All the Prophets were Polygamous

Why Prophet Muhammad married nine Ladies

Let’s first ask ourselves, how many wives did the

Prophet marry?

The total number the prophet married was twelve, two of them died in his life, so he left ten when he died

The names of the ladies whom the prophet married, also known as the mothers of the believers. In the following slides are their name:

They are:

They are:Khadijah Bint KhuwaylidSawdah Bint ZamaahAaishah Bint Abi BakrHafsah Bint OmarZainab Bint KhuzaymahOm-salamah , Hind Bint OtbahZainab Bint JahshJuwayriyah Bint AlharithSafiyah Bint Huyay Ibn AkhtabOmmo Habibah Ramlah Bint Abi SofianMaria Bint Shamoun, the EgyptianMaymonah Bint Alharith

Were they all virgins ?

Only one, Aaishah, all the rest were either widows or

divorced .

Were they all Arabs ?

All, except for Mariya, who was from Egypt.

Where they all Muslims ?

All but two; Safiya who was a Jew , and Mariya

who was a Christian .

Now, let’s answer the main and very important

question: Was it lust that caused the prophet to have

so many marriages ?

To answer the question we have to mention the

following facts :

1 -The Prophet married for the first time when he was

25 years old .

2 -The first woman he married , Khadijah was 40 years old , already married twice before him and had children .

Never had he thought of marrying her or any women but it was upon her plan , after seeing his honesty and integrity, that he accepted to marry her .

He remained married to her alone for 25 years until she died. He didn’t marry any women other than her. He remained single after her death for two years He was then 52 years old.

• Only after her death, and upon a persistent advice did the prophet marry the next lady.

• She was an old widow who, according to the Islamic sources was not beautiful. He married her to give her care as she was old poor widow.

• Now, it is obvious that if the prophet was after physical pleasure he did not have to wait until he was more than fifty years old to start marrying more wives. He lived in a society in which it was quite acceptable to have many wives. But the prophet remained devoted to his only wife for twenty-five years. When she died she was sixty-five years old.

3 -From 52 till 60, he married several times for political and social reasons.After tow years of living single , he married Sawdah, an 80 year old widow in order to honor her because she was the first widow in Islam. Not an act of a lustful man after a long period of single life.

It’s not logical to say that lust had appeared suddenly at the

Prophet’s life at 52, and at the middle of the fierce

physical and psychological struggle to spread Islam

There is only one conclusion we can extract from the above:

1 -Mohammad (pbuh) the man married Khadijah (ra)

2 -Mohammad (pbuh) the Prophet married the rest of his wives .

But , was Mohammad (pbuh) the only Prophet to have multiple wives? Or polygamy was taken by other Prophets as well?

The answer is : NO. Polygamy was the norm at the

times of Ibrahim, Dawoud, Solayman, all known in the

Bible to have been polygamists .

Now, let’s mention the political, social and religious reasons why did the prophet

had these marriages .

First: To spread the culture through eyewitnesses with all the details known only to intimate people. Aaishah (ra), being so young, was able to tell all those details to the Muslims for more than 42 years. She had seen and learned so much

from him. Her young age was a great advantage in this respect. She could tell what the Prophet used to do or say in all aspects of life, so that people do and say the same in the

same situations

Aaishah , was the most knowledgeable person when it comes to the daily life of the Muslim

and how it should go as was lived by the Prophet himself . But how come he married her when she was only nine years old? The desert climate answers to that . In such environment Girls reached menstruation very young. Not only in Arabia, but also in Roma and Persia,

girls were married that young

Second: To strengthen the relationships with his companions ,

Prophet married Abu Bakr’s (ra) daughter and Omar's (ra) daughter.Prophet married his daughters to Othman and Ali, May God be pleased with them all.

Third: out of mercy and rewarding to the early Muslim widows and divorcees he gave them the honor of marrying them himself (Husbands either died in battles

or were non Muslims who divorced them.). Sawdah, Om-salama and

Habeebah were widows.

Fourth: The Prophet was being a role model for the Muslims being kind to the widows and

to the people of the book who newly embraced Islam. He married Safiyah after

her father , a Jew, embraced Islam , so giving him and his daughter the honor among his

people

Fifth: He wanted to have ties and links with the different nations of the world. When he married Mariya, all Egyptians were on his side, and when he married Gowayriyah, all

her people (they were called the Bani Almustalaq and were captured by the

Muslims after a battle),, they all embraced

Islam

• John L. Esposito, Professor of Religion and Director of the Centre for International Studies at the College of the Holy Cross, says that most of these marriages had “political and social motives” (Islam: The Straight Path, Oxford University Press, 1988, p. 19). This he explained as follows: “As was customary for Arab chiefs, many were political marriages to cement alliances. Others were marriages to the widows of his companions who had fallen in combat and were in need of protection” (John L. Esposito, Islam: The Straight Path, pp. 19-20).

