"Mothers of the Believers" Wives of Muhammad | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
أمهات المؤمنين | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Spouse |
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Children | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Family | Ahl al-Bayt | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
A total of eleven women are confirmed as having been married to Muhammad, the founder of Islam. As a sign of respect, Muslims refer to each of these wives with the title Umm al-Muʼminin (Arabic: أم ٱلْمُؤْمِنِين, lit. 'Mother of the Believers'), which is derived from 33:6 of the Quran.[2]
Muhammad's first marriage was to Khadija bint Khuwaylid in 595, when he was 25 and she was either 28 or 41. She was his only wife until her death in 619 (the Year of Sorrow) ended their 24-year-long marriage.[3] After Khadija, Muhammad went on to marry ten women: Sawdah bint Zam'ah in 619; Aisha bint Abi Bakr in 623; Hafsah bint Umar, Zaynab bint Khuzayma, and Hind bint Abi Umayya in 625; Zaynab bint Jahsh in 627; Juwayriya bint al-Harith and Ramla bint Abi Sufyan ibn Harb in 628; and Safiyya bint Huyayy and Maymunah bint al-Harith in 629. Additionally, the statuses of Rayhanah bint Zayd and Mariyya bint Shamʿun are disputed, as there has been disagreement among Muslim scholars on whether they were concubines or wives. With the exception of Aisha, all of these women were previously widowed or divorced. The common view is that Muhammad had seven biological children (three sons and four daughters) and all but one of them were produced with Khadija between 598 and 611 or 615. Mariyya bore Muhammad a son in 630 (his seventh child), but none of his sons survived to adulthood.
Traditionally, two epochs delineate Muhammad's life and career: pre-Hijrah Mecca between 570 and 622; and post-Hijrah Medina between 622 and his death in 632. "Hijrah" refers to Muhammad's migration, alongside the early Muslims, from Mecca to Medina due to the Meccans' persecution of the early Muslims. All but two of his marriages were contracted after this migration.
| Part of a series on |
| Islam |
|---|
 |
- ^ a b Bennett, Clinton, ed. (1998). In Search of Muhammad. A&C Black. p. 251. ISBN 9780304704019.
- ^ Aleem, Shamim (2007). "12. Mothers of Believers". Prophet Muhammad(s) and His Family. AuthorHouse. p. 85. ISBN 978-1-4343-2357-6.
- ^ Mubārakfūrī, Ṣafī al-Raḥmān (2002). The Sealed Nectar: Biography of the Noble Prophet. Darussalam. ISBN 978-9960-899-55-8.
Cite error: There are <ref group=lower-alpha> tags or {{efn}} templates on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist|group=lower-alpha}} template or {{notelist}} template (see the help page).