Why did Prophet Muhammad(pbuh) have 12 wives?

Question

I'm very doubtful about this..

From what we know, a man can marry a maximum of 4 wives, is it because he is a Prophet, he can marry more than 4?

Answer 1

he didn't have more than 4 wives at a time....you think he had 12 at one time!?!? no..when one would die or whatever he would marry another one

Answer 2

Yes, it was because he was a prophet. The ordinary Muslim man can only have 4 wives, but the Prophet was special !i

Answer 3

Most were widows or divorced and over the age of 40.  

These were done for reasons, political alliances, to make an example, out of compassion for fallen friends.  

Ok, so christianty, Judaisms, absolutely no limit on the number of wives.......and islam is essentially the same religion in the pure form......

Now i was told by my islamic school teacher back in the day, the verse only allowing 4 was revealed after the marriages, and he asked all his wives if they wanted a divorce.   They said no.  

I did google this sorta, but didn't find anything saying that in the first few hits....i did see some of what the others posted.  

Answer 4

not all 12 at the same time and he didn't do anything more than what was commonly practice by the ppl of that time. Secondly, i believe the verse which states to keep up to 4 wives came later on when he was already married

Answer 5

There were many false customs about marrying woman at that time, Prophet Muhammad(PBUH) married 12 times to show people that these customs are not right,For example He  marry with widow, older woman than His age, woman having some disease,divorced woman etc etc.

Answer 6

1) Muhammad (P.B.U.H) had to marry 12 wives, instead of the usual number. Before His Prophethood, He (P.B.U.H) was content with just 1 lady, far above Him in age. However, later on, as a Prophet, it became a requirement to marry many women, and educate them to make them role models for Muslim ladies, and solve all their problems and satisfy their inquiries. That is why, Allah says in the Quran: "O PROPHET'S WIVES, U R NOT LIKE ANY OTHER WOMAN''

Furthermore, Allah ordered His wives: "AND MEMORIZE WHATEVER IS RECITED IN YOUR HOUSES FROM ALLAH'S AYAHS AND WISDOM". All His wives were the hafizas of Quran, so that they could teach the Muslim ladies.

As sister Brooklyn girl says :The books of authentic Hadith attribute more than 3,000 narrations and Prophetic traditions to his wives alone.

This could not have been achieved by one or four wives. His wives were authentic sources of knowledge not only for Muslim women, but for men too.

His wives were ladies of the highest character. It was necessary to have intelligent teachers for the Muslim women, who could communicate with the them, sympathize with them and convey their problems and needs to Muhammad (P.B.U.H). He (P.B.U.H) Himself couldn't be really free with the Muslim women, being a man, after all. Muslim ladies loved the sympathtic wives of Muhammad (P.B.U.H), and came to them in their troubles and happiness.

2) Apart from Ayesha (R.A), all His wives were divorced ladies or widows. He (P.B.U.H) married Zainab (R.A) to prove that an adopted child is not like a real child by ur blood, and if he (the adopted son) divorces a woman, u can marry her if the need arises.

He (P.B.U.H) married Umm Habiba (R.A) since she was stranded in Habshah when her husband changed his religion and became a non Muslim. And since her family disliked her for being a Muslim, she was in distress.

And so on, various reasons for various reasons for various wives.

Basically, they were all chosen for their lofty character, exceeding intelligence and ability to guide the Muslim ladies.

Answer 7

No, its because he felt he was above the law that he invented for everyone else. Reminds me a lot of David Koresh, Jim Jones, etc. One rule for the people and a different rule for the leader who made up all the rules to begin with. No one would dare question him out of fear of retaliation.

Answer 8

The Muslims do not have any credible history of prophet Mohammad. What is being said about him, is based on hearsays that were like rumours or popular among the people living 250 years AFTER his death. And those people were living in Iraq and Iran NOT even in Arabia.

From the Quran, it is traceable that Mohammad did have two or more wives at a time. But whether he had more than 3 or 4, it is still very doubtful and questionable.

You are stating that he had 12 wives. Even this number is not confirmed. Various sects and schools have disagreements on this one. And the numbers vary from 9 to 15. And in a very rare case it can even go to 16.

In any case, NO ONE can tell you exactly how many wives he had, and how many children he got.

But if you look closely and critically, you will find the iron clad truth in my statement i.e. "They do not have any credible history of prophet Mohammad".

@Edit:

Prophet Mohammad did not have exemption to marry more than 4 at a time. People who think that he had so many wives, also say that his wives passed and he kept marrying. Thus the number at any given time did not exceed 4. However, the overall marriages he consumated were say between 9 and 15.

Wallah-o-Alam

Answer 9

There was always a reason why our Prophet would get married.

Reasons for the Prophet's Marriages

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

- Muhammad the man who 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. Here are some of the reasons for which Muhammad married:

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 Zainab 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. They're not to be cast out to face a harsh life alone while able men around them just pity them and do nothing to help, or worse, use their weakness to take them as mistresses!

4. To offer a practical role model to Muslims until the end of time

Although many believing women often approached Muhammad offering him themselves in marriage, he politely turned down their offers. Most of his wives after the death of Khadijah were old, devoid of beauty, and previously married, except `A'ishah, who was the only young virgin. 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.

Who Were the Prophet's Wives?

Prophet Muhammad married 12 wives in his life. When he died he had 9 wives. They have a very special status in the hearts of Muslims as the "Mothers of the Believers," as the Qur'an instructs, and they are the source of a great amount of wisdom which they learned while living close to such a great man. Perhaps you'd like to research a bit to find their beautiful stories, so here are their names: 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.

Can We Consider His Marriage to `A'ishah a Case of Child Molestation?

To answer your speculation, let's continue our objective trip into the past. Obviously, when traveling back in time 1400 years to examine a lifestyle we never witnessed, it is unfair to apply our present day standards, so let's listen to the experts. Authentic historical records prove that the social traditions of the time and place—regardless of religion—considered Arab females as women as soon as their menstrual cycles began. The custom was to give daughters in marriage at that age. This was practiced by all dwellers in Arabia before Islam: pagans, disbelievers, Jews, and others. It's a fact that female menstruation in hot climates starts much earlier than in cold climates, so females in Arabia matured as early as 8 or 9; they also aged earlier than other women.

It's a neglected fact that before she was married to Muhammad, `A'ishah had been engaged to an infidel, Jubair ibn Mus'ab ibn Ady. Her fiancé broke the engagement on the basis of religious difference. So her father, Abu Bakr, agreed to give her hand in marriage to the Prophet.

The Great Wisdom in Selecting `A'ishah in Particular as a Young Wife

`A'ishah (may Allah be pleased with her) came from a house famous for learning and memorizing great quantities of knowledge; her father was a live encyclopedia of Arab tribal pedigr