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Umm Habibah’s hand — that was in Muharram, in the seventh year of Al-Hijra. Negus
agreed and sent her to the Prophet (Peace be upon him) in the company of Sharhabeel
10. her after that conquest in the seventh year of Al-Hijra.
11. Maimunah bint Al-Harith: The daughter of Al-Harith, and the sister of Umm Al-Fadl Lubabah
bint Al-Harith. The Prophet (Peace be upon him) married her after the Compensatory
‘Umrah
(Lesser Pilgrimage). That was in Dhul-Qa‘dah in the seventh year of Al-Hijra.
Those were the eleven women that the Messenger of Allâh (Peace be upon him) had married and
consummated marriage with them. He outlived two of them — Khadijah and Zainab, the
Umm Al-
Masakeen.
Whereas the other nine wives outlived him.
The two wives that he did not consummate marriage with were, one from Bani Kilab and the other
from Kindah and this was the one called Al-Jauniyah.
Besides these, he had two concubines. The first was Mariyah, the Coptic (an Egyptian Christian), a
present gift from Al-Muqauqis, vicegerent of Egypt — she gave birth to his son Ibrâhim, who died in
Madinah while still a little child, on the 28th or 29th of Shawwal in the year 10 A.H., i.e. 27th
January, 632 A.D. The second one was Raihanah bint Zaid An-Nadriyah or Quraziyah, a captive from
Bani Quraiza. Some people say she was one of his wives. However, Ibn Al-Qaiyim gives more weight
to the first version. Abu ‘Ubaidah spoke of two more concubines, Jameelah, a captive, and another
one, a bondwoman granted to him by Zainab bint Jahsh.
Whosoever meditates on the life of the Messenger of Allâh (Peace be upon him), will conceive that
his marriage to this great number of women in the late years of his lifetime, after he had almost
spent thirty years of his best days of youth sufficing himself to one old wife— Khadijah and later on
to Sawdah, was in no way an overwhelming lustful desire to be satisfied through such a number of
wives. These marriages were in fact motivated by aims and purposes much more glorious and
greater than what normal marriages usually aim at.
The tendency of the Messenger of Allâh (Peace be upon him) towards establishing a relationship by
marriage with both Abu Bakr and ‘Umar and his marriage to ‘Aishah and Hafsah — and getting his
daughter Fatimah married to ‘Ali bin Abi Talib, and the marriage of his two daughters, Ruqaiyah and
Umm Kulthum to ‘Uthman— indicate clearly that he aimed at confirming the relationship among the
four men — whose sacrifices and great achievements in the cause of Islam are well-known.
Besides this, there was that tradition of the Arabs to honour the in-law relations. For them a son or
a daughter-in-law was a means by which they sought the consolidation of relationship and affection
with various phratries. Hostility and fights against alliances and affinities would bring an
unforgettable shame, disgrace and degradation to them.
By marrying the Mothers of believers, the Prophet (Peace be upon him) wanted to demolish or break
down the Arab tribes’ enmity to Islam and extinguish their intense hatred. Umm Salamah was f rom
Bani Makhzum — the clan of Abu Jahl and Khalid bin Al-Waleed. Her marriage to the Messenger of
Allâh (Peace be upon him) produced good results. Khalid’s deliberately undecisive attitude at Uhud
— for instance — was due to the Messenger’s marriage to Umm Salamah. Khalid went even further
than that, in a short time he willingly became a keen obedient Muslim.
After the Messenger of Allâh’s marriage to Umm Habibah, Abu Sufyan, her father, did not encounter
him with any sort of hostility. Similarly his marriage to Juwairiyah and Safiyah made the two tribes
stop all sorts of provocation, aggression or hostility against Islam. Better still, Juwairiyah, herself,
was one of the greatest sources of blessing to her own people. On the occasion of her marriage to
the Prophet (Peace be upon him), his Companions set a hundred families of her people free. They
said: “It is for their affinity with the Messenger of Allâh (Peace be upon him).” No need to say what
great good impression this gratitude had on everybody’s soul. One of the greatest motives of all is
Allâh’s bidding his Prophet to educate and purify the souls of people who had known nothing
whatsoever about courtesy, education and culture. He had to teach them to comply with the
necessities of civilization and to contribute to the solidification and the establishment of a new
Islamic society.
An essential fundamental rule of the Muslim society is to prohibit mixing of men and women.
Providing direct education for women, though highly compelling, is impossible in the light of this
Islamic norm. Therefore, the Prophet (Peace be upon him) had to select some women of different
ages and talents, and indoctrinate them systematically in order to educate she-bedouins and
townswomen, old and young, and thus furnish them with the instruments of propagating the true
faith. The Mothers of believers [i.e. wives of the Prophet (Peace be upon him)] were in such a
convenient position that they could convey the state of the Prophet (Peace be upon him) and his
affairs to people (men and women). Being educated and taught the teachings and rules of Islam, his
wives, especially those who outlived him, played a very important role in conveying Prophetic
traditions
Ahadith
to the Muslims. ‘Aishah, for instance, related a large number of the Prophet’s
deeds and statements.
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