Why did the Messenger (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) marry
a number of women?
Praise be to Allah.
Allah's wisdom is great, and part of His wisdom is that He has
permitted men, in previous divine laws and in the sharee'ah of our
ProphetMuhammad (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him), to marry
more than one wife. Plural marriage was not something done only by our
Prophet Muhammad (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him). Ya'qoob
(peace be upon him) had two wives. Sulaymaan ibn Dawood (peace be upon
him) had one hundred less one wives; he went around to all of them in
a single night, hoping that Allah would bless each one of them with a
boy who would fight forthe sake of Allah.
This is not something that is limited to Islam and it is not contrary
to reason or the natural inclinations of man; rather it is what wisdom
dictates. Women are more numerous than men, according to what is
indicated by ongoing statistics, and a man mayhave the strength that
prompts him to marry more than one woman so as to fulfil his desires
in permissible ways, instead of fulfilling themin haraam ways or
suppressing them. A woman may fall ill or there may be reasons that
prevent her from engaging in intercourse,such as menses and nifaas
(post-partum bleeding); this prevents a man from fulfilling his desire
with her, so he needs to have another wife with whom he can fulfil his
desires instead of suppressing them or committing immoral actions. So
plural marriage is permissible and is justifiable in terms of reason,
natural human inclinations and laws. It is something thatwas done by
the earlier Prophets and in some cases it may be dictated by necessity
or need. So it should come as no surprise that this was done by our
Prophet Muhammad (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him). And there
are other reasons for his having several wives, which have been
discussed by the scholars. These include the following:
· Strengthening the ties between him and some tribes, in the
hope that this would make Islam stronger and help to spread it,
because tiesof marriage increase thebonds of friendship, loveand
brotherhood.
· Taking care of somewidows and compensating them withsomething
better than what they had lost, because this would bring peace of mind
andconsolation at times of calamity. It also set a precedent for the
ummah of how to show kindness to those whosehusbands were killed in
jihad and so on.
· Hoping to increase the numbers of offspring, which is in
accordance with human inclinations, increasing the numbers of the
ummah and supporting it with those who it is hoped will support and
spread the religion.
· Increasing the number of female teachers who would convey to
the ummah what they had learned from the Messenger of Allah (blessings
and peace of Allah be upon him) and what they knew of his private
life.
The motive for him having more than one wife was not mere desire,
because it is proven that the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be
upon him) did not marry any virgin or young woman apart from 'Aa'ishah
(may Allah be pleased with her). The rest of his wives were previously
married women. If he had been controlled by his desires and that is
what had motivated himto have many wives, he would have chosen young
virgins in order tofulfil his desires, especially after he migrated
and began to engage in jihad, and theIslamic state was established and
the Muslims grew stronger and more numerous, in addition to the fact
that every family would have welcomed ties through marriage with him.
But he did not do that; rather he married for noble and sublime
reasons, which are clear to anyone who studies the circumstances of
his marriage to each of his wives.
Moreover, if he had been a man driven by desires, that would have been
known from his life during the days when he was young andstrong, at
which time he had only one wife, Khadeejah bint Khuwaylid, who was
older than him. (If he had been a man driven by desires), he would
also have been known to show favouritism and be unfair in dividing his
time among his wives, who varied in their ages and degree of beauty.
But he is known only to have been completely chaste and honourable in
his conduct, both in his youth and when he grew older, which is
indicative of his complete decency and sublime character, and his
upright nature in all his affairs. In fact he waswell-known for that
even among his enemies.
And Allah is the source ofstrength. May Allah send blessings and peace
upon our Prophet Muhammad and his family and companions. End quote.
Standing Committee for Academic Research and Issuing Fatwas
Shaykh 'Abd al-'Azeez ibn 'Abdullah ibn Baaz, Shaykh 'Abd ar-Razzaaq
'Afeefi, Shaykh 'Abdullahibn Qa'ood, Shaykh 'Abdullah ibn Ghadyaan
Fataawa al-Lajanah ad-Daa'imah, 19/171-173
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