The document discusses why Prophet Muhammad had nine wives when Islamic law limits marriage to four wives. It explains that polygamy was common in earlier religions and cultures. When the Quranic verse limiting marriage to four wives was revealed, Muslims had to comply except for Prophet Muhammad who was allowed to keep his nine existing wives due to their special status and so they would not be left without a husband or means of support.

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

16. The first woman he married , Khadijah was 40- 2
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. From 52 till 60, he married- 3
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
Mohammad (pbuh) the man- 1
)married Khadijah (ra
Mohammad (pbuh) the Prophet- 2
. 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 When
?
•
•
•
•
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 When
?
• 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 When
?
•
•
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
?
•
•
•
•
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.