"Reviewing the marriages of Prophet Muhammad individually one does
not fail to find the actual reasons behind these marriages. They may be classified as
follows:
1. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) came to the world as an ideal
model for mankind, and he was in all aspects of his life. Marriage in particular is a
striking illustration. He was the kindest, most loving and charitable husband. He had to
undertake all stages of human experience and moral tests. He lived with one wife and with
more than one, with the old and the young, with the widow and the divorcee, with the
pleasant and the temperamental, and with the renowned and the humble. But, in all cases be
was the epitome of kindness and consolation, and so designated to experience all the
different aspects of human behavior and situations. This could not have been a physical
pleasure; it was a moral trial as well as a human task, and a hard one too.
2. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) came to establish morality and
assure every Muslim of security, protection, moral integrity and a decent life. His
mission was put to the test in his life and it did not stay in the stationary form of
theory. As usual, he took the hardest part and did his share in the most inconvenient
manner. Wars and persecution burdened the Muslims with many widows, orphans and divorcees.
They had to be protected and maintained by the surviving Muslim men. It was his practice
to help these women become resettled by marriage to his Companions. The Companions
rejected some women and so some of those women sought his personal patronage and
protection. Realizing fully their conditions and sacrifices for the cause of Islam, he had
to do something to relieve them. One course of relief was to take them as his own wives
and accept the challenge of heavy liabilities. So he did so and maintained more than one
wife at a time when it was no fun or easy course. He had to take part in the
rehabilitation of those widows, orphans and divorcees because he could not ask his
Companions to do things that he himself was not prepared to do or participate in. These
women were trusts of the Muslims and they had to be looked after jointly. What he did,
then, was his share of responsibility, and as always his share was the largest and
heaviest. That is why he had more than one wife and more than any of his Companions.
3. There were many prisoners of war captured by the Muslims who were entitled to
security and protection. They were not killed or denied their rights: human or physical.
On the contrary, they were helped to settle down through legal marriages to Muslims
instead of being taken as concubines and common mistresses. That also was another moral
burden on the Muslims, which had to be shouldered jointly as a common responsibility.
Here, again, Muhammad carried his share and took some responsibilities by marrying two of
those captives.
4. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) contracted some of his marriages
for sociopolitical reasons. His principal concern was the future of Islam. He was
interested in strengthening the Muslims by all bonds. That is why he married the young
daughter of Abu Bakr, his First Successor, and the daughter of `Umar, his Second
Successor. It was by his marriage to Juwayriyyah that he gained the support for Islam of
the whole clan of Bani Al-Mustaliq and their allied tribes. It was through marriage to
Safiyyah that he neutralized a great section of the hostile Jews of Arabia. By
accepting Mariyah, the Copt from Egypt, as his wife, he formed a political
alliance with a king of great magnitude. It was also a gesture of friendship with a
neighboring king that Muhammad married Zaynab who was presented to him by the Negus of
Abyssinia in whose territory the early Muslims found safe refuge.
5. By contracting most of these marriages, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon
him) meant to eliminate the caste or class system, racial and national pride and
superiority, and religious prejudices. He married some of the humblest and poorest women. There
was his marriage to Mariyah from Egypt, a Jewish woman of a different religion and race,
and a Negro girl from Abyssinia. He was not satisfied with merely teaching brotherhood and
equality: actions speak louder than words.
6. Some of the Prophet's marriages were for legislative reasons and to abolish
certain corrupt traditions. Such was his marriage to Zaynab, divorcee of the freed slave
Zayd. Before Islam, the Arabs did not allow divorcees to remarry. Zayd was adopted by the
Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) and called his son as was the custom among the
Arabs before Islam. But Islam abrogated this custom and disapproved of its practice.
Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) was the first man to express this
disapproval in a practical way. So he married the divorcee of his "adopted" son
to show that adoption does not really make the adopted child a real son of the adopting
father and also to show that marriage is lawful for divorcees. Incidentally, this very
Zaynab was Muhammad's cousin, and had been offered to him in marriage before she married
Zayd. He refused her then, but after she was divorced he accepted her for the two
legislative purposes: the lawful marriage of divorcees and the real status of adopted
children. The story of this Zaynab has been associated in some minds with ridiculous
fabrications regarding the moral integrity of Muhammad. These vicious fabrications are not
even worth considering here (see Qur'an, 33: 36, 37, 40).
These are the circumstances accompanying the Prophet's marriages. For the Muslims there is
no doubt whatsoever that Muhammad had the highest standards of morality and was the
perfect model for mankind under all circumstances. To non-Muslims we appeal for a serious
discussion of the matter. Then, they may be able to reach sound conclusions."
(Source: Islam In Focus by Hammudah Abdalati p. 177-178)