The document discusses why Prophet Muhammad had nine wives, noting that: 1) All prophets, including those in the Bible, practiced polygamy, which was a social norm. 2) Islam initially allowed up to four wives, though the Prophet had nine before this rule. 3) The Prophet's marriages were for political, social, and religious reasons like spreading Islam, honoring widows, and forming alliances, not due to lust. 4) Verses were later revealed stating the Prophet's wives could not remarry after him, allowing him to keep his nine wives as an exception to the four-wife rule.

1. All the Prophets were
Polygamous
Why Prophet Muhammad
married nine Ladies

3. Let’s first ask ourselves,
how many wives did the
Prophet marry?

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

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

6. They are:
Khadijah Bint Khuwaylid
Sawdah Bint Zamaah
Aaishah Bint Abi Bakr
Hafsah Bint Omar
Zainab Bint Khuzaymah
Om-salamah , Hind Bint Otbah
Zainab Bint Jahsh
Juwayriyah Bint Alharith
Safiyah Bint Huyay Ibn Akhtab
Ommo Habibah Ramlah Bint Abi Sofian
Maria Bint Shamoun, the Egyptian
Maymonah Bint Alharith

7. Were they all virgins?

8. Only one, Aaishah, all the
rest were either widows or
divorced.

9. Were they all Arabs?

10. All, except for Mariya, who
was from Egypt.

11. Where they all Muslims?

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

13. Now, let’s answer the main
and very important
question: Was it lust that
caused the prophet to have
so many marriages?

14. To answer the question we
have to mention the
following facts:

15. 1-The Prophet married for
the first time when he was
25 years old.

16. 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.

17. • 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.

18. 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.

19. 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

20. 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.

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

22. The answer is : NO.
Polygamy was the norm at the
times of Ibrahim, Dawoud,
Solayman, all known in the
Bible to have been
polygamists.

23. Now, let’s mention the
political, social and religious
reasons why did the prophet
had these marriages.

24. 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

25. 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

26. 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.

27. 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.

28. 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

29. 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

30. • 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).

32. Why Prophet Mohammad had 9 Wives W
?
• 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?

33. Why Prophet Mohammad had 9 Wives W
?
• 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).

34. 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.

35. 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

36. 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

37. Why Prophet Mohammad had 9 Wives W
?
• 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?

38. 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.

39. 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”).

40. 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).

41. 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).

42. 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.