Why Prophet Mohammad had 9 Wives When the Rule Says 4 Only

?• Why did the prophet marry 9 at a certain

point of time?• How come God gave Muslims the option to

marry up to 4, yet the prophet was married to 9 and kept them all?

• Why didn’t the prophet divorce 5 and stay within the Islamic law limit of 4 (saving himself all the accusations that would come afterwards)?

• Was the prophet a womanizer, hence marrying Aisha (ra) at the age of 7?

Why Prophet Mohammad had 9 Wives When the Rule Says 4 Only

?• Before Islam (in many cultures and

religions) it was normal for people to marry many women at the same time without any limitation whatsoever.

• Marrying more than one isn’t an Islamic “invention”.

• When Islam came, it put the limitation of 4 (with conditions).

Polygamy In Christianity

• In Exodus 21:10, a man can marry an infinite amount of women without any limits to how many he can marry.

• In 2 Samuel 5:13; 1 Chronicles 3:1-9, 14:3, King David had six wives and numerous concubines.

• In 1 Kings 11:3, King Solomon had 700 wives and 300 concubines.

• In 2 Chronicles 11:21, King Solomon's son Rehoboam had 18 wives and 60 concubines.

Polygamy In Hinduism• "Now a Brahmin may take four wives in the direct

order of the (four) castes." — Visnusmrti 24:1.• Lord Krishna had 16,000 wives and 36000

concubines• Lord Visnu & Brahma also had multiple consorts • Ksatriyas are recorded in the itihasas

(Mahabharata/Ramayana/etc.) as having as many as thousands of wives & thousands of progeny.

• In the epic, the Mahabharata the five renowned Pandava brothers sharing one wife Draupadi

Polygamy in Islam

• When Islam came, it put the limitation of 4 (with conditions).

• Qur’an is the only religious book on the face of the earth that says ‘marry only one’.

• "Marry women of your choice, two, or three, or four; but if ye fear that ye shall not be able to deal justly (with them), then only one."

                                  [Al-Qur’an 4:3]• "Ye are never able to be fair and just as between

women...." [Al-Qur’an 4:129]• Therefore polygamy is not a rule but an exception

Why Prophet Mohammad had 9 Wives When the Rule Says 4 Only

?• When the above Quranic verse was

revealed, all muslims (whom had more than 4 wives) had to limit themselves to 4 or less (depending on the case). And so they did.

• Yet, at that time the prophet (PBUH) was married to 9 wives (before this order was revealed), and he didn’t divorce them.Why? 

Why Prophet Mohammad had 9 Wives When the Rule Says 4 Only?

• Let it be know that in Islam, the Prophet’s wives are of special value and stance. They are not like any other women

• 33:32. O wives of the Prophet! You are not like any other women.

• What a lot of people don’t know, is that before the above verse (limiting to 4 wives) was, another order (rule) was revealed a while back.

• 33:53.And it is not (right) for you that you should annoy Allah's Messenger, nor that you should ever marry his wives after him (his death). Verily! With Allah that shall be an enormity.

Why Prophet Mohammad had 9 Wives When the Rule Says 4 Only?

• Before applying that ruling on the wives, they were provided a choice…either to stay his wives and stick to the ruling (never to remarry again) or for them to get divorced at that time… they all preferred to stay with him!

• The reasons for such a rule (his wives never to remarry)are obvious, it was to protect the prophet and his wives (whether while or after the prophet passed away) from any form of harm or mistreatment.

• This of course was important because the wives of the prophet have a very special stance in Islam (after all they are called “Mothers of all Muslims”).

Why Prophet Mohammad had 9 Wives When the Rule Says 4 Only?

• So, here is the situation:1- God said the prophet’s wives (9 of them at that time) are not to remarry after him.2- God ordered Muslims not to marry more than 4 at the same time.

• In other words, the prophet will have to divorce 5 out of the 9 he had as wives at that point. Those 5 will neither be his wives nor any one else's (unlike all other women who when divorced can remarry).

Why Prophet Mohammad had 9 Wives When the Rule Says 4 Only?

• Out of God’s mercy for the Prophet’s wives, Allah revealed this verses in quran.

• 33:52. It is not lawful for you (to marry other) women after this, nor to change them for other wives even though their beauty attracts you, except those (captives or slaves) whom your right hand possesses. And Allah is Ever a Watcher over all things.

• It is an order from God directed to the prophet (specifically) never to marry anymore women at all (keeping the 9 he already has). 

• And that he (the prophet) does not have the right to replace his wives (divorce one or more and marry new ones while keeping his limit of wives at 9).

Why Prophet Mohammad had 9 Wives When the Rule Says 4 Only?

• And this rule (that applied to him only) was the answer for his situation (since he had 9 wives whom cannot remarry again).

• So, from that point on... neither could the prophet remarry nor could his wives!

• Special case, special reason and that was that.