and mourning his late beloved wife. He lived alone with his daughters.

4. Between ages 53 and 60 he married all his other wives for many noble reasons detailed below. It’s unimaginable for a man to suddenly turn lustful at this age, especially as he was very busy calling to Islam .


5. At age 60, Allah revealed to him verse preventing him from marrying any more until he died, which was at age 63. The Qur’an says what means:

*{It is not lawful for you (to marry other) women after this, nor to change them for other wives.}* (Al-Ahzab 33:52)


Reasons for the Prophet’s Marriages

We can categorize all his marriages under two aspects of his personality:

– Muhammad the manwho needed a loving wife, children, and a stable home, so he married Khadijah and remained with only her for 20 years until she died.

– Muhammad the Prophet who married the other wives for reasons pertaining to his duty to deliver the Message to the world. Those particular women were carefully selected, not just haphazardly “acquired” for carnal reasons, as suggested.


The first reason 
1. To pass on Islam to the next generations as a practical legacy, 

Prophet Muhammad is the only prophet without any privacy, and with a meticulously preserved tradition in speech and actions in all minute details of his public and private life.


Preserved in the sharp minds of his wives and his Companions, those narrations comprise the “daily life manual” for Muslims to follow until the end of time. The fact that Islam was spread on the shoulders of women and preserved in their hearts is a great honor to the females of this Ummah. The books of authentic Hadith attribute more than 3,000 narrations and Prophetic traditions to his wives alone.


2. To cement the relations of the budding nation
In a tribal society, it was customary to seal treaties through marrying into tribes. Muhammad’s closest Companions later became the four caliphs who led Islam at the critical stage after his death. Two of them were the fathers of his wives A’ishah (daughter of Abu Bakr) and Hafsa (daughter of Umar); the other two married his daughters (Uthman married Ruqayyah and Zaynab in succession, and Ali married Fatimah).

3. To teach Muslims compassion with women
He taught them to be compassionate not just to the young and beautiful maidens, but more so to the weak and destitute widows, divorcees, orphans, and elderly women. Islam teaches that women are to be respected, protected, and cared for by their men folk.


4.He married from other nations and religions; some were the daughters of his worst enemies, and his marriage to one woman won all her people into Islam. Regardless of his neutral feelings towards many of them, he was a model example of equal justice and kindness to them all, and he would never discriminate among them.


Everyone of his wives has a great story .

Khadijah bint Khuwaylid, Sawdah bint Zam’ah, A’ishah bint Abi Bakr, Hafsah bint Umar ibn Al-Khattab, Zaynab bint Khuzaymah, Umm Salama, Zaynab bint Jahsh, Juwayriah bint Al-Harith, Umm Habibah, Safiyah bint Huyay ibn Akhtab, Maymunah bint Al-Harith, Maria the Copt.

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