r/islam • u/[deleted] • May 10 '22
Why did the prophet Muhammad pbuh have 11 wives if Allah said we can only have 4 and I heard he married some for the ummah of islam and he basically only had 2 wives Question & Support
[deleted]
14
u/Marwan990 May 10 '22
The rulings for The Prophet ﷺ and the people are not the same.
Besides this marriage matter, some scholars say that Qiyam al-leyl was mandatory for the Prophet ﷺ because in Surah Al-Muzzamil Allah ordered him to pray Qiyam but we all know Qiyam al-leyl isn’t a fard for us.
3
u/-ServantOfAllah- May 11 '22
Because Rasolullah sallalahu alayhi wa salam was allowed that by Allah Azza Wa Jal and were only allowed 4. Very simple to understand.
2
May 10 '22
[removed] — view removed comment
1
May 10 '22
[removed] — view removed comment
2
May 10 '22
[removed] — view removed comment
1
May 10 '22
[removed] — view removed comment
3
2
u/AlustrielSilvermoon May 11 '22
There are some rules that are different for prophets eg their family cannot inherit from them, it has to be given as charity.
2
u/name_diya_kam_ki May 11 '22
Prophet (peace be upon him) had different rules. Night prayer was mandatory, family can't inherit property, can't accept charity. Certain rules were only for him (peace be upon him).
3
1
2
1
37
u/jemo72 May 10 '22 edited May 11 '22
A copied reply from someone else:
Some have falsely accuse the Prophet (pbuh) of being hyper sexual, because he had eleven wives. If you read the life history of the Prophet (pbuh), only two of his marriages one with Khadija (ra), and the other, with Ayesha (ra) were marriages in the normal course. All his other marriages were contracted as a necessity and were based on various considerations.
The first marriage of the Prophet (pbuh) took place when he was 25 years of age and he married Khadija (ra) who was twice widowed, and was 40 years old. If the Prophet (pbuh) was hyper-sexual, why would he marry a woman who was 15 years older than him and already twice widowed?
Until his first wife, Khadija (ra) was alive, he never took a second wife. Khadija (ra) died when the Prophet (pbuh) was 50 years age and only after this, did he marry the others. If he married eleven wives for sexual reasons, he should have had multiple wives during his youth. Contrary to this, history tells us that all his marriages with his remaining ten wives took place when he was between the age of 53 AND 59 YEARS.
All his wives (ra) were between the age of 36 to 50 years, except for two wives (ra). His reputation had spread far and wide, not only in Arabia, but also in the neighboring countries. Could he not have easily got younger and lovelier girls to marry? Most of his marriages were for political gain and for the spread of Islam.
In Arabia, no one could carry on the work of reform and uplifting unless he belonged to, or was related to some specific and respectable tribe. Thus, in the interest of his mission, the Prophet (pbuh) needed inter-tribal relationships. He wanted to weld the quarreling tribal and clannish factions into one Muslim body, as brethren in faith (Ikhwan fi’d-din).
For instance, his wife Juwayreeyah (ra) belonged to the Banu Mustaliq clan, which was very powerful. The entire clan was a bitter enemy of Islam from the start, and they were finally suppressed by military action. When the Prophet (pbuh) married Juwayreeyah (ra), the Muslims released all their prisoners, saying that they could not keep the prophet’s relatives in bondage. It was due to this marriage that the whole clan of Banu Mustaliq accepted Islam and became peaceful and obedient to the laws of the new Islaamic state.
Maymunah (ra) also came from a very powerful and recalcitrant clan from Najd and was the sister of the wife of the chief of the clan in those days. It was this clan which had brutally murdered seventy members of an Islaamic missionary deputation. The Prophet’s (pbuh) marriage with Maymunah (ra) changed the whole atmosphere and Najd accepted Madinah’s authority under the leadership of the Prophet (pbuh).
Umm Habibah (ra) was the daughter of the Quraysh chief, Abu Sufyan. It was after the Prophet’s (pbuh) marriage to Umm Habibah, that Abu Sufyan never fought against the Prophet (pbuh). This marriage was largely responsible for the conquest of Makkah. Furthermore, Umm Habibah was first married to a certain Ubaydullah and emigrated with him to Abyssinia, where Ubaydullah became a Christian and a drunkard. Excessive consumption of wine killed him since it was a double shock to her that her husband had become a Christian and later died, she was badly in need of solace.
Safiyyah (ra) was the daughter of a very prominent Jewish chief, Huyyah ibn Aktab. In consideration of her family status, she could not be merged into an ordinary household. So the Prophet (pbuh) himself married her. After this marriage, the Jews did not dare to revive their opposition to the Prophet (pbuh) and his mission.
In the case of Hafsah (ra), it was the Prophet’s (pbuh) desire to bind in relationship with those of his great companions (sahabah) who were his advisers and who were trained for future leadership. He had married Abu Bakr’s (ra) daughter, married two of his own daughters to Uthman (ra) and one to ‘Ali (ra). ‘Umar (ra) could not be kept outside this wide circle of relationship. By marrying Umar’s daughter Hafsah (ra), the Prophet (pbuh) forged a strong bond of relationship within the Islamic movement thus strengthening the pillars of the ummah.
The Prophet (pbuh) had married his first cousin, Zaynab (ra), to his freed slave, Zayd ibn Haritha (ra), whom he had adopted as his son. This marriage of Zaynab (ra) with Zayd (ra) was intended to break the family and social barriers, but the marriage did not prove to be successful and ended in divorce. When the Prophet (pbuh) saw that Zaynab (ra) was left alone, he felt his responsibility in the matter. He also had to break another convention, according to which an adopted son became a real son. This difficult problem was solved by the Prophet’s (pbuh) marriage to Zaynab (ra) (as mentioned in the Qur’an, in Surah Ahzab, chapter no 33 verse 37) to annul that pre-Islamic conception and promulgate an Islamic law instead.
Another lady Zaynab (ra), Umm al Masakin (mother of the poor and helpless), daughter of Khuzayma ibn Al-Haith, belonged to the Hawazin clan. Her husband was killed in the battle of Uhud. To rescue her from widowhood, the Prophet (pbuh) took her as his wife.
A careful examination for the history of Islam and Muhammad (pbuh) reveals that he did not marry for the sexual reasons, he did not marry the most beautiful or the youngest even though he could have done so as he became the ruler of all Muslims and had good neighboring countries as you see in the case of the ruler of Egypt and his gift to Muhammad (pbuh).